2023 Inkwell Award Winners!

The Inkwell Awards recently announced the winners of the 2023 Inkwell Awards. As a member of the Inkwell Awards nomination committee, I'm happy to have played a part in assisting in the recognition of those inkers who are recognized by fans as being the best in the biz. Congratulations to all of those who won!

2023 Inkwell Awards Are Live!

I've been a member of the Inkwell Awards nomination committee since the award's 2nd year and I'm very pleased to note that the 2023 ballot is currently live at the Inkwell Awards website! I believe strongly in supporting the art of inking in comics and the Inkwell Awards are the greatest body of inkers concerned with honouring their colleagues. If you have any kind of opinion on inked art in comics, you owe it to yourself to vote!

The Inkwell Awards are live!

As a member of the Inkwell Awards nomination committee, I am pleased to note that the Inkwell Awards ballot is currently live for comic books published in 2021! The Inkwell Awards celebrate excellence in comic book inking. Click here to see the ballot on the Inkwell Awards website! Anyone can vote!

2020 Inkwell Awards Ballot Is Live

If you feel strongly about supporting the art of inking in comic books then I encourage you to visit the Inkwell Awards website and vote your opinion on the best inking of 2020. I'm a long-time member of the nomination committee and I hope you share my interest in supporting and promoting inking.

RIP Joe Sinnott

Joe Sinnott has passed away, aged 93. He was one of the all-time greatest inkers in comic books. He was especially renowned for the years he spent inking Jack Kirby, especially for inking most of the second half of Kirby's run on Fantastic Four. It's hard to overstate how important Sinnott's inks were to establishing the character of the Fantastic Four. From the craggy lines in the Thing's skin to the weird energy swirls of the Negative Zone, he provided a sense of consistency to the Fantastic Four series, returning to it again and again for about 25 years. He was so identified with Kirby's art that when Ron Frenz drew his Thor in imitation of Kirby, Sinnott inked him to exemplify the comparison.

Sinnott is especially important to me because of my fascination with Atlas Comics; in those days, Sinnott tended to both pencil and ink his work and he drew plenty of war, western and sci-fi comic books. Later in his life, he became involved with the Inkwell Awards, an organization which I've assisted by serving on their nomination committee for 10 years. Sinnott was so identified with the art of inking that his endorsement of the Inkwell Awards was a huge boon to the organization and made them a credible group. Although I never interacted with him in any of my comics gigs, I've always respected his art and it amazed me to see how long he continued to work, long past retirement!

Rest in peace, Mr. Sinnott.

My 11th year with the Inkwell Awards!

I am pleased to announce that for the 11th year in a row, I am serving on the nomination committee of the Inkwell Awards. The Inkwell Awards remain the comic book industry's greatest champion of the oft-overlooked art of comic book inking. The official announcement of the committee can be found here. Keep watching for the 2020 ballot!

11th Inkwell Awards Presented!

Last week the 11th annual Inkwell Awards were presented at HeroesCon in North Carolina. You can see the list of winners here! I have been a contributing member of the Inkwell Awards Nomination Committee for ten years and I am always pleased to promote the Inkwell Awards whenever I can. More and more it seems like today's comic books are placing the art of inking on the sidelines when it should be a widely-celebrated form of comics art. The Inkwell Awards are one of the only organizations making an effort to promote inking as a vital piece of comic book storytelling.

The 2017 Inkwell Awards ballot is currently open!

For many years I have been proud to serve as a member of the nominations committee to the Inkwell Awards, a comic book award created by inkers for inkers. It seems as though more and more artists are opting to render the inking on their book themselves rather than employing a separate person as their inker (either from preference or financial necessity). For this reason, it is all the more important to honour the field of inking and those inkers whose embellishments enhance the work of the pencilers they uplift.

For that reason, I strongly encourage you to vote in the 2017 ballot at the Inkwell Awards website! The more people who get involved and identify their favourite inkers, the better the feedback to the community of inking professionals in the comic book industry. Go vote now!

Please vote in the 2011 Inkwell Awards!

Voting for the 2011 Inkwell Awards is live now and until April 30th, so please get down to the Inkwell Awards website and make your selections! It only takes a few minutes of your time, provided you're well-versed in the inking accomplishments of this year's nominees.

It was my pleasure to serve in the nominations committee once again this year; show your support for the often-forgotten occasionally-maligned artistry of inking by ensuring a healthy voter turnout for the Inkwell Awards to sustain these marks of recognition for years to come!

...Where was I?

So, this blog has become a very occasional thing for me lately; apologies to anyone who's been dropping by hoping to see updated content, only to be disappointed. I do have plans for this blog's future and hope to get some regular features running.

For now, I will observe that the Inkwell Awards were handed out this last weekend; my favorite inker Al Williamson joined the hall of fame, so thank you everyone who sent in their votes!

Vote in this year's Inkwell Awards!

Yes, it's time to exercise your democratic rights! Go to the Inkwell Awards and complete the ballot with your selections on the best inking from comic books of the previous year! The awards will be handed out in October, but don't wait for the results - get in now and make a little history with your vote!

Out of the inkwell

Since it's finally been given away on the web, I can blog about it here: I'm serving on the nominations committee of the 2010 Inkwell Awards!

Founded by Bob Almond, since 2008 the Inkwell Awards have been recognizing inkers, those artists whose contributions to comic books are crucial but often overlooked. The ballot for the 2010 awards will go live this August. I'm please that Almond invited me to be part of this year's nominations committee and I'm excited to see where the final ballot and results will lead!