(FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: New Bedford, MA/USA—July 12, 2026) The Inkwell Awards have announced the winners of its 19th seasonal awards for excellence in the comic-book inking art form.
Nominees were chosen by a separate and independent nomination committee based on their own research as well as from artist submissions. Voting by professionals and fans took place for two weeks from March to April on the non-profit advocacy organization’s official ballot website. After 3086 ballots were tallied (down from 2422 the previous year), one winner was chosen in each of five categories for 2025 release-dated interior American published comic-book material. This year’s results were announced at the new convention host venue, the Hershey Comic Con, for their third live awards ceremony, making this overall the 12th such ceremony to date. This year, and probably the template going forward, we will announce the winning results in 3 parts: the ballot winners and internal awards (this very one), the lifetime achievement award recipients, and the extended version of the ballot awards with much more info, video, and acceptance statements.
The winners are listed below in bold with their credits, votes, and the percentage of votes received, along with the other nominees in alphabetical order.
FAVORITE INKER (Favorite ink artist over the pencil work of another artist; cannot also be nominated for the “Props” award): Scott Williams (434 votes, 46%): Batman [DC]
Other nominees: Elisabetta D’Amico (runner-up), Wayne Faucher, Scott Hanna
MOST-ADAPTABLE (Artist showing exceptional ink style versatility over other pencilers): Elisabetta D’Amico (359 votes, 47%): Kill All Immortals II, Star Wars: The Bad Batch- Ghost Agents [Dark Horse]; Echo: Seeker of Truth, New Champions, NYX, Scarlet Witch [Marvel]
Other nominees: Jay Leisten (runner-up), Oren Junior, Jonas Trindade, LeBeau Underwood
PROPS AWARD (Inker deserving of more attention. The same inker cannot be nominated for this award and Favorite Inker; nor past Favorite Inker recipients): Tony Kordos (468 votes, 54%): G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero [Image]
Other nominees: Jonas Trindade (runner-up), LeBeau Underwood
The S.P.A.M.I. AWARD (Small Press And Mainstream Independent, non-Marvel or DC work): Tony Kordos (420 votes, 42%): G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero [Image]
Other nominees: Elisabetta D’Amico (runner-up), Pat Binder, Karl Kesel
ALL-IN-ONE AWARD (Favorite artist known for inking his/her own pencils): Liam Sharp (313 votes, 31%): Dark Ages Spawn [Image]; Savage Sword of Conan [Titan Books]
Other nominees: Dan Panosian (runner-up), Nick Dragotta, Dean Haspiel, Daniel Warren Johnson, Chris Samnee
Full acceptance statements from the award recipients and much more can be found in the EXPANDED 2026 Winners Results article later this week, and they will be found in the “Award Recipients” section of the Inkwell Awards’ website in the near future. The Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award and the Stacey Aragon Special Recognition Award (SASRA, will be announced shortly.
And here are the Inkwell Internal Awards.
This year there were no Silver Inkwell Awards announced.
The one Above & Beyond Award recipient was presented by one of the first Above & Beyond Award recipients in 2018, Hailey Skaza-Gagne, to Bob Bretall, who has served on the nomination committee for 15 years and isn’t slowing down. His video statement will be included in the upcoming Ballot Awards expanded edition.
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