BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – April 9, 2021 – The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards return for their fifth year on Saturday, October 23, 2021 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 the awards ceremony in October.
Fan and Pro Nominations
Fan and pro-jury voting are tallied independently, and the combined nomination ballot is compiled by the Ringo Awards Committee. The top two fan choices become nominees, and the jury’s selections fill the remaining three slots for five total nominees per category. Ties may result in more than five nominees in a single category. Nominees will be listed on the ballot alphabetically. Nomination ballot voting is open to the public (fans and pros) between April 9, 2021 and June 24, 2021.
Final Ballot Voting
After processing by the Ringo Awards Committee and Jury, the Final Ballots are targeted to be available to comic creative professionals for voting on August 25, 2021 and will be due by September 22, 2021 for final tallying. Presentation of the winners will occur at the Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday, October 23, 2021.
Nomination Eligibility
Eligibility for creators and creative works is determined by publication in the preceding calendar year – print publication date takes precedence over electronic publication date. 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.
Updated Category
New in 2021, we have changed one category based on juror and voter feedback:
The “Best Comic Strip or Panel” category has been removed and a new category, “Best Humor Webcomic” has been added alongside the “Best Webcomic” category. This change recognizes the growing ways comic strips and panels are being read online.
Fan and Pro Nomination Categories
Perennial Jury-Only Nomination
Hero Initiative Award (selected by the Hero Initiative)
Publisher Submissions
Publishers wishing to submit works for review by the Ringo Jurors can submit up to five submissions per “Fan and Pro Nomination” category that they feel are worthy of consideration. To participate in this process, publishers are asked to have a single representative send an email to contact@ringoawards.com for information on how to send in your submission.
“The Ringo Awards had a weird 2020, since we kicked off nominations right when the pandemic was really setting in, but we ended up with a great final ballot, a fantastic slate of winners, and the virtual awards were a success, thanks to the assistance of our friends over at Mainframe Comic Con,” said Marc Nathan, Baltimore Comic-Con promoter. “We are very much looking forward to a return to our live show format in the fall, because we miss all of our friends and fans, and we expect this year’s Ringo Awards to meet our expectations of success, as they have every year. Our minor tweak to the categories should enhance the overall awards, and we can’t wait to see what everyone thought was a great read in 2020!”
Thank You to our 2020 Sponsors
- Baltimore Comic-Con
- Cards, Comics & Collectibles
- Mainframe Comic Con
- Bad Idea
- BOOM! Studios
- Geppi Family Enterprises
- Rocketship Entertainment
- Source Point Press
- Tapas Media
- WEBTOON
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