During the 2019 Baltimore Comic-Con, taking place on October 18-20, the Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards will return to host their annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The Ringo Awards includes fan participation in the nomination process along with an esteemed jury of comics professionals.
Nominations are open now, allowing fans and professionals alike the chance to vote on more than 20 categories. The ballot voting will remain open to the public until June 20. After processing by the Ringo Awards Committee and Jury, the final ballot is scheduled to be available to comic creative professionals for voting on August 21, and will be due by September 18 for final tallying. Top honors will be presented at an awards ceremony during the evening of October 19 at the Baltimore Comic-Con.
Categories open for voting to fans and pros alike include Best Cartoonist (writer/artist), Best Writer, Best Artist or Penciller, Best Inker, Best Letterer, Best Colorist, Best Cover Artis, Best Series, Best Single Issue or Story, Best Original Graphic Novel, Best Anthology, Best Humor Comic, Best Comic Strip or Panel, Best Webcomic, Best Non-fiction Comic Work, Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel, and Best Presentation in Design.
Additional fan-only categories include Favorite Hero, Favorite Villain, Favorite New Series, Favorite New Talent, and Favorite Publisher. As an updated rule, all winners of these categories will be selected by open voting. A winner in a given year’s fan-favorite category is not eligible to be nominated in that category the following year.
Jury-only nominations (with four bonus perennial jurors) will vote on The Mike Wieringo Spirit Award, while The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award and The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award will be selected by the Hero Initiative.
“We have really hit our stride now,” said Marc Nathan, Baltimore Comic-Con promoter. “We had fantastic participation from the publisher community last year when we introduced the material submission process for jury consideration, and our overall voting was up as well, including nomination ballots received from over 120 countries. The fans, the pros, and the industry as a whole have really united to stand behind this award and make it meaningful, and we sincerely appreciate that.”
Publishers wishing to submit works for review by the Ringo Jurors can submit up to five submissions per “Fan and Pro Nomination” and “Jury-Only Nomination” categories. For information on how to send in your submission, publishers can have a single representative send an email to contact@ringoawards.com.
