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TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: the winners are in! with Mad Cave Studios, Tula Lotay and indie comics winning big

At a semi-glittering affair at the acclaimed Cartoon Museum in the heart of the nations capital, Tripwire Magazine EIC Joel Meadows and celebrated writer Jasper Bark co-hosted the ceremony and revealed the winners of this years Tripwire Awards 2025; shortlisted by a bunch of knowledgeable comics bods (and, erm, yours truly) and voted on by the discerning general public.

The voting came to a halt at Midnight of Monday 24th November and, it must be said – as has become tradition with Tripwire Awards – it came down to dot figures in seperating some of the catagories. However, winners must be chosen and the likes of Tula Lotay (artist, GROUPIES), Bilquis Evely (artist, HELEN OF WYNDHORN) and publisher Mad Cave Comics walked away with their glittering statuette. Or at least, got a polite email from Joel in their inbox to say that said statuette would be on its way soon.

The full list of winners are below:


The TRIPWIRE AWARDS 2025: WINNERS

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)
  • 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)
  • FULLY LOADED (Jimmy Broxton, Zoop)

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 Nominated Entries (TWO, selected by public vote)

  • ALAN MOORE
  • FRANK MILLER
Leonard Sultana
Leonard Sultana
Leonard Sultana is a full-time DJ / part-time nerd and is doing his damnedest to swap those around. He is the creator of An Englishman In San Diego, The Convention Collective and a rather nice cocktail involving Dandelion & Burdock.

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