The nominations for this year’s Tripwire Awards – a celebration of US and UK comics talent especially curated and ultimately voted for by comics fans worldwide – have gone live. For over thirty years, Tripwire has been championing US and UK comics first in print; 2025 is the seventh consecutive year that Tripwire Magazine has run their acclaimed awards, casting an eye over the brightest and best in comics over the last twelve months, as well as celebrating the legends of comics in the prestigious Roll Of Honour.
I’ve been incredibly proud to have been associated with these awards which were first hosted at the inaugural Portsmouth Comics Con back in mumble-mumble boy doesn’t time fly. This time around, our pick of the pops were selected by not only myself but also Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows, with the judges consisting of Comic Book News UK’s Ben Williams and award-winning superstar artist Jamal Igle.
“As always, the strength of the Awards is the fact that the voting is open to one and all, making them truly representative of the audience of popular comics in 2025,” said Tripwire’s editor-in-chief Joel Meadows. Anyone can vote, so long as you have an internet connection and a deep and profound love for comics. Or a tenner. Bribes eagerly accepted.*
Nominations for this years categories are open for people to vote on from 9.30pm Monday 21st October 2025 through until Midnight Tuesday 18th November 2025, with the results of the awards will be announced at a special physical ceremony later in the year (date and details to be confirmed) – no idea if I’ll getting by suit out of storage but fingers crossed the stars will align.
Full terms and conditions can be found at www.tripwiremagazine.co.uk. The list of runners and riders are below:
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Nominees
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Writer
- MARK WAID (Batman & Robin: Year One, DC Comics)
- KELLY THOMPSON (Absolute Wonder Woman/ Birds Of Prey, DC Comics)
- JOSEPH ILLIDGE / TIM SEELEY (Bloodletter, Image Comics)
- DENIZ CAMP (Absolute Martian Manhunter, DC Comics / Assorted Crisis Events, Image Comics)
- GENE LUEN YANG (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, IDW Publishing)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Artist
- DAN MORA (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest, DC Comics)
- BILQUIS EVELY (Helen Of Wyndhorn, Dark Horse Comics)
- FERNANDO BLANCO (W0rldtr33, Image Comics)
- STEVAN SUBIC (Batman: Full Moon, DC Comics)
- RICCARDO FEDERICI (The New Gods, DC Comics)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Cover Artist
- ESAD RIBIC (Battle Beast, Image Comics / Aliens vs Avengers, Marvel Comics)
- ALEX ROSS (Thunderbolts: Doomstrike, Marvel Comics / Thor, Marvel Comics)
- TULA LOTAY (You Won’t Feel A Thing, DSTLRY / The Horizon Experiment, Image Comics))
- JULIAN TEDESCO (Walking Dead Deluxe, Image Comics / Batman/Deadpool, DC Comics)
- DAN PANOSIAN (Batman, DC Comics / Conan The Barbarian, Titan Comics)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Colourist
- MATT WILSON (Punisher: Red Band/ Ultimate Spider-man, Marvel Comics)
- LEE LOUGHRIDGE (The Devil’s Cut / Gone / Somna, DSTLRY)
- JORDIE BELLAIRE (Absolute Wonder Woman, DC Comics)
- ELLIE WRIGHT (Vanishing Point, Mad Cave Studios)
- BRENNAN WAGNER (Batman: The Last Halloween, DC Comics)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Letterer
- HASSAN OTSMANE-ELHAOU (Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees, IDW Publishing)
- RICHARD STARKINGS (Parliament Of Rooks, Comixology)
- FRANK CVETKOVIC (Batman: Dark Patterns, DC Comics)
- CLEM ROBINS (Bowling With Corpses, Dark Horse Comics)
- ANNIE PARKHOUSE (2000AD, Rebellion)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best New Series sponsored by Turnaround Distribution
- CRUEL UNIVERSE (Various, Oni/EC Comics)
- BATMAN: THE LAST HALLOWEEN (Jeph Loeb & Various, DC Comics)
- ABSOLUTE WONDER WOMAN (Kelly Thompson & Hayden Sherman, DC Comics)
- THE PUNISHER (Jimmy Palmiotti & Dan Panosian, Marvel Comics)
- HEAVY METAL MAGAZINE (Various, Heavy Metal)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best New Talent sponsored by Ace Comics
- HAYDEN SHERMAN (Absolute Wonder Woman, DC Comics)
- KEEZY YOUNG (Hello Sunshine, Little Brown)
- JAVIER RODRIGUEZ (Absolute Martian Manhunter, DC Comics)
- EVIE ROEBUCK (2000AD)
- ABIGAIL J. HARDING (Parliament Of Rooks, Comixology)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Original Graphic Novel
- GROUPIES (Helen Mullane & Tula Lotay, Mad Cave Studios)
- THE KNIVES (Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips, Image Comics)
- THE CASEBOOK OF STAMFORD HAWKSMOOR (Bryan Talbot, Penguin Books)
- RAISED BY GHOSTS (Briana Loewinsohn, Fantagraphics)
- DR WERTHLESS: THE MAN WHO STUDIED MURDER (Harold Schecter & Eric Powell, Dark Horse Comics)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Publisher sponsored by Turnaround Distribution
- ONI PRESS
- MAD CAVE STUDIOS
- DARK HORSE COMICS
- IDW PUBLISHING
- IMAGE COMICS
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Collection
- BRUCE DICKINSON’S THE MANDRAKE PROJECT: YEAR ONE (Tony Lee & Staz Johnson, Z2 Comics)
- ROM: THE ORIGINAL MARVEL YEARS VOL. 1 Hardcover (Bill Mantlo & Various, Marvel Comics)
- BATMAN: THE KILLING JOKE AND OTHER STORIES & ART GALLERY EDITION (Graphitti Designs)
- LIFE DRAWING (Jaime Hernandez, Fantagraphics Books)
- SPECTRUM (Rick Quinn & Dave Chisholm, Mad Cave Studios)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Comics-Related Website / Publication
- DOWN THE TUBES
- ZDARSKY COMIC NEWS
- CASUALLY COMICS (YouTube Channel)
- BROKEN FRONTIER
- GRAPHIC POLICY
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Small Press / Independent (U.K.) sponsored by Knockabout Publishing
- AVERY HILL PUBLISHING
- FLYING EYE BOOKS
- SELF-MADE HERO
- MAD ROBOT COMICS
- REBELLION PUBLISHING
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Small Press / Independent (U.S.) sponsored by Turnaround Distribution
- AHOY! COMICS
- DSTLRY
- VAULT COMICS
- DRAWN AND QUARTERLY
- ABLAZE PUBLISHING
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Editor
- CHAS PANGBURN (Mad Cave Studios)
- KATIE KUBERT (DC Comics)
- WILL DENNIS (DSTLRY)
- KATII O’BRIEN (Dark Horse Comics)
- SCOTT DUNBIER (Act IV Publishing)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Crowdfunding Campaign
- RASP (Martin Simpson, Kickstarter)
- ROMO THE WOLF BOY (Ilya, Kickstarter)
- CHROME ROSES: CYBERPUNK TRILOGY (Monty Nero, Kickstarter)
- THE COMICS COURIER (Tiffany Babb, Kickstarter)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Convention
- LONDON FILM AND COMIC CON
- THOUGHT BUBBLE COMIC ART FESTIVAL
- MACC-POW!
- LAKE COMO COMIC ART FESTIVAL
- NEW YORK COMIC CON
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Audio/Live Action Adaptation
- SUPERMAN (dir. James Gunn, Warner Bros.)
- KINGDOM COME (audio adaptation by Mark Waid, Alex Ross & Dirk Maggs, Audible)
- FANTASTIC FOUR: FIRST STEPS (dir. Matt Shakman, Marvel Studios)
- CREATURE COMMANDOS (dir. James Gunn, HBO Max)
- THE PENGUIN (dir. Craig Zobel, HBO MAX)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Best Humour Comic (Print)
- BUNNY VS MONKEY: THE GRAPHIC JOKE FIGHT (Jamie Smart,Phoenix Comics)
- PRINTOPIA (Bob Fingerman, Cosmic Lion Productions)
- THE CARTOONIST’S CLUB (Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud, Scholastic)
- SPACE NEGRO: THE LAST NEGRO (Jared Sams, 1First Comics)
- ALL GOOD THINGS (Roger Langridge)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: Person Of The Year
- CHRISTINA MERKLER (Lunar Distribution)
- MARK IRWIN (Mad Cave Studios)
- TODD MCFARLANE (Image Comics)
- SCOTT SNYDER (DC Comics)
- CHIP MOSHER (Neon Ichiban / DSTLRY)
The TRIPWIRE AWARDS: The Roll Of Honour Nominations (TWO to be selected by public vote)
- DAVID LLOYD
- ALAN MOORE
- KAREN BERGER
- HOWARD CHAYKIN
- ARCHIE GOODWIN
- JOHN BYRNE
- JAMIE DELANO
- JOE KUBERT
- PAT MILLS
- FLO STEINBERG
- MARIE SEVERIN
- DWAYNE MCDUFFIE
- BERNIE WRIGHTSON
- LEN WEIN
- MICHAEL KALUTA
- BARRY WINDSOR-SMITH
- FRANK MILLER
- DENIS KITCHEN
