The Winners and Finalists of the 2021 Prism Awards were announced Monday night, December 27, 2021 in a virtual presentation on the Prism Comics YouTube channel – https://youtu.be/lrjPFxTjg20  and https://www.youtube.com/user/prismcomics/videos  

The program features video appearances from both Winners and Finalists in six categories – webcomics; short form comics; small to midsize press; mainstream press; anthology; and a new category this year – young readers (13 and under). The program will remain online for future viewing.

The Prism Awards were founded by Prism Comics, The Queer Comics Expo and The Cartoon Art Museum to recognize, promote, and celebrate diversity and excellence in queer comics and graphic novels. Winner and Finalist Awards are presented to comic works by queer creators that promote the growing body of diverse, powerful, innovative, positive or challenging representations of LGBTQAI+ characters and stories in fiction or nonfiction comics.

Award Recipients are voted on by six diverse panels of comics professionals, educators, librarians, journalists and writers. Prism Awards Chair Person, Gladys Ochoa, shared the Awards Committee’s gratitude for everyone involved in this year’s Awards presentation: “Prism Comics, The Queer Comics Expo and The Cartoon Art Museum would like to thank the creators, publishers and judges for all of their contributions to this year’s Prism Awards. The quality of the works submitted and the representations of identities, backgrounds and genres were amazing. We were also pleased to add the Young Readers category this year. There are so many terrific comics and graphic novels for young readers coming out, and it’s vitally important for young queer kids to see themselves in comics.”

Here are the Winners and Finalists for the 2021 Prism Awards:

Webcomics

Winner: Superpose (Artist & Writer: Seosamh; Artist & Writer: Anka)

Finalist: Shaderunners (Artist: Alex Assan; Writer: Lin Darrow)

Finalist: A Guide To A Healthy Relationship (Creator: Copper)

Short Form Comics

Winner: God Sees Me Crying in the Bathroom Stall (Creator: Vincy Lim)

Finalist: QAT Person Number 3 (Creator: Dylan Edwards)

Finalist: The Unfading Flower (Creator: Hari Conner)

Small/Midsize Press

Winner: To Cut (Creator: Noella Whitney)

Finalist: How To Be Ace: A Memoir of Growing Up Asexual (Creator: Rebecca Burgess)

Finalist: Sasha From The Gym (Creator: Otava Heikkilä)

Mainstream Press

Winner: The Low Low Woods (Publisher: DC Comics, Written by: Carmen Maria Machado & Joe Hill Art by: Dan McDaid & Dani Strips)

Finalist: The Deep & Dark Blue (Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Creator: Niki Smith,)

Finalist: Juliet Takes a Breath  (Publisher: Boom Studios, Writer: Gabby Rivera; Illustrator, Celia Moscote; Colorist, James Fenner; Letterer: DC Hopkins)

Anthology

Winner: A.B.O. Comix: A Queer Prisoners Anthology Vol 4 (Publisher: A.B.O. Comix, Editor: Casper Cendre,)

Finalist: Ambrosia: Trans Masc & Non Binary Erotic Comics (Edited by: Tab Kimpton and Jade Sarson)

Finalist: Confined Before COVID19: A Pandemic Anthology by LGBTQ Prisoners (Publisher: A.B.O. Comix, Editor: Casper Cendre)

Young Readers (13 and under)

Winner: The Deep & Dark Blue (Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, Creator: Niki Smith,)

Finalist: The Magic Fish by (Publisher: Random House Graphic, Creator: Trung Le Nguyen)

Finalist: Space Battle Lunchtime Vol. 3: A Dish Best Served Cold (Publisher: Oni Press, Creator: Natalie Riess)

Prism Comics, QCE and The Cartoon Art Museum are honored and thankful for the contributions of this year’s twenty-four judges in six different panels:

Short Form Judges:

• Remus Jackson (Flux) 
• William O. Tyler (Cinephilia) 
• Trinidad Escobar (Ode to Keisha)

Mainstream Publisher Comic Judges:

• Shannon Lee (editor of Destiny, NY)
• Nick Porter (MEGASheen podcast)     

Small/Midsize Press Judges:

• Hari Conner (Finding Home)           
• Nicky Rodriguez (The Unlucky Ones and the Edge of Nowhere)   
• Jasmine Simone (Black Sunshine)              
• Blue Delliquanti (O Human Star) 
• Rob McMonigal  (Site Editor at Panel Patter)  

Webcomics Judges:

• Becky Hawkins (Super Butch)
• Noella Whitney (To Measure)
• Lawrence Lindell (From Truth with Truth)
• Viktor Kerney (MEGASheen podcast, StrangeLore)
• Ajuan Mance (Gender Studies, 1001 Black Men)

Anthology Judges:

• Malach Lily (The Boar King)
• Gillian Pas-casio (Alphabet Arthro-poda)
• Alex Hoffman (Publisher of solrad.co)
• Hunter Rook (The Gender Book)

Young Readers Category Judges:

• Avery Kaplan (Author at The Beat)
• Rhonetta Robertson (Hair Story)  
• Josh Trujillo (Writer of Hulkling & Wiccan)
• Greg A. Elysée (Is’nana) 
• AJ Real (Educator)

The 2021 Prism Awards Committee includes Chair Person, Gladys Ochoa (Queer Comics Expo, Draw Ink Studio), Prism Awards Co-Founders Ted Abenheim (President, Prism Comics), and Nina Taylor Kester (Co-Founder Queer Comics Expo, Program Coordinator, Cartoon Art Museum)

About Prism Comics

Prism Comics is an all-volunteer non-profit organization that supports LGBTQ+ and LGBTQ+ friendly comics, comics professionals, readers, educators and librarians founded in 2003. Prism champions LGBTQ+ visibility, diversity and inclusion in comics and popular geek culture. To learn more please visit: prismcomics.org

About Queer Comics Expo

The Queer Comics Expo (QCE) is an event to celebrate queer culture and promote diverse queer representation in comics, animation and other great ways to tell stories. QCE is also a fundraiser for the Cartoon Art Museum, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving, documenting, and exhibiting the unique and accessible art form of cartooning in all its forms for over 30 years.

About 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.