Saturday night at SDCC the winners of the 208 Prism awards were announced, celebrating the best in LGBTQ comics. The awards are organized by PRISM COMICS and the CARTOON ART MUSEUM, with Prism Awards Chairperson, Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer: A Memoir), founder Ted Abenheim (Prism Comics) and Nina L. Taylor Kester (Cartoon Art Museum, Queer Comics Expo).
The ceremony included five of the judges (myself included) on hand and two of the winners. Photos below.
And the winners are:
SHORT FORM COMICS – WINNER:
To Measure by Noella Whitney, 2017 – http://no-whit.com/
NOMINEES:
Contact High by James F Wright and Josh Eckert, August 2017 – http://www.jamesfwrites.com/comics/
Figurinha by Dante Luiz, May 2017 – http://danteluiz.com/publications
There’s More Than One! by Justin Hubbell, June 2017 – http://www.justinhubbell.com/more-than-one-longform/
It Was 1973, and Tiffany Banks Was Totally Winning at Gender by Ajuan Mance, 2017 – http://8-rock.com/
WEBCOMICS – WINNER:
O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti, (excerpts from 2017) – http://ohumanstar.com/
NOMINEES:
Cans of Beans, chapter 9 by Tamara Go, 2017 – http://www.cansofbeans.com/
SuperButch Issue 1 by Becky Hawkins and Barry Deutsch, 2017 – http://superbutchcomic.com/
Monster Pop! by Maya Kern, (excerpt from 2017) – http://monsterpop.mayakern.com/
Superpose by Ciaran and Anka C, (excerpt from August 2017-November 2017) – http://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 – http://ahcomics.com/wordpress/moonshot-volume-2/
NOMINEES:
Steam Clean by Laura Ķeniņš, May 2017 – http://retrofit.storenvy.com/products/20070341-steam-clean-by-laura-kenins
My Favorite Thing Is Monsters by Emil Ferris, Fantagraphics, February 2017 – http://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 – http://datesanthology.com/collaborators2016
NOMINEES:
Power & Magic: IMMORTAL SOULS edited by Joamette Gil, 2017 – http://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
The judges for the award were (myself included)
AJ Real (Advanced Death Saves edited by Josh Trujillo) – @darkshifter
Ajuan Mance (Gender Studies; Alphabet; We’re Still Here) – http://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
In keeping with the creative spirit of LGBTQAI+ comics creators, the Awards themselves are hand-crafted with design by Nina L. Taylor Kester (Queer Comics Expo) including a glass rainbow by Amy Karadbil and etched comic book base by Barry Figgins (Lyris Laser Studio). The panel closed with encouragement for submissions for the 2019 Prism Awards which will open next Spring 2019 and will be announced through the Prism Comics website PrismComics.org. The Queer Comics Expo in partnership with the Cartoon Art Museum which held the first Prism Awards ceremony in 2017 was also announced to return in 2019 with newsletter signups for updates at qcexpo.tumblr.com.
