The Ledger Awards Explained

Ledger Award
Awarded For:Excellence in Australian comic art and publishing
Country:Australia
Location:Melbourne
Year:2005
Website:http://ledgerawards.org (no longer live)

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.

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

ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR

NEW TALENT DESERVING WIDER RECOGNITION

SMALL PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

INDEPENDENT PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR

INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR

ANTHOLOGY OF THE YEAR

WEBCOMIC OF THE YEAR

WRITER OF THE YEAR

ARTIST OF THE YEAR

INKER OF THE YEAR

COLOURIST OF THE YEAR

LETTERER OF THE YEAR

COVER ARTIST OF THE YEAR

SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR

COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR

RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR

DESIGN OR PRESENTATION OF THE YEAR

LEDGER OF HONOUR

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)

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

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

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.)

INDEPENDENT PRESS 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 OF THE YEAR(Webcomics or comic strips produced by Australian creators)

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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)

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

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).

References

Sources consulted

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About the Awards. Ledger Awards. 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).