Women Triumph at Ignatz Awards with Wins for Foster-Dimino, Goldstein, Carroll, Carre, and J. Tamaki

The Eisner Awards at San Diego Comic-Con back in July were a great night for women in comics, but this past weekend's Ignatz Awards at Small Press Expo in Bethesda, Maryland, recognizing achievements in small press and independent creator-owned comics, went one step further in celebrating women's contributions. Women claimed victory in every category.

Sophia Foster-Dimino won for outstanding minicomic and outstanding series for her relationship vignette series Sex Fantasy, and also won the best newcomer award. Sophie Goldstein took home two awards for her post-apocalyptic The Oven for outstanding comic and outstanding graphic novel. The night's other winners were Lilli Carre, Jillian Tamaki, Eleanor Davis and Emily Carroll.

What's great about this slate of winners is not just the degree of recognition shown to women in comics, but the diversity of their talents, with stories ranging from horror to science fiction to reportage, in a striking range of visual styles. Hopefully these victories can also serve as inspiration to other women who want to make their own comics and share their voices. See the full list of winners and nominees below:

Outstanding Artist

Winner: Emily Carroll – Through The Woods

Also nominated:
Ed Luce – Wuvable Oaf
Roman Muradov – (In a Sense) Lost and Found
Jillian Tamaki – SuperMutant Magic Academy
Noah Van Sciver – Saint Cole

Outstanding Anthology or Collection

Winner: How To Be Happy by Eleanor Davis

Also nominated:
Drawn and Quarterly, 25 Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics, and Graphic Novels, edited by Tom Devlin, Chris Oliveros, Peggy Burns, Tracy Hurren, and Julia Pohl-Miranda
An Entity Observes All Things by Box Brown
Pope Hats #4 by Ethan Rilly
SuperMutant Magic Academy by Jillian Tamaki

Outstanding Graphic Novel

Winner: The Oven by Sophie Goldstein

Also nominated:
Beauty by Kerascoët and Hubert
Rav by Mickey Zacchilli
Saint Cole by Noah Van Sciver
Wendy by Walter Scott

Outstanding Story

Winner: “Sex Coven” from Frontier #7 by Jillian Tamaki

Also nominated:
Doctors by Dash Shaw
“Me As a Baby” from Lose #6 by Michael DeForge
“Nature Lessons” from The Late Child and Other Animals by Marguerite Van Cook and James Romberger
Weeping Flower, Grows in Darkness by Kris Mukai

Promising New Talent

Winner: Sophia Foster-Dimino – Sphincter; Sex Fantasy

Also nominated:
M. Dean – K.M. & R.P. & MCMLXXI (1971)
Dakota McFadzean – Don’t Get Eaten by Anything
Jane Mai – Soft
Gina Wynbrandt – Big Pussy

Outstanding Series

Winner: Sex Fantasy by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Also nominated:
Dumb by Georgia Webber
Frontier edited by Ryan Sands
March by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell
Pope Hats by Ethan Rilly

Outstanding Comic

Winner: The Oven by Sophie Goldstein

Also nominated:
Borb by Jason Little
The Nature of Nature by Disa Wallander
Pope Hats #4 by Ethan Rilly
Weeping Flower, Grows in Darkness by Kris Mukai

Outstanding Minicomic

Winner: Sex Fantasy #4 by Sophia Foster-Dimino

Also nominated:
Devil’s Slice of Life by Patrick Crotty
Epoxy 5 by John Pham
King Cat #75 by John Porcellino
Whalen: A Reckoning by Audry

Outstanding Online Comic

Winner: The Bloody Footprint by Lilli Carre

Also nominated:
Carriers by Lauren Weinstein
Mom Body by Rebecca Roher
O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti
Witchy by Ariel Ries

The Ignatz Awards nominees are determined by a panel of cartoonists, and voting is open to all attendees of SPX. The award is named for a character in George Herriman's Krazy Kat strip, a mouse with a penchant for throwing bricks, and the award is an actual brick.