The Ledger Awards

The Ledger Awards are prizes awarded to "acknowledge excellence in Australian comic art and publishing."[1] Named after pioneering Australian cartoonist Peter Ledger (1945–1994), the awards were first held in 2005 to help promote and focus attention on Australian creators and their projects, both in Australia and overseas. Initially, the awards were held annually and announced online on or around Australia Day, 26 January. In recent years, they have been held at the State Library of Victoria on the Friday evening before the Melbourne Supanova convention.

Ledger Award
Awarded forExcellence in Australian comic art and publishing
LocationMelbourne
CountryAustralia
First awarded2005
Websitehttp://ledgerawards.org

History

The Ledger Awards began in 2004 as a fully independent, non-profit initiative. They were presented under the auspices of LitterArtsy, a non-profit coalition of creators, publishers and web sites promoting literacy, creativity, craft and excellence through comics and sequential art, and had no affiliations or links with organisations, businesses, or other parties.

The Ledger Awards were presented annually until 2007, when they went on hiatus. In 2010 it was announced that a new Ledger Awards Organising Committee had been formed; the Committee held an inaugural meeting, with a view to the awards being re-established in 2011.

In late 2013, it was announced that the Ledger Awards would return after a five-year hiatus in April 2014, with a new major sponsor, Supanova Pop Culture Expo.[2] The 2014 Ledger Awards ceremony was held 11 April 2014, at the State Library of Victoria.

On 12 April 2014, the Ledger Awards named "gap year" award recipients for the years 2008–2013 when no Ledger Awards were distributed.[3]

Awards

2004

Nominees were suggested through a forum thread, compiled into a poll and winners were decided by popular vote. The winners were announced on Australia Day, 2005.

The nominees and winners in the first year were

PERSON OF THE YEAR

  • Mark Selan (Winner)
  • Aaron Burgess
  • Daniel Zachariou

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR

  • Gary Chaloner's John Law in print (Winner)
  • Dillon Naylor's 2004 (Batrisha wear in Target etc.)
  • Phase Two Comics

NEW TALENT DESERVING WIDER RECOGNITION

  • Matt Huynh (Winner)
  • Jase Harper
  • Chelsea Fritzlaff

SMALL PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

  • Eat Comics, Tonia Walden, editor (Winner)
  • Sporadic, Jase Harper & Jules Faber, editors
  • Dirty Little Creep, Mandy Ord

INDEPENDENT PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

  • The Crumpleton Experiments, Nautilus Illustrations (Winner)
  • Killeroo, Ozone Studios
  • Azerath, Creatorline/Phosphorescent Comics

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR

  • Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking, IDW (Winner)
  • Small Gods, Image Comics
  • District X, Marvel Comics

ANTHOLOGY OF THE YEAR

  • Eat Comics, Tonia Walden, editor (Winner)
  • Sporadic, Jase Harper & Jules Faber, editors
  • The Ink, Aaron Burgess, editor

WEBCOMIC OF THE YEAR

  • Platinum Grit (Winner)
  • Will Eisner's John Law
  • Raymondo Person

WRITER OF THE YEAR

  • Trudy Cooper et al. (Winner)
  • Christian Read
  • Daniel Reed

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • Trudy Cooper (Winner)
  • Jason Badower
  • Jase Harper

INKER OF THE YEAR

  • Gary Chaloner (Winner)
  • Doug Holgate
  • Darren Close
  • Daniel Reed

COLOURIST OF THE YEAR

  • Annette Kwok (Winner)
  • Doug Holgate
  • Jason Badower

LETTERER OF THE YEAR

  • Gary Chaloner (Winner)
  • Jason Paulos
  • Jason Kovacs

COVER ARTIST OF THE YEAR

  • Gary Chaloner, Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking (Winner)
  • Matt Huynh, Domino Joe, Bloom
  • Jason Badower, Killeroo Book 2

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR

  • 'Law, Luck and a Dead Eyed Mystic' (Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking), Gary Chaloner (Winner)
  • The Eldritch Kid #1, Christian Read & Christopher Burns
  • 'Meat Burger Heaven' (Eat Comics), Dean Rankine
  • 'Good for the Goose' (Killeroo Book 2), Jan Napiorkowski & Jason Badower

COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR

  • Batrisha (K-Zone et al.), Dillon Naylor (Winner)
  • Grossgirl and Boogerboy (Mania), Dean Rankine
  • Raymondo Person, Patrick Alexander

RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR

  • Kings Comics, Sydney (Winner)
  • Phase Two Comics, online
  • Minotaur Books, Melbourne

DESIGN OR PRESENTATION OF THE YEAR

  • The Watch: Casus Belli, design by Karen Howard (Winner)
  • Killeroo Book Two, design by Darren Close
  • Keychain Comics, design by Aaron Burgess

LEDGER OF HONOUR

  • Peter Ledger* (automatically inducted)
  • Gary Chaloner (Winner)
  • Trudy Cooper
  • Tim McEwen
  • Tonia Walden

2005

Feedback from the first Awards resulted in a reduction in categories and the installation of a Judges Panel. Again, nominations were made by the public through postings on a message board forum. Some categories were decided by public vote, others were judged by the panel.

The first iteration of the Judges Panel was Mark Selan, Denis Kitchen, Roger Langridge, Glen Lumsden and Kevin Patrick. Denis Kitchen pulled out and was replaced with Mark Waid, Waid was then replaced by RC Harvey. Both Langridge and Harvey were replaced by Tad Pietrzykowski and Gary Chaloner.

The popular voted winners were announced on Australia Day 2006.

Publicly voted categories

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR (Australian artist, publisher, entrepreneur or event - business or creative)

  • GOLD: Operation Funnybone (Glen Shearer, co-ordinator)
  • SILVER: OzComics 24 Hour Comics Challenge (Mark Selan, co-ordinator)
  • BRONZE: Pulp Faction Forums (Maggie McFee, co-ordinator)

TALENT DESERVING WIDER RECOGNITION (In recognition of excellence in 2005 - print or web)

  • GOLD: Stephen Crowley
  • SILVER: Dean Rankine
  • BRONZE: Steve Martinez

RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR (In recognition of Australian retail excellence and support during the year)

  • GOLD: Phase Two Comics, online
  • SILVER: Kings Comics, Sydney
  • BRONZE: Minotaur Books, Melbourne

FAVOURITE FOREIGN COMIC BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR (Favourite comic book or graphic novel (English or foreign language) released by overseas publishers during the year)

FAVOURITE FOREIGN CREATOR OF THE YEAR (Favourite international creator (artist, writer etc.) with work released during the year)

Peer voted categories

The Judges Awards were announced at Doujicon on 28 July 2006

SMALL PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR (Mini comics, zines featuring comic content etc.)

  • GOLD: Happy Birthday Anyway - Matt Huynh
  • SILVER: Pirates - Tonia Walden
  • BRONZE: Dreams of Tomorrow - Liz Argall

INDEPENDENT PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR (Local publishers distributing mainly in Australia)

  • GOLD: Eldritch Kid by Christian Read (story) & Christopher Burns (Art), Phosphorescent Comics/Creatorline
  • SILVER: Platinum Grit by Trudy Cooper, Doug Bayne and Danny Murphy
  • BRONZE: The Crumpleton Experiments by Daniel Reed, Nautilus Illustrations

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR (Titles distributed overseas and within Australia featuring Australian talent)

WEBCOMIC OR COMIC OF THE YEAR (Webcomics or comic strips produced by Australian creators)

  • GOLD: Big Fun Mega Happy Pet Land by Jase Harper (Mania Magazine)
  • SILVER: Magellan by Stephen Crowley
  • BRONZE: Raymondo Person by Patrick Alexander

WRITER OF THE YEAR (In recognition of writing excellence in 2005 by an Australian creator - print or web)

  • GOLD: Trudy Cooper (Platinum Grit)
  • SILVER: Christian Read (Eldritch Kid, various)
  • BRONZE: Matt Huynh (Happy Birthday Anyway, various)

ARTIST OF THE YEAR (Full art, penciller, painter or multimedia. In recognition of excellence in 2005 by an Australian creator - print or web)

  • GOLD: Doug Holgate ('Laika', various)
  • SILVER: Trudy Cooper (Platinum Grit)
  • BRONZE: Matt Huynh (Happy Birthday Anyway, various)

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR (In recognition of excellence in a particular issue or short story in 2005 by an Australian creator/s - print or web)

PRODUCTION DESIGN OF THE YEAR (Australian artist, publisher, entrepreneur or event - business or creative)

  • GOLD: Glen Shearer and Darren Close, Operation Funnybone
  • SILVER: Troy Kealley (cover by Simon Sherry), Something Wicked
  • BRONZE: Tonia Walden, Pirates, various

LEDGER OF HONOUR (Nominees chosen from Australian creators, publishers or retailers past or present)

  • Peter Ledger (automatically inducted)
  • Gary Chaloner (2005)
  • Trudy Cooper (2006)

2006

The nominees for work published in the 2006 calendar year, and to be presented in 2007 are as follows:

Publicly voted categories

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR

RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR

FAVOURITE FOREIGN COMIC BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR

FAVOURITE FOREIGN CREATOR OF THE YEAR

LEDGER OF HONOUR

  • Greg Gates
  • Dillon Naylor
  • Jason Paulos

Jury selection

The following categories will be decided by the judging panel from the top nominations listed:

AUSTRALIAN TITLE OF THE YEAR

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR

WEBCOMIC OR COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR

  • Platinum Grit by Trudy Cooper and Danny Murphy [webcomic view]
  • Maxwell the Demon by Tonia Walden [webcomic view]
  • Comicsface by Ive Sorocuk

WRITER OF THE YEAR

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR

PRODUCTION DESIGN OF THE YEAR

2007

The nominees and winners for 2007 were:

AUSTRALIAN TITLE OF THE YEAR (local publishers distributing mainly in Australia)

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR (titles distributed overseas and within Australia featuring Australian talent)

WEBCOMIC OR COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR (produced by Australian creators)

  • "Platinum Grit" - Trudy Cooper/Danny Murphy (winner/tie)
  • "Maxwell - Demon" by Tonia Walden (winner/tie)
  • "Comicsface" - Ive Sorocuk

WRITER OF THE YEAR (print or web)

ARTIST OF THE YEAR (full art, penciller, painter or multimedia. Print or web)

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR (print or web)

PRODUCTION DESIGN OF THE YEAR (Australian comic, website, publication or event)

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR (Australian artist, publisher, entrepreneur or event. Business or creative)

  • Doujicon (Avi Bernshaw, co-ordinator) (winner)
  • 24 Hour Comics Challenge (Mark Selan, co-ordinator)
  • Heroes and Villains Exhibition (Kevin Patrick, curator)

RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR (in recognition of Australian retail excellence and support in 2006)

  • Kings Comics, Sydney (winner/tie)
  • Phase Two Comics, Pulp Fiction (winner/tie)
  • Minotaur Books, Melbourne

FAVOURITE FOREIGN COMIC BOOK OR GRAPHIC NOVEL OF THE YEAR (favourite comic book or graphic novel (English or foreign language) released by overseas publishers during the year)

FAVOURITE FOREIGN CREATOR OF THE YEAR (favourite international creator (artist, writer etc.) with work released during the year)

LEDGER OF HONOUR (nominees chosen from Australian creators, publishers or retailers past or present).

  • Greg Gates (2007)

References

Notes
  1. "About the Awards". Ledger Awards. Retrieved 14 November 2011.
  2. Admin. "Announcing The Ledger Awards for excellence in Australian comic art and publishing," Ledger Awards official site (10 December 2013).
  3. Admin. "Gap Year Award Recipients," Ledger Awards official site (12 April 2014).

Sources consulted
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