Comic Professionals Honor Peers at the 2016 Harvey Awards Banquet

BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - September 4, 2016- Comic Professionals came together Saturday night, September 3, 2016 to honor their peers during the presentation of the 2016 Harvey Awards, sponsored by Presenting Sponsors Cards, Comics & Collectibles and the Baltimore Comic-Con; Gold Sponsors BOOM! Studios, Geppi Family Enterprises, LINE Webtoon/DeviantArt; Silver Sponsors Akuna Entertainment, Borderlands Comics and Games, ComicMix, Hakes Americana and Collectibles, Insight Studios Group, Painted Visions Comics, The School for Good and Evil, and Valiant Entertainment; and Gift Bag Sponsors Abrams ComicArts, Action Lab Entertainment, Archie Comic Publications, Book Blaze, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Select Toys, Hakes Americana and Collectibles, IDW Publishing, PCB Productions, The School for Good and Evil, Skybound, Soho Press, Valiant Entertainment, and Wildside Press. The banquette to honor those nominated and the winners in more than 20 categories was hosted by the Baltimore Comic-Con and Cards, Comics & Collectibles.

Named in honor of Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards recognize outstanding achievement in the field of comics, and is the only industry award both nominated and selected by comic professionals. First awarded in 1988, it is one the industries oldest and most respected awards.

Vivek Tiwary, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Fifth Beatle, Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, and founder of multi-platform arts and entertainment company Tiwary Entertainment Group, returned to act as host and Master of Ceremonies for this year's event.

Special thanks go to the sponsors who generously donated to the 2016 Harvey Gift Bags, including: Abrams ComicArts, Action Lab Entertainment, Archie Comic Publications, Book Blaze, BOOM! Studios, Dark Horse Comics, Diamond Select Toys, Hakes Americana and Collectibles, IDW Publishing, PCB Productions, The School for Good and Evil, Skybound, Soho Press, Valiant Entertainment, and Wildside Press.

This year's winners include: Best Letterer: John Workman, RAGNAROK, IDW Publishing Best Colorist: Laura Allred, SILVER SURFER, Marvel Comics Best Syndicated Strip or Panel: BLOOM COUNTY, Berkeley Breathed, Universal Uclick Best Online Comics Work: BATTLEPUG, Mike Norton, battlepug.com Best American Edition of Foreign Material: Tie: TWO BROTHERS, Dark Horse Books and CORTO MALTESE: BEYOND THE WINDY ISLES, IDW Publishing Best Inker: Klaus Janson, DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE, DC Comics Best New Series: PAPER GIRLS, Image Comics Most Promising New Talent: Tom King, THE VISION, Marvel Comics Special Award for Humor in Comics: Chip Zdarsky, HOWARD THE DUCK, Marvel Comics Best Original Graphic Publication for Younger Readers: LUMBERJANES, BOOM! Box/BOOM! Studios Best Graphic Album Previously Published: THE LESS THAN EPIC ADVENTURES OF TJ AND AMAL, Iron Circus Comics Special Award for Excellence in Presentation: PEANUTS: A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES M. SCHULZ, Scott Newman, KaBOOM!/BOOM! Studios Best Domestic Reprint Project: CRIMSON VOL. 1, BOOM! Studios Best Cover Artist: Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics Best Biographical, Historical, or Journalistic Presentation: MARCH: BOOK TWO, Top Shelf Productions Best Anthology: PEANUTS: A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES M. SCHULZ, KaBOOM!/BOOM! Studios Best Graphic Album Original: MARCH: BOOK TWO, Top Shelf Productions Best Continuing or Limited Series: SAGA, Image Comics Best Writer: Brian K. Vaughan, SAGA, Image Comics Best Artist: Fiona Staples, SAGA, Image Comics Best Cartoonist: Stan Sakai, USAGI YOJIMBO Best Single Issue or Story: PEANUTS: A TRIBUTE TO CHARLES M. SCHULZ, BOOM! Studios Harvey Kurtzman Hall of Fame Award: Carl Barks, Al Jaffee Dick Giordano Humanitarian of the Year Award: Beth Widera Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award: Joe Giella

In addition, the Baltimore Comic-Con would like to thank those individuals who presented at this year's award ceremony, including: Keynote speaker Dean Haspiel, Christina Alger, Amy Chu, Katie Cooke, Steve Geppi, Denis Kitchen, Charlie Kochman, Hope Larson, Paul Levitz, Terry Moore, David Petersen, Filip Sablik, Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson, Mark Waid, and Dirk Wood. We would also like to thank Mark Wheatley for his contributions to our program guide for the evening and awards ceremony presentation, Jerry Carr for assisting with the awards ceremony presentation, and Glenn Hauman for his "web mastery". The Baltimore Comic-Con will host the Harvey Awards for the eleventh year during the 18th annual show, taking place September 22-24, 2017.

In the coming months, look for more announcements from the Baltimore Comic-Con. We are looking forward to highlighting our guests, the Harvey Awards, industry exclusives, and programming. The latest developments can always be found on our website, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook pages.