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2026 Ignatz Award Nominees Announced Ahead of Small Press Expo

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2026 Ignatz Award nominees announced by Small Press Expo — The 2026 Ignatz Award nominees have been announced ahead of Small Press Expo 2026.

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The nominees for the 2026 Ignatz Awards have been announced, with this year’s ballot covering ten categories across independent comics and small-press publishing.

Organized by the Small Press Expo (SPX), the Ignatz Awards recognize achievement in comics and cartooning, with categories ranging from graphic novels and anthologies to minicomics, online comics and new talent. Works published between June 1, 2025 and May 31, 2026 were eligible for the 2026 awards.

Nominees were selected by a panel of comics professionals. The 2026 jury consisted of Maria Hoey, Joel Christian Gill, Nick Bertozzi, Maggie McCready, Vik Alexander, Meg Lentz, Michael Albrecht and Sofia Lesage.

Here is the complete list of nominees announced by SPX.

Outstanding Artist

Move-In Day — Colin Lidston — Paper Rocket Minicomics
Black Arms To Hold You Up — Ben Passmore — Pantheon Books
Testament — J. Marshall Smith — Bulgilhan Press
The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief — Carol Tyler — Fantagraphics
Barbecue Block Party — Rob Woods — Self-Published

Outstanding Anthology

A Queer Prisoner’s Anthology Vol. 9: Beautiful Regrets — edited by Casper Cendre, Oliver Mills and Brett Thomas Gonzalez — A.B.O. Comix
Goof #2 — edited by Marc Jackson — Self-Published
LAAB: A Comics Anthology No. 3 — edited by Ronald Wimberly — Beehive Books
Revenge #2 — edited by Samandal — Beehive Books
So Buttons #15 — edited by Jonathan Baylis — So Buttons Comix

Outstanding Collection

A Strong Woman and Other Stories — Valentine Gallardo — Fieldmouse Press
All the Cameras in My Room — Michael DeForge — Drawn & Quarterly
Box Garden Beetle — Akino Kondoh — Glacier Bay Books
The Past is a Grotesque Animal — Tommi Parrish — Fantagraphics
Wisps — Amanda Baeza — kuš!

Outstanding Comic

Antimatter #1 — Dean Haspiel — Self-Published
Fizzle #6 — Whit Taylor — Radiator Comics
Girls Gone Wild — Katie Lane — 2dcloud
Utzy and Dusty — Josh Bayer — Domino Books
Zoo #5 — Anand Shenoy — Self-Published

Outstanding Graphic Novel

Black Arms to Hold You Up — Ben Passmore — Pantheon Books
Cannon — Lee Lai — Giramondo Publishing
Do Admit! The Mitford Sisters and Me — Mimi Pond — Drawn & Quarterly
More Weight: A Salem Story — Ben Wickey — Top Shelf Productions
The Weight — Melissa Mendes — Drawn & Quarterly

Outstanding Minicomic

If She Was Beholden, Could She Ever Be the Beholder? — Erika Rier — Self-Published
Secret Black Woman: American Virtues — Ingrid Pierre — Self-Published
To Bleed Stone Dry — R. D. “Reyookah” Yoon — Self-Published
Two Snakes — Suerynn Lee — Alright Editions
Uncoiling: A Japanese-American Family History — Yoko O.K. — Self-Published

Outstanding Online Comic

Anywhere but Barbun — Sinan Demirer
Appleguy & Beefwood — Cedar Van Tassel
Blind Alley — Adam de Souza
I Thought I Heard Your Voice Just Then — Hagai Palevsky and Justin LaGuff
Island — Lucy Haslam

Outstanding Series

Coin-Op no 10: Wet Cement — Peter and Maria Hoey — Coin-Op Books
Fizzle #6 — Whit Taylor — Radiator Comics
Hacienda — Dave Ortega — Self-Published
My Pockets are Juicy! — Lonnie Milsap — Self-Published
Wedding Juice and Other Melodramas #2 — Sanika Phawde — Self-Published

Outstanding Story

Before We Wake — Sophia Glock — Little, Brown Ink
Drome — Jesse Lonergan — 23rd Street
Mudhouse — Glynnis Fawkes — Paper Rocket Minicomics
Suicidals — Michael R. Barton — Self-Published
While We Wait #8 — Sorina Vazelina — Self-Published

Promising New Talent

A Scientific Study Of Transsexuality — Oscar Woodiwiss — Fieldmouse Press
Creamthing In His Golden Year — Sam Hensley — Self-Published
Electric Cowboy — Ansel Kite — Silver Sprocket
The Witch’s Egg — Donya Todd — Avery Hill Publishing
Upwards Incursion — Padraig Campbell — Driftwood Press

Voting for the 2026 Ignatz Awards began on August 19. Ballots were emailed to people on SPX’s email lists, while those who are not already on the lists can sign up to receive a ballot through the SPX website.

Voting is conducted entirely by email ballot. There will be no in-person voting during Small Press Expo, and attendance at the festival is not required to take part.

The deadline to vote is September 11 at 8 p.m. EDT.

The winners will be announced at the Ignatz Awards ceremony on September 12 at 9:30 p.m. EDT in the White Oak Room of the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. The ceremony takes place during Small Press Expo 2026.