2026 Ringo Awards Final Ballot Nominees Announced

Continuing To Celebrate The Legacy Of A Modern Comics Original In An Awards

The 2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Nominees have been announced with the release of the Final Ballot. The awards are to be presented at the Ringo Awards Banquet and Ceremony in conjunction with the 2026 Baltimore Comic-Con on the evening of Saturday, 26 September 2026…

Voting on the 2026 Final Ballot is now open, and is restricted to the comic book industry creative community — anyone involved in and credited with creating comics professionally. Thank you to all pros who have already participated in our nomination process. Final ballots can be submitted directly or via our website, and voting will close on August 26, 2026. We now present the 2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards Final Ballot.

Fan and Pro Nomination Categories

* Best Cartoonist (Writer and Artist)

• Caroline Cash
• Scott Chantler
• Anders Nilsen
• Ben Passmore
• Tiffany Petitt
• Mimi Pond
• Craig Thompson
• Paige Walshe
• Ben Wickey

* Best Writer

• Deniz Camp
• Joseph Schmalke
• James Tynion IV
• Robert Venditti
• Mark Waid

* Best Artist or Penciller/Inker Team

• Becky Cloonan
• Werther Dell’Eera
• Jay Fosgitt
• Javier Rodriguez
• Liam Sharp
• Hayden Sherman
• Stefan Tosheff

* Best Letterer

• Taylor Esposito
• Rob Leigh
• Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
• Troy Peteri
• Nate Piekos
• Ben Wickey

* Best Colorist

• Jordie Bellaire
• John Kalisz
• Javier Rodriguez
• Alejandro Sanchez
• Stefano Simeone
• Dave Stewart

* Best Cover Artist

• Gabriele Dell’Otto
• Colm Griffin
• Tula Lotay
• Daniel Parent
• Javier Rodriguez
• Riley Rossmo

* Best Series

• Absolute Batman, DC Comics
• Absolute Martian Manhunter, DC Comics
• Coexistence, self-published
• FML, Dark Horse Comics
• Granite State Punk, Orange Cone Productions
• Murder Podcast, Ignition Press

* Best Short Story

• Chest Face, self-published
• “Pied Piper” in Cthulhu Invades Fairy Tales, Orange Cone Productions
• “The Knife and Gun Club” in Detective Comics #1100, DC Comics
• The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers
• “Red Snapper in the Rea” in Milk White Steed, Drawn & Quarterly
• Model Five Murder, Silver Sprocket

* Best Original Graphic Novel

• Black Arms To Hold You Up, Pantheon Books
• The Corus Wave, Avery Hill Publishing
• David Dastmachian’s Through, Z2 Comics
• Do Admit: The Mitford Sisters and Me, Drawn & Quarterly
• Drome, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
• The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief, Fantagraphics
• Gamemasters: The Comic Book History of Roleplaying Games, Clover Press
• Herobear and the Kid Vol. 1 – The Inheritance, Papercutz

* Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 11 and Under

• Brume Vol. 1, Astra Books for Young Readers
• The Fire Breathing Duckling, Astra Books for Young Readers,
• The Lost Sunday, Oni Press
• Magda, Intergalactic Chef: The Big Tournament, Lerner Publishing Group
• Max, A Little Axolotl, Scholastics Inc.
• The Mighty Bite #3: Hog Rocket Ruckus, ABRAMS
• The Patchwork Girl of Oz Volume 1, Image Comics
• Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse and the Amazing Lost Ocean, Fantagraphics

* Best Kids Comic or Graphic Novel – Ages 12 and Up

• Angelica and the Bear Prince, Penguin Random House/Random House Children’s Books
• Dracula’s Brunch Club, Oni Press
• Hello Sunshine, Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
• Hunger’s Bite, Union Square & Co.
• Raised by Ghosts, Fantagraphics
• Wynd Book Four: The Power of the Blood, BOOM! Studios

* Best Anthology

• Bowling with Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, Dark Horse Comics
• Flash Gordon Adventures Vol. 2, Papercutz
• Jim Henson Presents, BOOM! Studios
• Knapsack Magazine Volume 2: Butter, Lucky Pocket Press
• unSEEN/unHEARD: Disability & Neurodivergence Comic Anthology, self-published
• Young Men in Love: New Romance, A Wave Blue World

* Best Humor Comic

• The Blues Brothers – The Escape of Joliet Jake, Z2 Comics
• Everything Sucks: Kings of Nothing, Silver Sprocket
• The Goon: Them That Don’t Stay Dead, Albatross Funnybooks/Dark Horse Comics
• How to Survive an Affair, self-published
• Physics for Cats, Drawn & Quarterly

* Best Webcomic

• Battle Mage Farmer. Tapas Entertainment Inc.
• Before We Sail, Aces Weekly
• Daughter of a Thousand Faces. Tapas Entertainment Inc.
• The Mafia Nanny, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Marionetta, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Neon Pantheon, neonpantheoncomic.com

* Best Humor Webcomic

• The Bathroom Ghost, WEBTOON Entertainment
• Evil Inc., evil-inc.com
• Harley Quinn in Paradise, DC Comics / DC Go!
• I Am the Chief, iamthechiefcat.com
• My Little Warlord, DC Comics / DC Go!
• Nothing Butt Nightwing, DC Comics / DC Go!
• Taste of Justice, DC Comics / DC Go!

* Best Non-fiction Comic Work

• Fela: Music is the Weapon, Amistad
• Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
• Love Letters Every Day, Background Noise
• Lucas Wars, Macmillan – First Second and 23rd Street
• Muybridge, Drawn & Quarterly
• Surrounded: America’s First School for Black Girls, 1832, Ablaze Publishing/NBM Graphic Novels

* Best Comics-Related Publication

• Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
• COMICS! The Magazine #0, Prana Publishers
• Facing Feelings: Inside the World of Raina Telgemeier, Scholastic Inc.
• Graphic Samurai: The Art of Denys Cowan, Gizmoe Press
• Making Your First Comic, self-published
• Messiahs, Meshugganahs, Misanthropes, and Mysteries, Fantagraphics

* Best Presentation in Design

• Beasts of the Four Nations: Creatures From Avatar: The Last Airbender, Dark Horse Comics
• Becoming Frazetta – The Early Years of a Fantasy Art Master, Thrilling Nostalgia Comics
• Cry Wolf Girl, Silver Sprocket
• Ginseng Roots, Pantheon Books
• The Hero Trade: Hero for Sale TPB, Bad Idea
• Land of Mirrors, Drawn & Quarterly
• Lone Wolf and Cub Deluxe Edition Volume 1, Dark Horse Comics
• The Smurfs Archives Vol. 1, Papercutz
• Tongues, Vol. 1, Pantheon Books

The final ballot represents an aggregate of jury and fan top nominations. Comic pros can click the button below to submit their votes.

About Mike Wieringo

Michael Lance “Mike” Wieringo was known to fans and friends as “Ringo”, which is how he signed his artwork. His comics artist graced the pages of DC Comics’ The Flash, Adventures of Superman, Batman, and Robin, Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, and Rogue, and his co-creation Tellos. He passed away on August 12, 2007 at the young age of 44 from an apparent heart attack.

About the Ringo Awards

The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The Ringo Awards recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories, and are the only industry awards nominated by fans and pros alike, with final voting by the comic professional community. Launched in 2017, the awards ceremony is held annually at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Further details are available at www.ringoawards.com

About The Baltimore Comic-Con

The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 27th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. For more information, please visit www.baltimorecomiccon.com.