For the last three years, the PRISM Awards have aimed to celebrate the best of LGBTQIA+ comics. Founded by PRISM Comics, The Cartoon Art Museum, and The Queer Comics Expo, the awards give prizes in five categories, Best Short Form Comic, Best Webcomic, Best Comic From a Small to Midsize Press, Best Comic From a Mainstream Publisher, and Best Comic Anthology. Each category was judged by three expert judges.
At SDCC, the winners were announced by a panel including the founders of the awards, and some of the judges. On the presentation panel were Maia Kobabe (“Gender Queer”), Ted Abenheim (PRISM Comics), Nina L. Taylor Kester (Queer Comics Expo), Sina Grace (“Ice Man”), Heidi MacDonald (The Beat), and Rob McMonigal (Panel Patter). In his introduction, Abenheim said “The goal of the award is to promote excellence in this field.” While this award might have been around a tenth the time of the Eisners, the works it rewards are vital and growing.
The categories mean that winners come from across comics, from the mainstream to the underground. The mainstream category was won by the OGN “Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass” from Boom Studios, spinning off from the long running “Lumberjanes” series. While the small press prize went to “Meal,” a book “about eating bugs” from Iron Circus. While “Superbutch” took the web category, “See Me” by e Jackson, about asexuality and transitioning, won the short form award. Finally, an anthology by queer prisoners, “ABO Comix Vol 2” won the best anthology prize.
See the winners, marked in bold, and other nominees in full below:
Best Short Form Comic
“See me” by e Jackson
“You Don’t Have to Be Afraid of Me” by Victor Martins
“Fazenda De Sangue Azul” by H. Pueyo and Dante Luiz
Best Webcomic
“SuperButch” by Barry Deutsch & Becky Hawkins
“After the Fog” by H-P Lehkonen
“Null Point” by Amara Sherm
Best Comic From a Small to Midsize Press
“Meal” by Blue Delliquanti and Soleil Ho
“The Lie and How We Told It” by Tommy Parish
“It Will Be Hard” by Hien Pham
Best Comic From a Mainstream Publisher
“Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass” by Lilah Sturges, polterink, and Jim Campbell
“Runaways” #12 by Rainbow Rowell, Kris Anka, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Carmagna
“Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles” #6 by Mark Russel, Brandee Stilwell, Paul Mounts, Jeremy Lawson, Rose Campbell, Ben Caldwell, Mike Morales, Gus Vazquez, Sean Parsons, and Mike Feehan
Best Comic Anthology
“ABO Comix Vol. 2: A Comic Anthology by LGBTQ Prisoners” edited by Casper Cendre
“Being True: LGBTQ+ Comics From The Boston Comics Roundtable” edited by Renie Jesanis, Kyri Lorenz, and Steph Rose Glass
“Group Chat” edited by Carolynn Calabrese, Jenny Mott, Ashley Gallagher, and Rachel Weiss