The Inkwells: Comic Awards Become Even More Specialized

Bob Almond is launching the Inkwell Awards to “celebrate the often overlooked and underappreciated artistry of inking within the comic book industry.”

There are a whole bunch of categories:

Favorite inker
A) Retro (golden, silver & bronze age artists)
B) Modern (1990s to present)

Favorite finisher/embellisher (Known for doing finished inkwork over the layouts or breakdowns of a pencil artist)
A) Retro
B) Modern

Most-adaptable inker (Showing exceptional ink style versatility)

Most Prolific Inker

Props award (Inker deserving of more attention from any age; mainstream or small press/indie)

The call of duty award (Special consideration for an inker for donating their time and effort to the public and/or the comic community)

MVP (The go-to, troubleshooter Inker that can save/boost almost any job)

These make fine distinctions, and I’m not sure how the general public will know the factors being used just from seeing the finished art. They do say, “Open to both the public and the industry, please feel free to vote for every category or only those you feel informed enough about (some are more ‘shop-centric’ for the creators).”

There’s also the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award. For that one, you’re supposed to choose one of Dick Giordano, Tom Palmer, Joe Sinnott, Al Williamson, or Wally Wood. I would be very surprised if the first one didn’t go to the guy it was named after. That’s kind of a weird way to do things.

Even weirder is that I can’t figure out how one actually goes about voting. There’s no online form and no email address listed for sending in ballots. Maybe that information will be available once voting opens on April 1. Ballots are due by May 30, with winners announced July 1.

The physical award given out (shown here) is quite attractive. And unusual, for an online award to actually give winners something. I admire Bob for putting this together to promote a field he feels so passionately about, and good luck!