Monday, August 13, 2012

Small Press Expo Announces the Ignatz Award Nominees for SPX 2012

Small Press Expo Announces the Ignatz Award Nominees for SPX 2012


For Immediate Release:         Contact: Warren Bernard
         E-Mail: warren@spxpo.com


Bethesda, Maryland; August 13, 2012 - The Small Press Expo (SPX), the preeminent showcase for the exhibition of independent comics, graphic novels and alternative political cartoons, is pleased to announce nominees for the sixteenth annual presentation of the Ignatz Awards, a celebration of outstanding achievement in comics and cartooning.

The Ignatz, named after George Herriman's brick-wielding mouse from his long running comic strip Krazy Kat, recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. The Ignatz Awards are a festival prize, the first of such in the United States comic book industry.

The nominees for the ballot were determined by a panel of five of the best of today's comic artists, Edie Flake, Minty Lewis, Julia Wertz, Dylan Meconis and Lark Pien, with the votes cast for the awards by the attendees during this years SPX. The Ignatz Awards will be presented at the gala ceremony to be held on Saturday, September 15, 2011 at 9:30 PM. Please note the new start time for the ceremony.

Additional information on the nominees and previews (as available) can be found at http://www.spxpo.com/ignatz-awards.

SPX will be held Saturday, September 15 from 11AM to 7PM and Sunday, September 16, noon-6PM at The North Bethesda Marriott Convention Center in Bethesda, Maryland. Admission is $10 for a single day and $15 for both days.

For further information on the Ignatz Awards, the nominees or to request an interview, please contact Warren Bernard at warren@spxpo.com.

For more information on the Small Press Expo, please visit http://www.spxpo.com.

Outstanding Artist
Marc Bell – Pure Pajamas (Drawn & Quarterly)
Inés Estrada - Ojitos Borrosos (Self-published)
Jaime Hernandez - Love and Rockets New Stories (Fantagraphics)
Craig Thompson - Habibi (Pantheon)
Matthew Thurber – 1 800 Mice (Picturebox)

Outstanding Anthology or Collection
Big Questions - Anders Nilson (Drawn & Quarterly)
Hark! A Vagrant - Kate Beaton (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Man Who Grew His Beard - Olivier Schrauwen (Fantagraphics)
Nobrow #6 - Various artists (Nobrow)
Ojitos Borrosos - Inés Estrada (Self-published)

Outstanding Graphic Novel
Big Questions by Anders Nilsen (Drawn & Quarterly)
Harvey Pekar's Cleveland by Harvey Pekar and Joseph Remnant (Top Shelf)
My Friend Dahmer by Derf Backderf (Abrams ComicArts)
Troop 142 by Mike Dawson (Secret Acres)
A Zoo In Winter by Jiro Taniguchi (Fanfare/Ponent Mon)

Outstanding Story
1 800 Mice by Matthew Thurber (Picturebox)
"Keith or Steve," Mome #22, by Nick Drnaso (Fantagraphics)
Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme (Top Shelf)
"Return to Me," Love & Rockets New Stories #4, by Jaime Hernandez (Fantagraphics)
"The  Weeper," Papercutter #17, by Jason Martin and Jesse Reklaw (Tugboat Press)

Promising New Talent
Lauren Barnett - Me Likes You Very Much (Hic & Hoc Publications)
Clara Besijelle - The Lobster King (Self-published)
Tessa Brunton - Passage (Sparkplug Books)
Lila Quintero Weaver - Dark Room: A Memoir in Black and White (University of Alabama Press)
Lale Westvind - Hot Dog Beach (Self-published)

Outstanding Series
Black Mass by Patrick Kyle (Mother Books)
EOTMC by Leslie Stein (Self-published)
Ganges by Kevin Huizenga (Fantagraphics)
Love and Rockets New Stories by The Hernandez Brothers (Fantagraphics)
Pope Hats by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse Books)

Outstanding Comic

Hot Dog Beach #2 by Lale Westvind (Self-published)
Passage by Tessa Brunton (Sparkplug Books)
Pterodactyl Hunters by Brendan Leach (Top Shelf)
The Sixth Gun #17 by Brian Hurtt and Cullen Bunn (Oni Press)
Pope Hats #2 by Ethan Rilly (AdHouse Books)

Outstanding Mini-Comic
The Death of Elijah Lovejoy by Noah Van Sciver (2D Cloud)
Hypnotic Induction Technique by Grant Reynolds (Self-published)
The Monkey in the Basement and Other Delusions by Corinne Mucha (Retrofit Comics)
Ramble On #2 by Calvin Wong (Self-published)
RAV #6 by Mickey Zacchilli (Self-published)


Outstanding Online Comic

Amazing Facts...and Beyond! with Leon Beyond by Dan Zettwoch and Kevin Huizenga: http://leonbeyondfacts.blogspot.com/
Black Is the Color by Julia Gfrorer: http://studygroupcomics.com/main/black-is-the-color-by-julia-gfrorer/
Lucky by Gabrielle Bell - http://gabriellebell.com/
Starslip by Kris Straub - http://starslip.com/
SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki: http://mutantmagic.com/

No comments: