The Inkwell Awards has released the names of the winners of its tenth annual awards for excellence in the art form of comic book inking. As before, nominees were chosen by a separate and independent nomination committee. Voting for professionals and fans alike took place via live ballot at the non-profit advocacy’s website ran from April 15-30. With more nominees for the voter to choose from in each category on the ballot than ever before, one winner was chosen in each of five categories based on American-based interior comic-book work cover-dated 2016.
Separately, the Inkwells selected internally the two recipients of the annual Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award and, this year, two recipients for the Special Recognition Award (SRA) category. Winners were contacted and many of the invited guests were present to receive their trophies at North Carolina’s Heroes Con, the host show for the Inkwells, for the seventh live ceremony on Friday, June 16. Winners and nominees are listed below, along with the percentage of vote received, where applicable.
(Action Comics, Batman, Justice League, Superman: Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman [DC]; A-Force, All-New Wolverine, Avengers: Standoff, Civil War II: The Fallen, Drax, Nova, Squadron Supreme, Uncanny Inhumans, Web Warriors, [Marvel])
Other nominees: Sandra Hope-Archer (16.02%), Danny Miki (12.95%), Jonathan Glapion (12.53%), Matt Banning (12.22%), Tim Townsend (11.44%), Eber Ferriera (9.15%), Stefano Gaudiano (6.92%) and Mick Gray (5.2%)
MOST-ADAPTABLE INKER: Walden Wong (19.97%)
(Earth 2, Robin War [DC]; Jupiter's Circle v2 [Image]; All-New Wolverine, Guardians of Infinity, Max Ride, Web Warriors [Marvel])
Other nominees: Scott Hanna (14.87%), Sandra Hope-Archer (12.43%), Jonathan Glapion (12.38%), Mark Morales (11.23), Victor Olazaba (9.57%), Norm Rapmund (9.2%), Danny Miki (8.01%), Jay Leisten (4.42%), Wayne Faucher and Dexter Vines, both at (4.06%)
PROPS (inker deserving of more attention): Scott Hanna (24.34%)
(Action Comics, Batman, Justice League, Superman: Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman [DC]; A-Force, All-New Wolverine, Avengers: Standoff, Civil War II: The Fallen, Drax, Nova, Squadron Supreme, Uncanny Inhumans, Web Warriors, [Marvel])
Other nominees: Jonathan Glapion (19.14%), Klaus Janson (18.72%), Dexter Vines (13%), Tony Kordos (12.64%), Andrew Hennessey (9.67%) and Jason Paz (6.76%)
S.P.A.M.I. (Small Press and Mainstream Independent): Jonathan Glapion (23.45%)
Other nominees: Stefano Gaudiano (23.09%), Karl Story (22.93%), Brian Shearer (13.68%), Ryan Winn (12.43%) and Cliff Rathburn (6.66%)
ALL-IN-ONE (pencilling and inking together): Erik Larsen (18.46%)
Other nominees: Nicola Scott (16.33%), Liam Sharp (16.28%), Stan Sakai (13.99%), Walter Simonson (12.95%), Jerome Opena (9.98%) and Joelle Jones (6.71%)
THE SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARD (The SRA): (golden/silver-age) Violet Barclay aka Valerie Smith and (bronze/modern-age) Allen Milgrom
Other nominees: Michael Allred, Sy Barry, John Byrne, Ernie Chan, Jack Davis, Tony Dezuniga, Will Elder, Mike Esposito, Frank Frazetta, Gerhard, Geoff Isherwood, George Klein, Frank McLaughlin, Mike Mignola and Mike Royer.
THE JOE SINNOTT HALL OF FAME: Jerry Ordway and Rudy Nebres.
Other nominees: Mike DeCarlo, Mark Farmer, Bob Layton (runner-up), Pablo Marcos, Bob McLeod and Mike Royer.
Joe Sinnott, the award’s namesake and first recipient, made a statement recently regarding this year’s inductees:
“I was quite pleased to hear that the Inkwell Awards
has selected two very deserving inkers into the
Hall of Fame class of 2016: Frank Giacoia and Josef
Rubinstein.
Frank was a fabulous inker and a good friend of
mine, who left us much too soon. It was always
a pleasure meeting up with Frank at shows and
spending time with him. Frank’s smooth, thick line
graced the pages of virtually every Marvel title. I
really enjoyed Frank’s inking over Jack Kirby on
Captain America. Like myself, we pretty much
inked the Marvel Universe.
Joe is an outstanding inker and portrait artist as well.
I absolutely am honored by the great job he did in
capturing my likeness for the cover of the 2nd Annual
Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge. I once pencilled a piece
that Joe inked for The Official Handbook of the Marvel
Universe Index collection. At that time Joe was doing
all these Marvel Universe books and he told me that
he had actually worked on more Marvel characters
than I had. Joe also did some great background inks
on the Superman Vs. Spider-Man Treasury Edition that
I inked over John Buscema.
It is wonderful that Frank and Joe are the recipients
of the 2016 Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award. These
two superb artists make the already great list of Hall
of Famers even more elite.
Thank you to the Inkwell’s committee for electing
them, and thanks to everyone for their continued
support of the Inkwell Awards.
Joe Sinnott
The ceremony kicked off with a special appearance by Guest Speaker and industry legend Joe Giella who discussed the artform of comic-book inking, his career in the medium and its artists. Inkwell Awards founder and director Bob Almond acted as both ceremony host and co-presenter, joined by hostess “Ms. Inkwell,” as portrayed by Hailey Skaza-Gagne (formerly Holly Black). Artist and Inkwell Assistant Director Mike Pascale acted as co-presenter. Industry pioneer Allen Bellman acted as guest speaker to discuss his days in art school and at Timely Comics alongside SRA award recipient Violet Barclay. Joe Goulart gave a tribute for his friend and recently departed legendary creator and Inkwell Ambassador Rich Buckler. Bob gave a tribute for longstanding and inspiring Inkwell member Stacey Aragon who recently passed after a decade long battle with cancer. He renamed the SRA Award the Stacey Aragon Special Recognition Award (SRA) starting in 2018. All acceptance statements from the winners can be found in the “Results” section of the Inkwell Awards' website in the near future.