2026 Ringo Award Winners Announced
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This last weekend at the Baltimore Comic-Con, the Ringo Awards for the best achievement in comic books were announced. Below are the winners and this year’s nominees.
Fan Favorites
- Favorite Villain – Doctor Doom (Marvel Comics)
- Favorite New Series – Excavator (D4K Studios)
- Favorite New Talent – Reese Hannigan
- Favorite Publisher – Etan Comics
- Favorite Hero: Batman (DC Comics)
Jury and Fan Winners
Best Series
Winner: Absolute Batman, DC Comics
Nominees:
- Absolute Martian Manhunter, DC Comics
- Coexistence, self-published
- FML, Dark Horse Comics
- Granite State Punk, Orange Cone Productions
- Murder Podcast, Ignition Press
Best Anthology
Winner: Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, Dark Horse Comics
Nominees:
- Flash Gordon Adventures Vol. 2, Papercutz
- Jim Henson Presents, BOOM! Studios
- Knapsack Magazine Volume 2: Butter, Lucky Pocket Press
- unSEEN/unHEARD: Disability & Neurodivergence Comic Anthology, self-published
- Young Men in Love: New Romance, A Wave Blue World
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 11 and Under
Winner: Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean, Fantagraphics
Nominees:
- Brume Vol. 1, Astra Books for Young Readers
- The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers
- The Lost Sunday, Oni Press
- Magda, Intergalactic Chef: The Big Tournament, Lerner Publishing Group
- Max, A Little Axolotl, Scholastics Inc.
- The Mighty Bite #3: Hog Rocket Ruckus, ABRAMS
- The Patchwork Girl of Oz Volume 1, Image Comics
Best Humor Comic
Winner: The Goon: Them That Don’t Stay Dead, Albatross Funnybooks/Dark Horse Comics
Nominees:
- The Blues Brothers – The Escape of Joliet Jake, Z2 Comics
- Everything Sucks: Kings of Nothing, Silver Sprocket
- How to Survive an Affair, self-published
- Physics for Cats, Drawn & Quarterly
Best Writer
Winner: Deniz Camp
Nominees:
- Joseph Schmalke
- James Tynion IV
- Robert Venditti
- Mark Waid
Best Colorist
Winner: Dave Stewart
Nominees:
- Jordie Bellaire
- John Kalisz
- Javier Rodriguez
- Alejandro Sanchez
- Stefano Simeone
Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 12 and Up
Winner: Raised by Ghosts, Fantagraphics
Nominees:
- Angelica and the Bear Prince, Penguin Random House/Random House Children’s Books
- Dracula’s Brunch Club, Oni Press
- Hello Sunshine, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Hunger’s Bite, Union Square & Co.
- Wynd Book Four: The Power of the Blood, BOOM! Studios
Best Webcomic
Winner: Neon Pantheon, neonpantheoncomic.com
Nominees:
- Battle Mage Farmer, Tapas Entertainment Inc.
- Before We Sail, Aces Weekly
- Daughter of a Thousand Faces, Tapas Entertainment Inc.
- The Mafia Nanny, WEBTOON Entertainment
- Marionetta, WEBTOON Entertainment
Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
Winner: Craig Thompson
Nominees:
- Caroline Cash
- Scott Chantler
- Anders Nilsen
- Ben Passmore
- Tiffany Petitt
- Mimi Pond
- Paige Walshe
- Ben Wickey
Best Letterer
Winner: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Nominees:
- Taylor Esposito
- Rob Leigh
- Troy Peteri
- Nate Piekos
- Ben Wickey
Best Cover Artist
Winner: Javier Rodriguez
Nominees:
- Gabriele Dell’Otto
- Colm Griffin
- Tula Lotay
- Daniel Parent
- Riley Rossmo
Best Non-fiction Comic Work
Winner: Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832, Ablaze Publishing/NBM Graphic Novels
Nominees:
- Fela: Music is the Weapon, Amistad
- Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
- Love Letters Every Day, Background Noise
- Lucas Wars, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
- Muybridge, Drawn & Quarterly
Best Original Graphic Novel
Winner: Herobear and the Kid Vol. 1 – The Inheritance, Papercutz
Nominees:
- Black Arms To Hold You Up, Pantheon Books
- The Corus Wave, Avery Hill Publishing
- David Dastmachian’s Through, Z2 Comics
- Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, Drawn & Quarterly
- Drome, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
- The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief, Fantagraphics
- Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, Clover Press
Best Humor Webcomic
Winner: Nothing Butt Nightwing, DC Go!/DC Comics
Nominees:
- The Bathroom Ghost, WEBTOON Entertainment
- Evil Inc., evil-inc.com
- Harley Quinn in Paradise, DC Comics / DC Go!
- I Am the Chief, iamthechiefcat.com
- My Little Warlord, DC Comics / DC Go!
- Taste of Justice, DC Comics / DC Go!
Best Comics-Related Publication
Winner: Making Your First Comic, self-published
Nominees:
- Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
- COMICS! The Magazine #0, Prana Publishers
- Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier, Scholastic Inc.
- Graphic Samurai: The Art of Denys Cowan, Gizmoe Press
- Messiahs, Meshugganahs, Misanthropes, and Mysteries, Fantagraphics
Best Presentation in Design
Winner: Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volume 1, Dark Horse Comics (Designer: May Hijikuro)
Nominees:
- Beasts of the Four Nations: Creatures From Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dark Horse Comics
- Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
- Cry Wolf Girl, Silver Sprocket
- Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
- The Hero Trade: Hero for Sale TPB, Bad Idea
- Land of Mirrors, Drawn & Quarterly
- The Smurfs Archives Vol. 1, Papercutz
- Tongues, Vol. 1, Pantheon Books
Best Short Story
Winner: Chest Face, self-published
Nominees:
- “Pied Piper” in Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales, Orange Cone Productions
- “The Knife and Gun Club” in Detective Comics #1100, DC Comics
- The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers
- “Red Snapper in the Rea” in Milk White Steed, Drawn & Quarterly
- Model Five Murder, Silver Sprocket
Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team
Winner: Javier Rodriguez
Nominees:
- Becky Cloonan
- Werther Dell’Eera
- Jay Fosgitt
- Liam Sharp
- Hayden Sherman
- Stefan Tosheff
Mike Wieringo Spirit Award
Winner: The Avengers in the Veracity Trap, Abrams ComicArts
Hero Initiative Awards
Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award
- Jeffrey Brown
Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award
- Jim Lee
Brogan Fidelity Award
- Jim Calafiore
Congratulations to this year’s winners.
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