With SPX right around the corner, the 2025 Ignatz Awards nominations are in with – as ever – a tidy mix of indie and alternative work, big and small. Online voting will close 8pm (ET) September 12, with the winners announced at a ceremony taking place September 13 during SPX weekend.
Comprised of ten categories, eligible nominees had to have been published between June 1, 2024 and May 31, 2025.
Breaking down the list
The ‘most nominated publisher’ race is pretty tight this year. Drawn & Quarterly narrowly take the lead with five total nominations – including three of the five spots in the Outstanding Collection category: Rachel Ang‘s I Ate the Whole World to Find You; Michael D. Kennedy‘s Milk White Steed; and Keiler Roberts‘ Preparing to Bite. D&Q is closely followed by both Fantagraphics and Silver Sprocket with four nominations apiece. Young up and comer small press CRAM Books (founded in 2021) notched a total of three nominations – in Outstanding Collection (Max Huffman‘s Them-Shaped Cloud), Outstanding Comic (Connie Meyers‘ Big Gamble Rainbow Highway) and Promising New Talent (Connie Meyers).
Besides Connie Meyers’ two nominations, Chad Bilyeu and Juliette de Wit also have two nominations for Chad Bilyeu’s autobiographical saga, The Re-Up, in Outstanding Series and Outstanding Comic for latest issue (#6).
In the Outstanding Graphic Novel category there are two books apiece from Drawn & Quarterly (María Medem‘s Land of Mirrors; and Tara Booth‘s Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It) and Fantagraphics (Kayla E.‘s Precious Rubbish; and Mieke Versyp & Sabien Clement‘s Skin). Tim Bird‘s graphic novel Adrift on a Painted Sea rounds out the category with one of publisher Avery Hill’s two nominations.
There are a few surprises in this year’s nominees list with comparatively more mainstream oriented publishers drawing the eye of the 2025 judges, particularly in the Outstanding Anthology category, where Dark Horse and DSTLRY each have a book featured. Iron Circus, NBM, Top Shelf, Black Panel Press, and Field Mouse Press all make appearances.
IGNATZ AWARDS 2025 — NOMINATIONS
OUTSTANDING ARTIST
- Sarah Airriess, The Worst Journey in the World (Iron Circus Comics)
- Deb JJ Lee, Death Fiddles and We Dance (Self-Published/Shortbox)
- Kazimir Lee, Low Orbit (Top Shelf Productions)
- Lomig, JOHN MUIR: To the Heart of Solitude (NBM Graphic Novels)
- Anders Nilsen, Tongues Supplement #1 (NoMiracles)
OUTSTANDING ANTHOLOGY
- Braba: A Brazilian Comics Anthology, ed. Rafael Grampá and Janaína de Luna (Fantagraphics)
- Come Find Me, ed. Will Dennis and Sean Edgar (DSTLRY)
- Datura Magazine vol. 3, ed. Sunmi and Mar Julia (Self-Published)
- Loud: Stories to Make Your Voice Heard, ed. Brett Israel (Dark Horse Comics)
- Rust Belt Review vol. 6, by Sean Knickerbocker (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING COLLECTION
- I Ate the Whole World to Find You, by Rachel Ang (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Milk White Steed, by Michael D. Kennedy (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Preparing to Bite, by Keiler Roberts (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Them-Shaped Cloud, by Max Huffman (CRAM Books)
- World Within the World, by Julia Gfrörer (Fantagraphics)
OUTSTANDING COMIC
- Belly Full of Heart, by Madeline Mouse (Silver Sprocket)
- Big Gamble Rainbow Highway, by Connie Meyers (CRAM Books)
- Lucky Cap Scouts, by O. Stevens (Silver Sprocket)
- The Re-Up #6, by Chad Bilyeu and Juliette de Wit (Bistro Books)
- Tongues Supplement #1, by Anders Nilsen (NoMiracles)
OUTSTANDING GRAPHIC NOVEL
- Adrift on a Painted Sea, by Tim Bird (Avery Hill Publishing)
- Land of Mirrors, by María Medem (translated by Aleshia Jensen & Daniela Ortiz) (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Precious Rubbish, by Kayla E. (Fantagraphics)
- Processing: 100 Comics That Got Me Through It, by Tara Booth (Drawn and Quarterly)
- Skin, by Mieke Versyp and Sabien Clement (Fantagraphics)
OUTSTANDING MINICOMIC
- Allodynia, by Violet Kitchen (Self-Published)
- Big Apple Matinee, by A. T. Pratt (Self-Published)
- The Connoisseurs, by Alex Swift (Frog Farm)
- The Mole, by Arantza Peña Popo (Self-Published)
- Szarlotka, by Jas Hice (Frog Farm)
OUTSTANDING ONLINE COMIC
OUTSTANDING SERIES
- Disciples of Soil, by B. Mure (Avery Hill Publishing)
- PeePee PooPoo, by Caroline Cash (Silver Sprocket)
- The Re-Up, by Chad Bilyeu & Juliette de Wit (Bistro Books)
- Tongues, by Anders Nilsen (NoMiracles)
- Wedding Juice, by Sanika Phawde (Self-Published)
OUTSTANDING STORY
A Pillbug Story, by Allison Conway (Black Panel Press)
Ballad for Black Cassandra, by Olivia Stephens (Self-Published)
Boy Island, by Leo Fox (Silver Sprocket)
How to Talk to Your Succulent, by Zoe Persico (Tundra Book Group)
Ruin of the House of the Divine Visage, by Spire Greenwood and Eve Greenwood (Self-Published)
PROMISING NEW TALENT
- Trishelle Jeffery, Best Breasts in the West (Fieldmouse Press)
- Mili St. John, The Edge of Autumn (Self-Published)
- Ricky Lima and Daniele Aquilani, Undergrowth (Top Shelf Productions)
- Connie Meyers, Big Gamble Rainbow Highway (CRAM books)
- Vicky Yang, Unmoored (Self-Published)
