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Finalists Announced For First Annual Prism Awards, Celebrating LGBTQ+ Creators And Comics

Published Wed, 05 Jul 2017 08:00:16 -0500

Prism Comics have announced the finalists for their first annual Prism Awards. Prism Comics, an organisation that celebrates and helps LGBTQ+ creators and comics, is establishing this new award for the best of LGBTQ+ representation and diversity within the medium. The winners will be announced at the Queer Comics Expo, being held this weekend at the SOMArts Cultural Centre in San Francisco on July 8th.

The panel of 12 expert judges have selected several works in each category that have expanded inclusiveness in fiction and non-fiction comics.

The categories and finalists are:

BEST SHORT FORM COMIC FINALISTS

Nothing Wrong With Me by Dylan Edwards
Flux by E Jackson
Liar by Hari Conner
The Kiss of the Demoness by Gillian Pascasio

BEST WEBCOMIC FINALISTS

With Great Abandon by EH MacMillian
Failing Sky: Ghost Story by Scout Tran-Caffee
Villainette by Scout Tran-Caffee

BEST COMIC FROM A SMALL TO MIDSIZE PRESS FINALISTS

Destiny, NY Volume One: Who I Used to Be by Pat Shand (Writer), Manuel Preitano (Artist), Jim Campbell (Letterer), and Shannon Lee (Editor)
Short Gay Stories by H-P Lehkonen
Active Voice The Comic Collection by P. Kristen Enos (writer), Heidi Ho (contributing writer), Casandra Grullon (artist), Derek Chua (artist), Leesamarie Croal (artist), Beth Varni (artist), and Dan Parent (cover art)

BEST SINGLE ISSUE FROM A MAINSTREAM PUBLISHER FINALISTS

Supergirl: Being Super #1 by Mariko Tamaki (writer), Joëlle Jones (pencils), Sandu Florea (inks), Kelly Fitzpatrick (colorist), Saida Temofonte (letters), Jones and Fitzpatrick (cover art)
The Backstagers #1 by James Tynion IV (writer), and Rian Sygh (artist)
Lumberjanes #17 by Noelle Stevenson (writer), Shannon Watters (writer), and Brooke Allen (artist)

BEST ANTHOLOGY FINALISTS

Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfé R. Monster & Taneka Stotts
POWER & MAGIC: The Queer Witch Comics Anthology edited by Joamette Gil
Food Porn edited by Gina Biggs
Chainmail Bikini: The Anthology of Women Gamers edited by Hazel Newlevant

The 2017 Prism Awards Judging Panel:

Rob McMonigal is a nonbinary writer who lives in Portland Oregon with too many cats and is the head writer of the Eisner Nominated comics review site Panel Patter.
Ajuan Mance is a genderqueer nerd, a Professor at Mills College, the author of Inventing Black Women and Proud Legacy, the editor of the anthology Before There Was Harlem, and the creator of the portrait series 1001 Black Men.
Kirwan McHarry authored "Border Dwellers in Boys' Love Manga" in On the Edge of the Panel (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2015), and co-edited a special section on BL manga for the Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics (4:1: 1-8).
Jon Erik Christianson is a comics journalist who aspires to Lois Lane greatness (in a universe where she's given her due credit).
Jack Baur is a Teen Services Librarian at the Berkeley Public Library, and the co-host of the (erratically updated) In the Library With a Comic Book podcast.
AJ Real is an educator, QPOC, blue lantern, Hufflepuff, games enthusiast, and Pokémon master. He can be found online wherever evil and heteronormativity must be vanquished.
Mel Reiff Hill is the illustrator and co-author of the GENDER book, an illustrated gender 101 for everyone! Find more of their work online here.
Nia King is the the author of Queer & Trans Artists of Color, Volumes 1 & 2 and the host and producer of We Want the Airwaves podcast.
Brian Andersen is a life-long comic book lovin' gay geek, a contributor to The Advocate and writer of "Stripling Warrior," featuring gay Mormon superheroes.
Heidi MacDonald is the editor-in-chief of Comics Beat, an award-winning site about graphic novels.
Mey Rude is a bi, trans Chicana and is a writer/editor at Autostraddle and consults on and edits comic books.
William O. Tyler is the creator of WoT's Cinephilia, a webcomic that studies the love of movies and how they shape us.