SPX Announces 2017 Ignatz Award Winners

Based on the character in the classic comic strip by George Herriman Krazy Kat, The Ignatz Award recognizes exceptional work that challenges popular notions of what comics can achieve, both as an art form and as a means of personal expression. Presenting awards in nine categories, the ceremony was held during this year's Small Press Expo on September 16-17 at the Marriott North Bethesda Hotel and Convention Center in Washington DC.

See the full list of 2017 winners below.

Outstanding Artist

• Pablo Auldadell – Paradise Lost (Pegasus Books)
• Emil Ferris – My Favorite Thing is Monsters (Fantagraphics)
• Manuele Fior – The Interview (Fantagraphics)
• Karen Katz – The Academic Hour (Secret Acres)
• Barbara Yelin – Irmina (Self Made Hero)

Outstanding Anthology

• “ELEMENTS: Fire — An Anthology by Creators of Color” — edited by Taneka Stotts (Beyond Press)
• “POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology” — edited by Joamette Gil (P&M Press)
• “Spanish Fever: Stories by the New Spanish Cartoonists” — edited by Javier Olivares & Santiago Garcia (Fantagraphics)
• “Comic Book Slumber Party’s Deep Space Canine” — edited by Hanhah K. Chapman (Avery Hill)
• “ALPHABET: The LGBTQAIU Creators,” from Prism Comics — edited by Jon Macy and Tara Madison Avery (Stacked Deck Press)

Outstanding Collection

• “The Complete Neat Stuff” — Peter Bagge (Fantagraphics)
• “Johnny Wander: Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us” — Ananth Hirsh, Yuko Ota (Oni Press)
• “Time Clock” — Leslie Stein (Fantagraphics)
• “Boundless” — Jillian Tamaki (Drawn & Quarterly)
• “Hip Hop Family Tree, Vol. 2″ — Ed Piskor (Fantagraphics)

Outstanding Graphic Novel

• “Eartha” — Cathy Malkasian (Fantagraphics)
• “March: Book 3″ — John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin (Top Shelf)
• “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” — Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• “Band for Life” — Anya Davidson (Fantagraphics)
• “Tetris” — Box Brown (First Second)

Outstanding Story

• “March: Book 3″ — John Lewis, Nate Powell, Andrew Aydin (Top Shelf)
• “My Favorite Thing Is Monsters” — Emil Ferris (Fantagraphics)
• “Small Enough,” from “Diary Comics” — Dustin Harbin (Koyama Press)
• “Too Hot to Be Cool” — Maddi Gonzales
• “Diana’s Electric Tongue” — Carolyn Nowak (self-published)

Promising New Talent

• Isabella Rotman — “Long Black Veil” (self-published)
• Margot Ferrick — “Yours” (2D Cloud)
• Aud Koch — “Run,” from the Oath Anthology (Mary’s Monster)
• Bianca Xunise — “Say Her Name” (self-published)
• Kelly Bastow — “Year Long Summer” (self-published)

Outstanding Series

• Chester 5000, by Jess Fink (self-published)
• The Old Woman, by Rebecca Mock (self-published)
• Maleficium, by Sabin Couldron (self-published)
• Frontier, edited by Ryan Sands (Youth in Decline)
• Crickets, by Sammy Harkham (self-published)

Outstanding Comic

• “Public Relations #10″ — Matthew Sturges, Dave Justus, Steve Rolston, Annie Wu (1First Comics)
• “Libby’s Dad” — Eleanor Davis (Retrofit/Big Planet)
• “Canopy” — Karine Bernadou (Retrofit/Big Planet)
• “Your Black Friend” — Ben Passmore (Silver Sprocket)
• “Sunburning” — Keiler Roberts (Koyama Press)

Outstanding Minicomic (self-published)

• Tender Hearted — Hazel Newlevant
• The Man Who Came Down the Attic Stairs — Celine Loup
• Reverse Flaneur — M. Sabine Rear
• Same Place Same Time — Ann Xu
• Our Tale of Woe — Keren Katz & Geffen Refaeli