Comic-Con International has announced the nominees for the 2025 Russ Manning Newcomer Award. The nominees were chosen by a panel consisting of board and committee members of Comic-Con International and a San Diego comics retailer. Past Manning Award winners and Russ Manning assistants will determine the winner.
This year’s nominees are:
Richard Blake, writer/artist of Hexagon Bridge (Image)
Pierre-Alexandre Comtois, writer/artist of Sunder, vol. 1 (Mad Cave)
Adrian Gutiérrez, artist of Batman/Superman: World’s Finest and Blue Beetle (DC)
S.S. Julian, writer/artist of Octopolis (Cephalotype)
Barbara Mazzi, writer/artist of Hourglass (Silver Sprocket)
What is the Russ Manning Newcomer Award?
About the Russ Manning Newcomer Award:
“The Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award has been given out annually at Comic-Con since 1982. It is presented to a comics artist who, early in their career, shows a superior knowledge and ability in the art of creating comics. It is named after Russ Manning, the artist best known for his work on the Tarzan and Star Wars newspaper strips, as well as the Magnus, Robot Fighter comic book. Russ was a popular guest at the San Diego convention in the 1970s.
The first recipient of the award was former Manning assistant Dave Stevens, who went on to create The Rocketeer. Other past recipients have included Jan Duursema, Steve Rude, Scott McCloud, Art Adams, Eric Shanower, Dan Brereton, Jeff Smith, Gene Ha, David Petersen, Eleanor Davis, Tyler Crook, Dan Mora, Anne Szabala, Zoe Thorogood, and Greg Smallwood.“
