RINGO AWARDS introduces the professional judges - still time for fans to vote!

Introducing the 2017 Ringo Awards Jury BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - July 7, 2017 - The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill, and fun of comics. The awards will be presented on Saturday, September 23, 2017 as part of the fan- and pro-favorite convention, The Baltimore Comic-Con. The Ringo Awards is currently in the midst of the 2017 nomination process, which is inclusive of fans and comic book professionals alike. Please submit your nominations before voting closes at midnight on July 18, 2017 at:  http://ringoawards.polldaddy.com/s/ringo-awards-2017-nomination-categories

The Jury   An esteemed jury of comics professionals will participate in the nomination process, selecting favorite works in over 20 categories. The 2017 jury was chosen as a representative cross-section of the comic book industry, with members representing seasoned and venerated educators, retailers, press, and creators across numerous genres.

John Haines entered the hobby in 1964 via a ratty dog-eared copy of the Incredible Hulk #3 that he was given in an effort to keep still at the local barber shop. From that point on, he was hooked for life. A comic historian specializing in Timely, Atlas, and Centaur comics from the Golden Age, Haines contributed to various small fanzines and eventually became an advisor to the Overstreet Price Guide in the late 1990's. Also a long-time fixture at east-coast conventions as a silver and golden age dealer, John opened his first brick-and-mortar shop, Comics and Fiends, in 2008. A year later, he began the annual Lake Effect Comic Book Convention which just celebrated its 8th anniversary. His passion for comic books is well-known, and he continues to read both new and old comics to this day.

Hanna Means-Shannon received her undergraduate and graduate degrees, including a Ph.D. in Medieval Languages and Literature, from Oxford University and worked as an English Professor for a number of years. During this time, she discovered both comics scholarship and comics journalism. Starting out on TripCity.net, a Brooklyn-based literary arts salon, and then continuing to write about comics as a Contributing Editor at The Comics Beat, she focused on in-depth interviews, reviews, and convention reporting. Named the New York area representative for BleedingCool.com, she was later hired to be the site's Editor-in-Chief as well as their magazine editor, a position she held for two years. Stepping down to pursue other opportunities in comics, she moved to the West Coast to become an Associate Editor for Dark Horse Comics. Due to family needs, she later returned to the East Coast and was hired to re-launch the pop culture news website Comicon.com as Executive Editor in January 2017. She also continues to edit creator-owned comics on a limited basis.

photo by Roberta Fallon / Artblog.com Jamar Nicholas is a multi-time GLYPHS Comic Award-winning, Philadelphia-based cartoonist and educator. He has taught and lectured on the topic of comics creation at numerous institutions, dedicating his career to empowering young people to create their own cartoons and comics, helping them realize the power of visual narrative. Some of his works include adapting and illustrating Geoffrey Canada's Fist Stick Knife Gun, the full-color comic strip Detective Boogaloo: Hip-Hop Cop that was serialized in the US Metro newspapers (Philadelphia, NYC, and Boston), and his upcoming original graphic novel Leon: Protector of the Playground. He is also a writer and columnist for DRAW! Magazine, the how-to source for comic book and animation professionals, and was a host of the Comic Book Dinerpodcast, focusing on the business of comics.

Chris Powell serves as Vice President of Retailer Services at Diamond Comic Distributors, supervising their Customer Service and Retail Technology departments while maintaining his business development role. He has spearheaded Diamond's rollout of publisher-supported incentive programs to encourage comic shops to add point-of-sale systems, expand their locations, and open new stores, and was instrumental in the launch of Diamond Digital, a program which gives comic shops an opportunity to benefit from digital comic sales. An industry veteran, Powell previously held the General Manager and Chief Relationship Officer position at Lone Star Comics and mycomicshop.com, based in Arlington, Texas. During his 20+ year career in comics, he not only helped manage the very successful Lone Star business, but also served as a Founding Board Member of ComicsPro, and is a Board Member and past President of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Born in Madrid, Spain and now living in Baltimore, Maryland, José Villarrubia is best known for his collaborations with author Alan Moore: his illustrations for his books Voice of the Fire and The Mirror of Love and his graphic novel Promethea. He has worked extensively for Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Image, Wildstorm, Vertigo, Valiant, Archie, Legendary, and other publishers, doing digitally painted colors. He has been nominated several times for the Eisner Award, and won the Harvey Award for Cuba: My Revolution.

Fan and Pro Nomination Categories * Best Cartoonist (Writer/Artist) * Best Writer * Best Artist or Penciller * Best Inker * Best Letterer * Best Colorist * Best Cover Artist * Best Series * Best Single Issue or Story * Best Original Graphic Novel * Best Anthology * Best Humor Comic * Best Comic Strip or Panel * Best Webcomic * Best Non-fiction Comic Work * Best Presentation in Design

Jury-Only Nomination (with three bonus jurors) * The Mike Wieringo Spirit Award

Fan-Only Favorite Categories * Favorite Hero * Favorite Villain * Favorite New Series * Favorite New Talent

Hero Initiative Award (selected by the Hero Initiative) * The Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award * The Dick Giordano Humanitarian Award

"We were fortunate to be able to start with a green field project with the Ringo Awards," said Marc Nathan, Baltimore Comic-Con promoter. "We knew there was demand for an award at the show, we knew we wanted to honor Ringo, and we had the advantage of knowing how other awards function, both in our industry and out. The best way for us to balance the votes of the masses was to recruit a jury that would be able to apply their experiences in the industry and submit an impartial, informed ballot.We ended up with representatives from each segment of the comics supply chain, from creator to distributor to retailer to consumer. We were very happy with the selections, and that everyone asked was avid to participate. We're excited to see the final ballot!"

About Mike Wieringo Michael Lance "Mike" Wieringo was known to fans and friends as "Ringo", which is how he signed his artwork. His comics artist graced the pages of DC Comics' The Flash, Adventures of Superman, Batman, and Robin, Marvel Comics' Fantastic Four, Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Sensational Spider-Man, and Rogue, and his co-creation Tellos. He passed away on August 12, 2007 at the young age of 44 from an apparent heart attack.

About the Ringo Awards The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards is an annual celebration of the creativity, skill and fun of comics. The Ringo Awards recognize outstanding achievements in over 20 categories, and are the only industry awards nominated by fans and pros alike, with final voting by the comic professional community. Launched in 2017, the awards ceremony is held annually at the Baltimore Comic-Con. Further details are available at http://ringoawards.com.

About the Baltimore Comic-Con The Baltimore Comic-Con is celebrating its 18th year of bringing the comic book industry to the Baltimore and Washington D.C. area. For more information, please visit http://baltimorecomiccon.com