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Image Comics Asks For Nominations For The Best Comic Book Shops

Image Comics asks comic book readers to nominate their favourite comic book shops for the Image Select Retailer Award, to be awarded at SDCC

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Article Summary

  • Image Comics has opened nominations for the Spring 2026 Image Select Retailer Award, spotlighting standout comic shops.
  • Fans can nominate their favorite local comic book store by Friday, 10 July, based on service, outreach, and inclusivity.
  • The winning comic shop will be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con and receive prizes including publicity and a variant cover.
  • Image Comics says the award honors retailers who grow readership, with past winners spanning the US, UK, Australia, and Poland.

Image Comics has announced that the Image Select Retailer Award for Spring 2026 is now open for nominations. The deadline to nominate a store is this Friday, the 10th of July. They say "Starting today, Image invites fans to nominate their local comic shops for this award based on criteria such as: exemplary customer service, thoughtful and exciting handselling recommendations efforts, fostering a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere, easy-to-browse shelving, attractive and innovative displays, forward-thinking customer marketing and out-of-box consumer outreach, community engagement, robust inventory of and support for Image Comics and other creator-owned/indie comics."

SDCC: Image Comics Select Retailer Award Goes To Comics Etc. in Australia.

To nominate a shop, simply fill out this form with your local store's name, location, and summarise some of the ways the store goes the extra mile to create a great retail experience for you and other customers. The winner will be announced on Friday, the 24th of July at the Lunar Retailer Panel, part of the ComicsPRO Summit at San Diego Comic-Con which we talked about here, and the winning store will receive a commemorative medallion to display with pride, an Image Select Retailer Award window cling for their store's window, a spotlight Q&A to be featured on Image Comics' social media platforms and website, and the store's choice of an exclusive variant cover, branded as an Image Select Retailer Award winner, with store logo, limited to 250 copies.

The previous winners of the Image Select Retailer Award were Nirvana Comics in Knoxville, Tennessee, Hall of Justice Comics in Parker, Colorado, Peebles Comics & Games in Scotland, Four Color Fantasies in Winchester, Virginia, Comics Etc. in Australia, ACME Comics in Greensboro, North Carolina, and ATOM Comics in Poland.

"A while ago, we realized that there are several opportunities for the public recognition of artists, creators, and publishers, but only one annual award for retailers, who are the sales backbone of the industry. They are doing the legwork expanding the audience and creating new readers, and they deserve more accolades. We felt like we could help recognize and show some gratitude to the stores out there doing the good work, so the Image Comics Retailer Appreciation Award was born." – Alex Cox, Director of Direct Market Sales at Image Comics.

 

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Rich JohnstonAbout Rich Johnston

Founder of Bleeding Cool. The longest-serving digital news reporter in the world, since 1992. Author of comic books The Flying Friar, Holed Up, The Avengefuls, Doctor Who: Room With A Deja Vu, The Many Murders Of Miss Cranbourne and Chase Variant. Lives in South-West London, works from The Union Club on Greek Street, shops at Gosh, Piranha and Forbidden Planet. Father of two daughters, Amazon associate, political cartoonist.
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