The Ignatz Award for Promising New Talent, established in 1997 as part of the Ignatz Awards, is an annual literary award that recognizes outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. The award for promising new talent is presented to new industry artists "whose work deserves more recognition than it currently receives".
Recipients +Award winners and finalistsYearCreatorWorkPublisherResult1997NowhereDrawn & QuarterlyWinnerKing of PersiaSelf-publishedFinalistSoulwindImage ComicsBlack Eye ProductionsYikes!Alternative Press1998FinderLightspeed PressWinnerBlack CandyBlack Eye BooksFinalistGalaxionHelikon PressSkibber Bee ByeSelf-publishedDrawn & Quarterly1999Fireball #7 Fort ThunderWinnerCuckooGreen Door StudiosFinalistIs Kissing a Girl Who Smokes Like Kissing an Ashtray, Non #4Red InkJack's Luck Runs OutTop Shelf ProductionsSweetAdept Books2000BoswashLuxurious ComicsWinnerBob the Angry FlowerSelf-publishedFinalistPaper TheaterSelf-publishedSupermonsterSelf-publishedAntarctic Press20012001 Ignatz Awards cancelled after 9-11 AttacksBipolarSelf-publishedFinalistHerobear and the KidAstonish ComicsMetaphrogLouis: Red Letter DayMetaphrogFlipper Vol. 2Actus Tragicus/Top Shelf ProductionsGet BenTSelf-published2002Catch as Catch CanHighwater BooksWinnerStudy Group 12FinalistBig Questions #4: AsomatognosiaSelf-publishedCabaret, Gabagool! Self-publishedClumsy: A Novel Self-published and Tania MenesseShuck Shuck Comics2003Same Difference and Other Stories Self-publishedWinnerRosetta; Shrimpy & Paul Alternative Comics; Highwater BooksFinalistRQW Don't Eat Any Bugs ComicsTake Out Self-publishedTepid, Eleanor E. Is Home Self-published2004Kramers Ergot #4 Avodah BooksWinnerChasing Rainbows www.girlamatic.com, www.svetlania.comFinalistHi-Horse Omnibus Alternative Comics, Hi-Horse ComicsSuspended in Language G.T. LabsTop Shelf Productions2005Owly Top Shelf ProductionsWinnerGuilty Karl Stevens Publishing, dist. by Alternative ComicsFinalistRabbitHead Alternative ComicsSkyscrapers of the Midwest AdHouse BooksSpaniel Rage Buenaventura Press2006Salamander Dream; Gray HorsesAdHouse Books; Oni PressWinnerBJ & Da Dogs Picturebox, Inc.FinalistMome Fall 2005 Fantagraphics BooksMome Winter 2006 Fantagraphics BooksNight Fisher Fantagraphics Books2007I Will Destroy YouWinnerFlight Vol. 4; Hickee, vol. 3 #3Ballantine Books; Alternative ComicsFinalistKing City TokyoPopLucky, Drawn & Quarterly Showcase Vol. 4 Drawn & QuarterlyPapercutter #3; You Ain't No Dancer Vol. 2 Tugboat Press; New Reliable Press2008How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or LessSelf-publishedWinnerSnake Oil #1 Self-publishedFinalistTonoharu Pliant Press/Top Shelf ProductionsTrains Are... MintBlank SlateWindy Corner #2 Sparkplug Comic Books2009Woman KingSelf-publishedWinnerDrawn & Quarterly Showcase Book 5 Drawn & QuarterlyFinalistDrawn & Quarterly Showcase Book 5 Drawn & QuarterlyJin & Jam #1; "Diamond Heights", Papercutter #9 Sparkplug; TugboatWuvable OafSelf-published2010, Papercutter #13 Tugboat PressWinnerNever Forget, Never Forgive Studio NamuFinalistSullyConundrum PressWhirlwind Wonderland Sparkplug Comic Books & Tugboat PressYoung LionsSelf-published2011House of Twelve Monthly #3 ComixologyWinnerBirchfield Close Nobrow PressFinalistEven the Giants AdHouseFinn and Charlie are HitchedSelf-publishedForming Nobrow/online2012Hot Dog BeachSelf-publishedWinnerDark Room: A Memoir in Black and White University of Alabama PressFinalistMe Likes You Very Much Hic & Hoc PublicationsPassage Sparkplug BooksSelf-published2013Hawaii 1997 & Haunter Self-publishedWinner, Secret Prison #7 Self-publishedFinalistAugust Moon Top ShelfEat More Bikes Koyama PressLooking Out Hic & Hoc Publications2014Jeremiah; Boy Genius; Until It Runs ClearWinnerMissyFinalistOrange; OnionsPowdered Milk (series)Trevor2015Sphincter; Sex FantasyWinnerBig PussyFinalistDon't Get Eaten by AnythingK.M. & R.P. & MCMLXXI (1971)Soft2016I Love This PartWinnerHandbookFinalistRadishesTom O'Bedlam2017, The NibWinner, Oath AnthologyFinalistLong Black VeilYear Long SummerYours2018Mis(h)adraWinnerHow to Be AliveFinalistNori and The Rabbits of the Moon2019My Lil Sister LenaWinnerCrimesFinalistI Feel Weird #3Trans Girls Hit the TownYLLW YLLW YLLW2020CanvasWinner(Probably) the Last TimeFinalistCreationIn WavesMulto2021Pa-LuisWe Live on EarthWinnerb.b. free FinalistDo You Think I Look Like a Girl? Mr. H: Portrait of a High School Art Teacher 2022DjeliyaTKO StudiosWinnerArcheologist LandingsSelf-publishedFinalistArrive In My HandsBlack Josei PressKoreans Sing in EnglishSelf-publishedDrawn & Quarterly2023In LimboFirst SecondWinnerI Owe it to My Parents to NOT Come OutSelf-publishedFinalistMy Body UnspoolingSelf-publishedPokeyBred PressSennenAvery Hill Publishing2024Drawn & QuarterlyWinner10-10 To The WindFieldmouse PressFinalistGift BoxSelf-publishedOptometryDriftwood PressTales of the OrishasAbrams2025UnmooredSelf-publishedWinnerBest Breasts in the WestFieldmouse PressFinalistSelf-published and Daniele AquilaniUndergrowthTop Shelf ProductionsBig Gamble Rainbow HighwayCRAM books2026Fieldmouse PressWinnerCreamthing In His Golden YearSelf-publishedFinalistElectric CowboySilver SprocketAvery Hill PublishingUpwards IncursionDriftwood Press
References
Resources
1997 awards: 1998 awards: 1999 awards: 2000 nominations / awards: 2001 nominations: 2002 awards:
External links Ignatz Awards Official Website