The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards, also known as the Ringo Awards, have announced the 2026 nominees that will be presented on Saturday, September 26, 2026, at Baltimore Comic-Con.

Nominees were chosen by a jury of industry professionals, as well as fans. Voting on the final ballot for 2026 will be restricted to the comic industry pros who have been involved in and credited with creating comics professionally.

Below is the list of 2026 Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards final ballot fan and pro nominations.

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’Edera
• 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 trade paperback, 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 Ringo Awards event will also include the fan-only favorites categories and the Hero Initiative Awards (the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award and The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award).