PRISM COMICS and the CARTOON ART MUSEUM are pleased to announce the Winners of the SECOND ANNUAL PRISM AWARDS. The Awards announcements took place at the Prism Awards panel at COMIC-CON INTERNATIONAL SAN DIEGO on Saturday July 21, 2018.

Prism Awards Chairperson, Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer: A Memoir), moderated the panel which included Prism Awards Founders Ted Abenheim (Prism Comics) and Nina L. Taylor Kester (Cartoon Art Museum, Queer Comics Expo) and judges Ajuan Mance (1001 Black Men, Gender Studies); William O. Tyler (WoT’s Cinephilia), Heidi McDonald (The Comics Beat), Mey Rude (Autostraddle) and Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter). Maia and panelists discussed the origins of the Prism Awards and their emerging role in recognizing, promoting and celebrating diversity and excellence in the field of queer comics.

In keeping with the creative spirit of LGBTQ+ comics creators, the Awards themselves are hand-crafted with design by Nina Kester.

The Prism Awards are presented to comic works by queer authors and works that promote the growing body of diverse, powerful, innovative, positive or challenging representations of LGBTQAI+ characters in fiction or nonfiction comics. The goal of the Awards is to recognize, promote and celebrate diversity and excellence in the field of queer comics, and the nominees and awards are voted on by a diverse group comics professionals, educators, librarians, journalists and writers.

The Winners and Nominees for the 2018 Prism Awards are:

SHORT FORM COMICS


WINNER:
To Measure by Noella Whitney, 2017 – https://no-whit.com/

NOMINEES:
Contact High by James F Wright and Josh Eckert, August 2017 – https://www.jamesfwrites.com/comics/
Figurinha by Dante Luiz, May 2017 – https://danteluiz.com/publications
There’s More Than One! by Justin Hubbell, June 2017 – https://www.justinhubbell.com/more-than-one-longform/
It Was 1973, and Tiffany Banks Was Totally Winning at Gender by Ajuan Mance, 2017 – https://8-rock.com/

WEBCOMICS

WINNER:
O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti, (excerpts from 2017) – https://ohumanstar.com/

NOMINEES:
Cans of Beans, chapter 9 by Tamara Go, 2017 – https://www.cansofbeans.com/
SuperButch Issue 1 by Becky Hawkins and Barry Deutsch, 2017 – https://superbutchcomic.com/
Monster Pop! by Maya Kern, (excerpt from 2017) – https://monsterpop.mayakern.com/
Superpose by Ciaran and Anka C, (excerpt from August 2017-November 2017) – https://superpose.sp-gu.com/

SMALL TO MIDSIZE PRESS COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

WINNER:
The Boys Who Became Hummingbirds by Daniel Heath Justice and Weshoyot Alvitre, Alternate History Comics Inc., June 2017 – https://ahcomics.com/wordpress/moonshot-volume-2/

NOMINEES:
Steam Clean by Laura Ķeniņš, May 2017 – https://retrofit.storenvy.com/products/20070341-steam-clean-by-laura-kenins
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics, February 2017 – https://www.fantagraphics.com/my-favorite-thing-is-monsters/

MAIN STREAM COMICS AND GRAPHIC NOVELS

WINNER:
The Witch Boy by Molly Knox Ostertag, Scholastic Graphix, 2017 – https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/books/the-witch-boy-by-molly-ostertag/

NOMINEES:
Iceman by Sina Grace (writer), Alessandro Vitti (artist), Kevin Wada (artist), Marvel Comics, 2017 – https://www.amazon.com/Iceman-Vol-1-Thawing-Out/dp/1302908790/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1530740163&sr=1-2&keywords=iceman+sina+grace
Heavy Vinyl by Carly Usdin (Writer), Nina Vakueva (Pencils), Irene Flores (Inker), Rebecca Nalty (Colorist), Jim Campbell (Letterer), Boom Studios, 2017 – https://shop.boom-studios.com/series/detail/625/hi-fi-fight-club

ANTHOLOGIES

WINNER:
Dates: An Anthology of Queer Historical Fiction Volume 2 edited by Zora Gilbert and Cat Parra, August 2017 – https://datesanthology.com/collaborators2016

NOMINEES:
Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS edited by Joamette Gil, 2017 – https://powerandmagic.tumblr.com/
Oh Joy Sex Toy, Volume 4 edited by Erika Moen and Matthew Nolan, 2017 – https://onipress.com/collections/limerence-press/products/copy-of-oh-joy-sex-toy-volume-4

We thank the talented group of fifteen judges from the fields of comics, education, library science, journalism and writing for reviewing and voting on the Awards:

AJ Real (Advanced Death Saves edited by Josh Trujillo) – @darkshifter
Ajuan Mance (Gender Studies; Alphabet; We’re Still Here) – https://8-rock.com/ @8_rock
Brian Andersen (Stripling Warrior; So Super Duper; The Advocate) – www.sosuperduper.com, @superbrian
e jackson (Flux; Drawing a Dialogue podcast) – @ehetja
Gillian Pascasio (The Kiss of the Demoness) – @7CLUBS
Gina Biggs (Love Not Found) – @ginabiggs
Hari Conner (Finding Home) – hari-illustration.com @haridraws
Heidi MacDonald (The Beat, The News Blog of Comics Culture) – https://www.comicsbeat.com/ @comixace
H-P Lehkonen (Life Outside the Circle) – webtoons.com. @hplehkonen
Jack Baur (Librarian, Berkeley Public Library) – inthelibrarywithacomicbook.org @kcorstel
Mey Valdivia Rude (Autostraddle) – @meyrude
Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter) – www.panelpatter.com @rob_mcmonigal
Scout Tran-Caffee (Villainette; Falling Sky) – xo.villainette.com
Sfé R. Monster (Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, Vols. 1 and 2; webcomic Eths’ Skin) – sfemonster.com @sfemonster
William O. Tyler (WoT’s Cinephilia) – @williamotyler

The Prism Awards organizing team is Ted Abenheim, Nina Taylor Kester and Maia Kobabe.

The Cartoon Art Museum – The Cartoon Art Museum’s mission is to ignite imaginations and foster the next generation of visual storytellers by celebrating the history of cartoon art, its role in society, and its universal appeal. The museum’s vision is to be the premier destination to experience cartoon art in all its many forms from around the world, and a leader in providing insight into the process of creating it. The Cartoon Art museum can be visited online at cartoonart.org and at its new location 781 Beach St, San Francisco, CA 94109.