About The Ignatz Awards

The Ignatz Award, named for the character in the classic comic strip Krazy Kat by George Herriman, is the festival prize of the Small Press Expo. Since 1997, the Ignatz Awards have recognized outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning. The Ignatz recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression.

Award Categories

Outstanding Anthology

This award recognizes a book or other collection of selected writings by various writers usually in the same literary form, of the same period, or on the same subject. e.g. a book of comics by various cartoonists selected from several books by many cartoonists.

Outstanding Artist

Nominations for this category reflects the best execution of graphic skill by an individual within the comic medium.

Outstanding Collection

This award recognizes a book of selected short comics from various prior publications by the same cartoonist. The comics may constitute a single story, but as the parts were previously published, the story line would not be considered for the Graphic Novel category.

Outstanding Comic

A comic nominated in this category should represent the best marriage of both art and story in a single issue of a comic that are professionally published in the traditional floppy comic format familiar to superhero comics.

Outstanding Graphic Novel

A nomination for this category is for previously unpublished material of substantial length intended to be read as a single work. Graphic novels are distinguished from individual comics by being generally over 48 pages and are usually case or perfect bound.

Outstanding Minicomic

This category includes both one-shots and series. Minicomics are defined as comics that are not “professionally” published. Minicomics are usually printed at the local copy store or via a risograph, hand stapled, and predominantly self-distributed and are not solicited through major distributors.

Outstanding Online Comic

This category is for web based comics. A nominee in this category can be an individual comic, continuing storyline comic or strips. For a work to be eligible in this category it must be published on the web prior to appearing in print format. Nominated sites must also adhere to the same publishing timeline as the categories for print material.

• Works posted on web pages outside the timeline are not eligible. Nominated sites can utilize animation but should still be recognizable as a comic (“If you read it, it’s a comic. If you watch it, it’s animation.” is the best guide for how much animation is too much).

Outstanding Series

A nomination in this category should be for a series that the Juror feels exhibits a consistent level of quality as a whole. A good individual story does not necessarily translate into a nomination for the entire series.

Outstanding Story

This category is for outstanding storytelling in a comic. This may be an individual issue within a series, a one shot or a single story within an anthology.

Promising New Talent

A person nominated in this category should be someone new to the industry whose work deserves more recognition than it currently receives. New to the industry includes up to 4 years of school training plus 1 year after leaving college. Past nominees for the Ignatz Award cannot be nominated in this category. Nominations should include the title of the individual’s latest work.

Voting and Ceremony Attendance

Voting will be be via emailed ballot. You do not need to attend SPX in person in order to vote.

Ballots will become available mid-late August, after the jurors have completed their nominating process.

Award recipients will be announced at the Ignatz Awards ceremony on the Saturday evening of the festival. The Ignatz Awards ceremony is open to the public, with a reception to follow. Media is welcome to attend.