First Ringo comic book industry award ceremony honors Lewis, Young, Cho, Staples, King, and more

Named after the late beloved comic book creator Mike Wieringo, the first ever ‘Ringo! Awards were presented during an irreverent and humor-filled ceremony Saturday night at the end of the second day of Baltimore Comic-Con 2017. This year the annual Harvey Awards were renamed in Wieringo’s honor. Wieringo was an artist best known for his work on DC Comics’ The Flash, Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, and his co-creation Tellos (discussed earlier this year here at borg.com).

Voters from more than 100 countries selected the nominees and winners were picked from a final ballot by members of the comic book industry creative community. Presenters last night included Mark Waid, Darryl “DMC” McDaniels, Amy Chu, Tom Brevoort, Walter and Louise Simonson, Terry and Robyn Moore, Kazu Kibuishi, Charlie Kochman, Lora Innes, Thom Zahler, Todd Dezago, and Craig Rousseau, with a keynote speech provided by multiple Eisner Award winner and Mouse Guard creator and David Petersen.

The ceremony provided two Hero Initiative awards, the Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award to Joshua Dysart, and the Lifetime Achievement Award to Marv Wolfman. Multiple winners included John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell for their civil rights story March: Book III, winning for Best Original Graphic Novel and Best Non-Fiction Comic Work, and Skottie Young, recognized as Best Cartoonist and for his I Hate Fairyland as Best Humor Comic.

Darryl (DMC/Darryl Makes Comics) McDaniels awards Best Cover Artist ‘Ringo! Award to Frank Cho.

Here is the list of winners selected from the final ballot:

Best Cover Artist–Frank Cho (who accepted the award singing the “Thank You Very Much” song from Oliver)

Best Series–Vision (Marvel Comics)

Best Letterer–Todd Klein

Best Colorist–Laura Martin

Best Humor Comic–I Hate Fairyland, Skottie Young, Jean-Francois Beaulieu (Image Comics)

Best Original Graphic Novel–March: Book III, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

Best Comic Strip or Panel–Bloom County, Berkeley Breathed (Universal Uclick)

Best Single Issue or Story–Emancipation Day (www.redistrictedcomics.com)

Best Anthology–Love is Love (DC Comics/IDW Publishing)

Best Non-fiction Comic Work–March: Book Three, John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, Nate Powell (Top Shelf Productions)

Best Presentation in Design–Mike Mignola’s Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects: Artist’s Edition Hardcover (IDW Publishing)

Mike Wieringo Spirit Award–DC’s Future Quest

David Petersen delivering the keynote speech at the 2017 ‘Ringo! Awards.

Best Webcomic–The Red Hook, Dean Haspiel

Best Inker–Sean Murphy

Best Writer–Tom King

Best Artist or Penciller–Fiona Staples

Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist)–Skottie Young

Awards voted on exclusively by fans included Favorite Hero–Cash Wayne from Spectrum, Favorite Villain–Arlo from UnOrdinary, Favorite New Talent–InstantMiso, and Favorite Series–Spectrum, by PJ Haarsma & Alan Tudyk.

C.J. Bunce
Editor
borg.com