2026 Doug Wright Award Winners
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Last weekend the Doug Wright Awards at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival. The awards recognizes excellence in the field of Canadian comics. Below are the the 2026 winners. For full full list of nominees, read our prior coverage.
Best Book
Cannon, Lee Lai (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Nipper (Emerging Talent)
Lis Xu for Layover & Mad (Self-published) and Raccoon Rescue (Gytha Press)
The Pigskin Peters (Best Small- or Micro-press Book)
Pass Me By: Lily, Kat Simmers and Ryan Danny Owen (Renegade Arts Entertainment)
The Egghead (Best Kids’ Book)
Howler Reef, Mike Deas and Nancy Deas (Orca Book Publishers)
Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame
- Emily Hearn (1925–2015) and Mark Thurman, the creators and original team behind The Mighty Mites, the long-running and beloved children’s comic that made its debut in Owl magazine 50 years ago, were inducted by Annabel Slaight, the co-founder and original publisher of Owl, via a pre-recorded video. Emily was a writer of books, music, and poetry. She worked for the National Film Board, the CBC, and TVO, and as a scriptwriter for the legendary kids’ program Polka Dot Door. Mark is the illustrator of numerous books and has appeared on several children’s programs, including Polka Dot Door, Romper Room, and Mr. Dress-up. He is also a teacher, currently working at Sheridan College. Mark and several members of Emily’s family were on hand to accept their inductions.
- Arch Dale (1886–1951), the editorial cartoonist and creator of the Doo Dads comic strip was scheduled to be inducted by Terry Mosher. Sadly, Terry, at the last minute, was not able to attend due to a family emergency, but plans to give Arch Dale a solid induction speech next year. All research suggests Dale has no surviving relatives, though if any are out there, drop us a line. We’ll hang on to his medal until it finds a proper home.
Congratulations to this year’s winners.
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