The Ignatz Awards recognize outstanding achievements in comics and cartooning by small press creators or creator-owned projects published by larger publishers. They have been awarded each year at the Small Press Expo since 1997, only skipping a year in 2001 due to the show's cancellation after the September 11 attacks. SPX has been held in either Bethesda, North Bethesda, or Silver Spring, Maryland.
The Ignatz Awards are named in honour of George Herriman and his strip Krazy Kat, which featured a brick-throwing mouse named Ignatz.
Awards criteria
As one of the few festival awards rewarded in comics, the Ignatz Awards are voted on by attendees of the annual Small Press Expo (SPX, or The Expo, its corporate name), a weekend convention and tradeshow showcasing creator-owned comics. Nominations for the Ignatz Awards are made by a five-member jury panel consisting of comic book professionals.
The jury panel remains anonymous (from both the public as well as each other) until the announcement of the awards. Jurors are prohibited from nominating their own work. However, there is no prohibition of one jury member's work being nominated for an award by his or her fellow jurors.
History
The first comics industry awards given the title "Ignatz" originated at the OrlandoCon, held in Orlando, Florida, from 1974 to 1994. The current Ignatz Awards are not connected with OrlandoCon. The SPX Ignatz Awards were conceived in 1996 by SPX organizer Chris Oarr and cartoonist Ed Brubaker. Their original mandate, to set the Ignatz apart from "mainstream" awards like the Eisner Awards, was that the work nominated be creator-owned, and focus more on work done by a single writer/artist.
The Award was administered by Jeff Alexander from 1998 to 2006, when they were taken over by Greg McElhatton. During his tenure as Ignatz Award Coordinator, Alexander drew a strip for the annual award program in George Herriman's style.
Award categories
The Ignatz is awarded in the following categories: Outstanding Artist Outstanding Anthology (added in 2017) Outstanding Collection (added in 2017) Outstanding Graphic Novel (added in 2005) Outstanding Story Promising New Talent Outstanding Series Outstanding Comic Outstanding Minicomic Outstanding Online Comic (added in 2001)
Discontinued categories
Outstanding Graphic Novel or Collection (1997–2004, replaced in 2005 by two separate awards) Outstanding Debut Comic (2000–2008) Outstanding Anthology or Collection (2005–2016, replaced in 2017 by two separate awards)