Pro and Fan Comic Book Awards come to
“America’s Greatest Comic Book Convention”
and YOU GET A VOTE!
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 fifth annual awards will return as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. Top honors will be announced Saturday, October 23rd, 2021.
Nomination voting is now open to the public (fans, retailers & pros) and ends on June 24th. When filling out your ballot, please remember it is for creators and new works published during the 2020 calendar year. To begin the nomination process for the 2021 Ringo Awards, START HERE!
To play a role in the process and recognize the incredible projects and amazing creators who stood out in 2020, take a look at the rules. see all the possible categories, and more:
Ringo Awards Rules
Only creators and new works from the preceding calendar year are eligible for nomination.
There are four types of awards:
OPEN+JURY NOMINATED AWARDS: Two nominees will be selected by an open, online nomination process. The remaining three nominees will be selected by a jury of comics industry professionals. A tie among the jury’s choices may result in more than five nominees in a category. Nominees will be listed in the ballot alphabetically with no distinction made between open- and jury-selected nominees. The comics creative community will vote online from to select the winning recipient in each of these categories. These categories include:
- Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)
- Best Writer
- Best Artist or Penciller
- Best Inker
- Best Letterer
- Best Colorist
- Best Cover Artist
- Best Series
- Best Single Issue or Story
- Best Original Graphic Novel
- Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel
- Best Anthology
- Best Humor Comic
- Best Comic Strip or Panel
- Best Webcomic
- Best Non-fiction Comic Work
- Best Presentation in Design
OPEN NOMINATED AND VOTED AWARDS: All the nominees and the winner of these five categories will be selected by open voting. The five top Fan-Only Favorites will be announced at the Award Ceremony in September at the Baltimore Comic-Con. A winner in a given year’s Fan Favorite category is not eligible to be nominated in that category the following year. These categories include:
- Favorite Hero
- Favorite Villain
- Favorite New Series
- Favorite New Talent
- Favorite Publisher
THE MIKE WIERINGO SPIRIT AWARD: The nominated works will be voted on by the professional jury as well as three additional, perennial jurors: Matt Wieringo, Todd Dezago, and Mark Waid. The top vote getters including the winner will be announced at the Award Ceremony in September at the Baltimore Comic-Con.
THE HERO INITIATIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND DICK GIORDANO HUMANITARIAN AWARDS: These award are selected by Hero Initiative and will be announced at the Ringo Awards Ceremony.
HOW JURY VOTING WORKS:
A select jury of five professionals representing a cross-section of the comics industry vote for seven choices in each category (they must vote for seven). The jury is asked to rank their choices in order of preference.
- The first choice gets 7 points
- The second choice gets 6 points
- The third choice gets 5 points
- The fourth choice gets 4 points
- The fifth choice gets 3 points
- The sixth choice gets 2 points
- The seventh choice gets 1 point
The selections with the most points in each category become nominees. Individual juror votes are not shared with the general public.
NOMINATION ELIGIBILITY:
Eligibility for creators and new creative works is determined by publication in the preceding calendar year – print publication date takes precedence over electronic publication date (Diamond Direct Market street date is used. For electronic works, the date of publication is time-stamped with most publications and at least 3 episodes/installments of continuing works must have appeared during the eligibility period.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST RULES:
We define “conflict of interest” as having a professional relationship with a proposed nominee DURING the eligibility period such that it WILL BIAS the voting. If there is a conflict of interest with a professional juror, the highest rank they can give that selection is fourth place (four points). The conflict of interest rule relies on the honor system and the professionalism of the selected jurors. We recognize that the comic book industry is a small one, and top professionals will no doubt have personal and professional relationships with other working professionals and publishers. We trust the jurors to self-evaluate their biases.
VOTING IRREGULARITIES:
If there is any evidence of unethical vote manipulation or tampering, we will seek to address the affected category or categories. Fixes can include steps as extreme as a re-vote, excluding a category, or disregarding improper votes. Fixes determined by the Ringo Awards Committee are final.
DEADLINES:
Open voting: April 9, 2021 – June 24, 2021
Professional jury deadline: June 24, 2021
Nomination ballot targeted to be announced: August 25, 2021
Creative Comics Community Voting: August 25, 2021 to September 22, 2021
Awards presented: Saturday, October 23, 2021
ABOUT THE RINGO AWARDS
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Pro and Fan Comic Book Awards come to “America’s Greatest Comic Book Convention” and YOU GET A VOTE!
The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The awards make their debut this year as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. Unlike other professional industry awards, the Ringo Awards include fan participation in the nomination process along with an esteemed jury of comics professionals. More than 20 categories will be celebrated with top honors being given at an awards ceremony Saturday, September 23, 2017.
