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It’s constantly — and I mean CONSTANTLY — disappointing when there are categories of nominees for comic book awards that are full slates of cis-men. I was particularly disappointed in the categories of Best Writer and Best Letterer in this year’s Ringo Awards which were devoid of non-male creators (to my knowledge — I don’t know if anyone is GF/NB). And not for nothing, but even in the Best Comic Strip category, it doesn’t list the current creators of the strips; it lists dead people. I know Alex Saviuk has been working on Amazing Spider-Man for years.

I honestly will not vote in those categories. There isn’t even a write-in option since there was a lengthy nomination process.

Best Cartoonist:

  • Echorise
  • Enjelicious
  • Terry Moore
  • Sean Murphy
  • Jim Woodring

Best Writer:

  • Brian Michael Bendis
  • Richard Dent
  • Rylend Grant
  • Jeff Lemire
  • Scott Snyder
  • Brian K. Vaughan

gotham gif

Best Artist or Penciller:

  • Joe Bennett
  • Shawn Daley
  • Ezra Claytan Daniels
  • Steve Ellis
  • Ronilson Freire
  • Dan Mora
  • Dustin Nguyen
  • Ryan Ottley
  • Sean Phillips

Kristen Bell - dont be a dick

Best Inker:

  • J.P. Mayer
  • Mark Morales
  • Ron Randall
  • Fiona Staples
  • Sana Takeda

Best Letterer:

  • David Aja
  • Arechan
  • Taylor Esposito
  • Jared K. Fletcher
  • Todd Klein

Best Colorist:

  • Tamra Bonvillain
  • Steve Conley
  • Matt Hollingsworth
  • Rachel Smythe
  • Dave Stewart
  • Matt Wilson
  • YaongYi
  • (How Jen Bartel is missing from this list is a fucking disgrace.)

Best Cover Artist:

  • Travis Charest
  • Nick Derington
  • Dan Mora
  • Sara Richard
  • Alex Ross
  • Fiona Staples
  • Jim Woodring

Best Series:

  • Batman: White Knight, DC Comics
  • Bitter Root, Image Comics
  • Black Hammer: Age of Doom, Dark Horse Comics
  • Blammo, Kilgore Books
  • The Highest House, IDW Publishing
  • The Immortal Hulk, Marvel Comics
  • Venom, Marvel Co

Best Single Issue:

  • Aberrant #4, Danger Zone
  • Black Hammer: Cthu-Louise, Dark Horse Comics
  • Champions #24, Marvel Comics
  • Klaus and the Crying Snowman, BOOM! Studios
  • Swamp Thing Winter Special, DC Comics

Best OGN:

  • The Ghost, The Owl, Action Lab Entertainment
  • My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, Image Comics
  • Son of Hitler, Image Comics
  • Upgrade Soul, Lion Forge
  • Woman World, Drawn & Quarterly

Best Anthology:

  • Action Comics: 80 Years of Superman, DC Comics
  • All We Ever Wanted: Stories of a Better World, A Wave Blue World
  • Femme Magnifique: 50 Magnificent Women Who Changed the World, Black Crown/IDW Publishing
  • Grief, Source Point Press
  • Twisted Romance, Image Comics
  • Where We Live, A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas, Image Comics

Best Humor Comic:

  • Bluechair, Line WEBTOON
  • Get Naked, Image Comics
  • Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell, Line WEBTOON
  • MAD, DC Comics
  • Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons, IDW Publishing

Best Comic Strip or Panel:

  • Amazing Spider-Man, Stan Lee/Larry Lieber, King Features Syndicate
  • Bloom County, Berkeley Breathed, Andrews McMeel Universal
  • Doonsbury, Garry Trudeau, Andrews McMeel Universal
  • Garfield, Jim Davis, King Features Syndicate
  • Luann, Greg Evans, Andrews McMeel Universal
  • Nancy, Olivia Jaimes, Andrews McMeel Universal
  • Pearls Before Swine, Stephan Pastis, Andrews McMeel Universal

Best Webcomic:

Best Non-Fiction:

  • All the Answers, Simon & Schuster
  • The Bridge: How the Roeblings Connected Brooklyn to New York, Abrams ComicArts
  • Hey, Kiddo, Graphix
  • I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation, BOOM! Studios
  • Let’s Make Comics!, Watson-Guptill
  • Where We Live, A Benefit for the Survivors in Las Vegas, Image Comics

Best Kids Comic or GN:

  • Aquacorn Cove, Oni Press
  • Be Prepared, First Second Books
  • Jupiter Jet, Action Lab Entertainment
  • The Nameless City: The Divided Earth, First Second Books
  • The Prince and the Dressmaker, First Second Books
  • Punk Taco, Adam Wallenta Entertainment

Best Presentation:

  • Absolute Sandman Overture, DC Comics
  • Berlin, Drawn & Quarterly
  • Madman Quarter Century Shindig, IDW Publishing
  • My Heroes Have Always Been Junkies, Image Comics
  • Only Living Boy Omnibus, Papercutz
  • Persephone, BOOM! Studios
  • Terry Moore’s Strangers in Paradise Gallery Edition, Abstract Studio/Graphitti Designs
  • Yellow Negros and Other Imaginary Creatures, New York Review Comics

I don’t mean to say that any of the nominees aren’t worthy of praise and recognition. I am simply astounded that after all the #MeToo and #ComicsAreForEveryone and especially, my gods, #VisibleWomen… HOW DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING?

Jessica Jones gif

SO WAKE THE HELL UP AND FIND THE FOLLOWING CREATORS:

Many of these women work in the non-glorified jobs of character and concept design or storyboards too. Not even getting into the “big names” like Gail Simone, Jordie Bellaire, Nicola Scott, Becky Cloonan, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Jenny Frison, Marguerite Sauvage, et al., just open up to the comics that are out there and you might know about. It can start by following people on Instagram or Twitter. Dedicate one of those outlets to a comics/art/creative feed or make a second account (it’s not that hard). That way when the noise gets too much, you can switch to your friends feed.

  • Steenz
  • Vita Ayala
  • Erica Schultz
  • Liana Kangas
  • Marissa Louise
  • Jen Bartel
  • Abigail Larson
  • Meghan Hetrick
  • Jody Houser
  • Hannah Templer
  • Mags Vissagio
  • Triona Ferrell
  • Ro Stein
  • Kelly Thompson (WTH! An Eisner nominated writer of comics like Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Sabrina, Jessica Jones, Uncanny X-Men, Rogue & Gambit, WCA, Nancy Drew, and coming soon…Deadpool!)
  • Kate Mia White
  • Sweeney Boo
  • Katie O’Neill (at least nominated for Aquacorn Cove, but there’s no reason Tea Dragons couldn’t appear in another category like OGN or Best Cartoonist)
  • Chelsea Cain (admittedly, she has had some fuck ups publicly but she’s a great writer)

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Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AmberUnmasked.com and Vodka O'Clock Podcast. Author of The Farrah Wethers Mysteries, comic book short stories, prose, and non-fiction. Cosplayer and figure model.