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Final Ballot for 2023 Ringo Awards Revealed

Posted on July 13, 2023 by Bob Harrison

The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards, more affectionately known as the Ringos, has released the final ballot for this year’s awards. The winners of the Ringo Awards are announced each year at a banquet at Baltimore Comic-Con. This year’s event will be held on Saturday, September 9, 2023.

The final ballot voting is currently open and limited to anyone involved with and credited with creating comics professionally. Congratulations to all finalists who have made it through the rigorous nomination process.

Please see a complete list of all finalists below:

Best Cartoonist (writer and artist)

Kate Beaton
Wes Craig
Alexis Deacon
Jenny Jinya
Snailords
Stan Sakai
Zoe Thorogood

Continue reading “Final Ballot for 2023 Ringo Awards Revealed” →

Ringo Awards Nominations Are Now Open

Posted on April 21, 2022April 21, 2022 by Bob Harrison

It’s time to vote again. The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards nomination ballots are available to be submitted. This is the time to vote for the books that you loved most last year and reward the creators for their amazing work.

The Ringo awards are special in the industry because the nomination process considers input from both fans and professionals to make up the final ballot which is voted on by a selected rotating appointed jury. The categories highlight all aspects of the comic book industry including some special “fan favorite” categories.

The Ringo Awards are held during the Baltimore Comic-Con every year. This year the award ceremony will be on Saturday, October 29, 2022 Marc Nathan, the promoter of Baltimore Comic-Con said, “Words cannot express how great it was to be back in person for the Ringo Awards in 2021. Seeing so many of our friends and fans again and celebrating together was simply amazing. Everyone had a great time, the energy in the room was high, and we can’t wait to do it all again in 2022, so please make sure you (and your friends, and your friends’ friends!) submit your ballots — looking forward to another great slate for the final ballot!”

The open nomination season is open from April 15, 2022 until July 30, 2022. Eligible works and creators are based on print and web publications for the 2021 calendar year.

The categories that are available for nomination by fans and working professionals are: Continue reading “Ringo Awards Nominations Are Now Open” →

2021 Ringo Awards Finalists Announced

Posted on August 25, 2021August 25, 2021 by Bob Harrison

The news has dropped on one of the premiere comic book awards nominations. The Ringo Awards are coming up on their fifth award ceremony and instantly developed into a prestigious honor for all nominees and winners. The final ballot has been released and is available for comic industry professionals to vote on. Reviewing these nominees reveals a fairly good cross section of the comics publishing industry and there are some extremely appropriate nominations.

We encourage all eligible voters to participate in the process and contribute to the recognition of deserving creators.

Press Release

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – August 25, 2021 – The 2021 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards are to be presented on the evening of Saturday, October 23, 2021 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con.

The Ringo Awards are thrilled to announce the 2021 nominees. The nomination process was completed with the participation of our esteemed 2021 jury as well as the voting public. Fans and comic book professionals alike showed strong support in promoting the voting process on their websites, channels, and via social media.

Voting on the 2021 Final Ballot is restricted to comic book industry creative community — anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally. We now present the 2021 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Final Ballot.

“We are really happy with this ballot. It’s such a pleasure to watch this thing develop and see the range of genres, creators, publishers, topics, nations of origin, and more. These creators and titles represent the best in comics from 2020 as voted on by the public and our jury, and we’re proud to present them here. If you haven’t read these books or checked out these talents’ works, do yourself a favor.” – Marc Nathan, Baltimore Comic-Con Promoter.

Fan and Pro Nomination Categories

* Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)

• Derf Backderf
• Mongie
• Stan Sakai
• Rachel Smythe
• Adrian Tomine
• Sophie Yanow

* Best Writer

• Penelope Bagieu
• Anthony Del Col
• Jason Douglas
• N.K. Jemisin
• Marjorie Liu
• James Tynion IV
• Ram V

* Best Artist or Penciller

• Josh Adams
• Jamal Campbell
• Elsa Charretier
• Hanza Art
• Sana Takeda

* Best Inker

• Sanford Greene
• Brett Hobson
• Jjolee
• Gabriel Hernandez Walta
• Tonci Zonjic

* Best Letterer

• Deron Bennett
• Aditya Bidikar
• DC Hopkins
• Micah Myers
• Chas! Pangburn

* Best Colorist

• Toyin Ajetunmobi
• Laura Allred
• Tamra Bonvillain
• Aladdin Lee Grant Rutledge Collar
• Jacob Phillips
• Joe Todd-Stanton
• Christian Ward

* Best Cover Artist

• Gian Carlo Bernal
• Stephanie Hans
• Maan House
• Steve Lieber
• Peach Momoko
• Kevin O’Neill
• Joe Todd-Stanton

* Best Series

• The Department of Truth, Image Comics
• Far Sector, DC Comics
• Lore Olympus, WEBTOON
• My Deepest Secret, WEBTOON
• Usagi Yojimbo, IDW Publishing
• Wonder Woman: Dead Earth, DC

* Best Single Issue or Story

• All-America Comix #1, Image Comics
• Firefly: The Outlaw Ma Reynolds (BOOM! Studios)
• Marcy and the Riddle of the Sphinx, Flying Eye Books (US) / Nobrow Press
• “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin” from Ice Cream Man Present Quarantine Comix Special #1, Image Comics
• The O.Z., self-published
• Parallel, Source Point Press

* Best Original Graphic Novel

• Buried But Not Dead, Source Point Press Continue reading “2021 Ringo Awards Finalists Announced” →

Comic News Roundup: Comics News for the week of 10/16/2020 -10/23/2020

Posted on October 23, 2020October 23, 2020 by Bob Harrison

Welcome back to our new feature Comic News Roundup. Here, we give you a run down of the news from comic book publishers and other pop culture news that was released throughout this week. We have news from Baltimore Comic-Con, AfterShock Comics. DC Comics, Diamond Distributors, Z2 Comics, and Boom! Studios.

Baltimore Comic-Con

This coming weekend is the first virtual running of one of the best comic conventions of the year. Baltimore Comic-Con has engaged the folks at Mainframe Comic Con to help put together one heck of a lineup of live virtual programming.

Baltimore Comic-Con has traditionally been known and praised as a convention that puts comic books first, and this weekend’s programming reflects that theme. There are a bunch of comic creator spotlight panels and themed sessions with creators talking about current and past comic projects.

There are live Q&A panels planned and private creator Meet & Greets available for purchase. There are links to the sites of creators, retailers, and publishers who would have been on the floor of the Baltimore Convention Center in any other year.

The jewel of the weekend for me is the live broadcast of the 2020 Ringo Awards on Saturday at 8:00PM EDT. This year it is hosted by Kevin Smith with a keynote speech by Geoff Johns. You can find a list of the nominees for this year here.

AfterShock Comics

This week AfterShock announced I Breathed A Body, a new horror series debuting in January 2021. This book is from writer Zac Thompson and artist Andy MacDonald. Here is the description from AfterShock.

“When the world’s biggest influencer posts something irredeemably horrific online, the world changes in an instant. Now it’s up to his social media manager to fan the flames of outrage and create a sensationalist campaign that rewrites the rules of “banned content.” Thus begins a carnival of lust, revulsion, desire and disgust – all for viral videos.”

DC Comics

This news is about a week old but DC Comics has announced a two month hiatus from the books that remain in the monthly comic line and having a new event called Future State.

They have lined up a great mix of creative talent to explore near and far future iterations of many of the main characters in their universe. After the January-February event concludes, DC has said that there books will continue the storylines from 2020 and start new arcs for 2021.

DC Executive Editor Marie Javins had this to say:

“The DC Universe has always been fertile ground for new and refreshing takes on our characters, and DC Future State definitely contributes to this legacy. When the event begins in January, some savvy readers will not only pick up on some of the breadcrumbs that have already been tossed out in our current titles, but they will also find new hints and clues of what’s to come in 2021.”

There have been a lot of hard feelings about the business and distribution decisions that DC has made this year, but I have to say that this event promises to be very interesting and the art looks amazing. Continue reading “Comic News Roundup: Comics News for the week of 10/16/2020 -10/23/2020” →

Continued After the Next Page #015: On the Passing of a Giant

Posted on June 16, 2020June 16, 2020 by Bob Harrison

There are a lot of amazing people that make and have made great comic books. Some of the people who made the comics of my youth are now friends, if not, at least, acquaintances. There are however some people whose names are inscribed in the mythical pantheon of comic creators. Names like Kirby, Lee, Ditko, Toth, Raymond, Wood, Eisner, Adams, Buscema. Another name that is included in that list is O’Neil.

Dennis J. “Denny” O’Neil passed away last week. A couple of years ago, I got to meet Denny at the Baltimore Comic Con and spend some time with him. I want to share what I learned from him, but first I need to explain what he meant to me.

As a young student of comics, (I mean, I wrote the first research paper in my life about the history of comics when I was in seventh grade.) I learned about O’Neil and [Neal] Adams‘ critical run on Batman and later Green Lantern & Green Arrow. There was a level of realism that they brought to comics that seemed to counteract the turn that DC made towards camp in the 1960s. That realism mirrored what Lee, Kirby, and Ditko had done at Marvel, but was also quite unique.

I don’t want to call Denny’s writing dark or gritty. I kind of have the feeling that he wouldn’t like that. His characters were flawed, like all humans, and despite great wealth or power, they had to find solutions to problems like the rest of us. His characters were nuanced and multidimensional in a way that set them apart and inspired later creators.

The first book that I remember reading new from Denny was The Question. I had read some of his Iron Man earlier, but I wasn’t as aware of creators at that point. The Question, written by Denny with art by Denys Cowan, inks by Rick Magyar, colors by Tatjana Wood, letters by Gaspar Saladino and later Willie Shubert, and shepherded by Mike Gold, lit my hair on fire. It was a story full of mystery and pain and a struggling hero just trying to do what was right. My mind was opened by the complexity and brilliance of the art and the richness of the stories. It made me understand the vast breadth of storytelling that was possible in comics and it, along with Mike Grell‘s The Longbow Hunters, was the story that pushed me intellectually as a comic reader.

I think most of us have that time where we step away from comics. Whether it is intentional or not, there is a time as we hit adulthood that we stop buying new comics and focus on other things. That happened to me during college.

By mid 1990s I was married and had a job. You know. Adult stuff. One day in late 1995, I saw a comic book on a newsstand that caught my eye. It was Nightwing Volume #1 Issue #1. It was my favorite character in his very first solo series, and that Brian Stelfreeze cover was exquisite. I had to buy it. I loved it. It was written by Denny and immediately captivated my imagination. I remembered how much I loved comics and began to slowly start collecting and reading again. Denny brought me back to my passion. Continue reading “Continued After the Next Page #015: On the Passing of a Giant” →

Continued After the Next Page #014: Exercise Your Right to Vote For Comics – Ringo Edition

Posted on April 28, 2020May 1, 2020 by Bob Harrison

This is the time of year when every comic fan can get involved in the process of recognizing excellence in comic making. The public nomination process is open for the 2020 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards.

One of the great features of the Ringo Awards is that all fans and professionals have the opportunity to nominate their favorite creators and productions from 2019.

The ballot is available here.

I have taken some time to go through things that I have read or seen that was produced in 2019. Below is a list of some suggestions for each category.

PLEASE NOTE THESE ARE NOT OFFICIAL NOMINATIONS!! These are merely my suggestions!!!

The initial public nomination process is a free form text option for each category. Unfortunately (Actually, it’s pretty great!), I have found so many worthy candidates for each category.

In my list of nomination suggestions are people and publications that I feel are deserving of nominations. I am one hundred percent certain that I have forgotten or not included worthy candidates. This may be the first and only time I do this based on how many people I offend. Please forgive any omissions. Continue reading “Continued After the Next Page #014: Exercise Your Right to Vote For Comics – Ringo Edition” →

Spotlight Interview with Comic Creator and Artist Craig Rousseau

Posted on March 24, 2020July 25, 2021 by Bob Harrison

Hey folks!

Welcome back to another spotlight interview. This time we interviewed comic creator and artist Craig Rousseau!

Craig has worked for a bunch of comic publishers including Marvel and DC. He is well remembered for a long run on Impulse with DC and he is the co-creator and artist of the Perhapanauts with Todd Dezago.

Craig and I talked about the new books he has coming out including Killing Red Sonja from Dynamite Entertainment and a re-release of Kyrra: Alien Jungle Girl from Scout Comics.

We also reminisced about some of his other work and talked about what his art process looks like today.

It was a great chat. I hope you enjoy it.

Below you will find the audio recording of our conversation. We also transcribed the majority of the interview for you, but there are still a couple things that you will only find in the audio.

Interview with Craig Rousseau on 3/10/2020

Pop Culture Squad: Thanks for doing this. Let’s talk about Killing Red Sonja from Dynamite. How did that gig come about? What can you tell us about the story for that particular book? I believe it is a five-issue series?

Craig Rousseau: I believe that it is six, but I could be wrong. So, it actually it came about because I’ve worked with Nate Cosby in the past. He was my editor over at Marvel way back when, and every now and then, I would do a cover or a pin-up or a couple of pages for him over at Dynamite. And I said, ”Hey, if anything ever comes up, I would love to work with you again.” Originally, he was looking for an artist to do some samples for Red Sonja/Vampirella, and quickly, we realized, that I was much more attuned to drawing grumpy old men and weird monsters and not so much hot chicks in bikinis.

PCS: Or onesies?

CR: Yeah! So, after a few quick samples, we kind of switched gears, and he said “I think we have something else that might work better for you.” That is when he pitched the idea of Killing Red Sonja. Which, I thought, was a lot of fun and really much more my wheelhouse. Continue reading “Spotlight Interview with Comic Creator and Artist Craig Rousseau” →

Pop Culture Squad was at Baltimore Comic-Con 2019 and it was a BLAST!

Posted on October 23, 2019October 23, 2019 by Bob Harrison

The weekend of October 18 – 20, 2019 was the twentieth anniversary celebration of Baltimore Comic-Con. It is consistently one of our favorite conventions of the year. That is a sentiment that is shared by visitors, invited guests, and exhibitors alike.

A consistent refrain you will hear is that it is a “comic book convention that is about comics”. The vendors and guests are heavily weighted toward the comics side of fandom. The show is sponsored by Cards, Comics and Collectibles in Reisterstown, Maryland, and there is a very family-like atmosphere to the event. It is not easy to pull off an event of this magnitude as an independent convention. Marc and Shelly Nathan, the showrunners, put their heart and soul into this weekend, as do all the people who work on planning, logistics, and making sure everyone has a blast.

This is the sixth time that I have attended this convention, and it never disappoints.

Location

The convention was held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Baltimore, MD. It is located across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards in the heart of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. There is a light rail station across from the Convention Center, and there is also a ton of parking garages in easy walking distance to the event. The convention partners with Parking Panda to provide easy access to pre-paid parking from its website.

The convention floor was an easy escalator ride down from the main entrance, and the programming panel rooms were one flight up. Continue reading “Pop Culture Squad was at Baltimore Comic-Con 2019 and it was a BLAST!” →

2019 Annual Ringo Awards Ceremony LiveBlog

Posted on October 19, 2019October 17, 2019 by Bob Harrison

The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The nomination ballot is determined by fans and pros alike.

The third annual awards return as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con.

Top honors will be announced at an awards ceremony Saturday, October 19, 2019 as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Follow along below as we are there to bring you the awards news as it happens.

Continue reading “2019 Annual Ringo Awards Ceremony LiveBlog” →

2018 Ringo Awards LiveBlog

Posted on September 29, 2018October 1, 2018 by Bob Harrison

The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The nomination ballot is determined by fans and pros alike.

The second annual awards return as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con.

Voting for the 2018 Ringo Awards ended August 31, 2018

Top honors will be announced at an awards ceremony Saturday, September 29, 2018 as part of the Baltimore Comic-Con.

Follow along below as we are there to bring you the awards news as it happens.

Continue reading “2018 Ringo Awards LiveBlog” →

Tag: Ringo Awards