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Kirby Awards ceremony held at Original Art Expo, February 20-22, 2026
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Orlando, FL – December 23, 2025 – Collectors Network Holdings, PBC, a Public Benefit Corporation that owns ComicArtFans.com (CAF), the global hub for everything related to original art from comic books and other narrative or visual storytelling art, announced major updates today for the upcoming Jack & Roz Kirby Awards (the Kirbys), an annual award recognizing innovation, excellence, and humanity in narrative communication that will have its first award ceremony at the upcoming Original Art Expo (OAX) in Orlando, Florida from February 20-22, 2026.
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“On behalf of the Kirby Estate and Kirby Museum, we’re honored and thrilled today to announce the outstanding group of both Advisory Board and Voting Committee members that will bring their world-class experience, knowledge, dedication, and unique perspectives to the first year of the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards,”said Kasra Ghanbari, CEO of CAF.
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For its first year, the Kirbys will now consist of seven total award categories that celebrate the artist’s journey. The awards categories have no time restrictions, aside from the Newcomer Award; no geographic limits; and are English only (original/translated). Nominees must be alive at the time of nomination and, after winning a Kirby Award, are ineligible to be nominated for another five years.
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The five Core Awards reflect attributes of Jack Kirby and of dedicated, lifelong creators. Voting Committee members have the exclusive responsibility to provide up to two nominations per category and are the sole voters for these categories.
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INDEPENDENCE
“one who remains steadfast and fierce”
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to operate outside the confines of established systems and control structures to freely create works that express deeply personal beliefs, themes, and values without censorship and commercial pressure.
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INNOVATOR
“one distinguished by new methods, approaches, and ideas”
The nominee has demonstrated clear innovation in methods, techniques, styles, storytelling, solutions, and/or packaging, and in so doing, has challenged the status quo and expanded the possibilities for all.
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VISIONARY
“one distinguished by vital originality”
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to display and communicate worlds, characters, ideas, symbols, and realities beyond our current norms and understanding in contributing to our general comprehension and evolution.
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NEWCOMER
“one to support in all ways”
The nominee has demonstrated early in their artistic life unique capabilities, viewpoints, perspectives, dedication, and perseverance that invites the possibility of consistently unique and impactful works being created.
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STORYTELLER
“one adept at shared human connection”
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to synthesize the complex and varied components of storytelling to powerfully connect with, engage, and impact others.
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The two Legacy Awards are a type of career achievement award, one of which is rooted in a fundamental character trait of a distinguished creator, and the other recognizing the underlying quality, innovation, importance, and distinction of a creator’s body of work. Nominations are electively provided by all Oversight Council, Advisory Board, and Voting Committee members and then voted on by the Oversight Council and Voting Committee.
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TEACHER
“one who suspends self and readily bestows experience and guidance”
The nominee has demonstrated the rare and critical ability to take that which they’ve experienced and learned and in a natural and discerning manner communicate their knowledge to others in a way that’s timely, uplifting, and impactful.
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CREATOR
“one whose life’s work is exemplar for those to come”
The nominee has demonstrated the desire, ability, and commitment to time and again reenter the creative process and engage the often unpredictable and arduous creative journey towards conveying to us new stories, characters, themes, symbols, and possibilities.
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The Kirbys are governed and organized as follows:
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Responsible for overseeing entire awards process and award ceremony. May nominate and vote for each of the two Legacy Awards.
* KASRA GHANBARI – CAF CEO, creator of the Kirby Awards
* TRACY KIRBY – Representative, The Rosalind Kirby Trust
* TOM KRAFT – President and Trustee, The Kirby Museum
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The committee is composed exclusively by creators with deep experience and circles of knowledge who will be strong advocates for their nominees. Members will provide up to two nominations for each of the Core Awards, as well as one nomination for each of the Legacy Awards. Members vote on all seven awards. Voting Committee positions are performed on a volunteer basis.
DEAN HASPIEL – Dean is an Emmy and Ringo Award-winning cartoonist who is best known for creating Billy Dogma and The Red Hook and collaborating with Harvey Pekar and Jonathan Ames. He has worked for Marvel, DC/Vertigo, Archie, Image, and Webtoon, and is an accomplished playwright and Yaddo fellow.
JIMMY PALMIOTTI – Jimmy is a multi-award-winning creator with a wide range of experience in publishing, screenwriting, advertising, production, editorial, film, media presentation, and video game development.
ELI SCHWAB – Eli is a writer and artist, as well as Founder/Publisher of Cosmic Lion Productions. The cornerstone of CLP is “Comix of every kind for every mind,” with CLP serving as a supportive and creative publisher presenting stories and creators from across the globe.
TOM SCIOLI – Tom is an experienced cartoonist who writes, draws, colors, and hand-letters his comic books and graphic novels. He’s worked on his own creator-owned action-adventure projects like Space Opera Xanadax Across the Unknown Dimensions of the Galaxy and American Barbarian, biographies like I Am Stan and Jack Kirby: The Epic Life of the King of Comics, and iconic properties like The Twilight Zone, Fantastic Four, and Godzilla. He is known for his pop-infused drawing style, kinetic page layouts, and imaginative writing.
ALLISON SOHN – Allison has worked as an illustrator primarily in the trading card industry and has a handful of comic book cover credits to her name. She has contributed visually to such recognizable licenses as Lord of the Rings, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Marvel Comics, DC Comics, Archie Comics, and Red Sonja, to name but a few. When not drawing or painting, Allison raises and competes with her Old English Sheepdogs. She spends much of her time traveling to comic book conventions and dog shows, and if you look closely enough, you’ll likely find her husband and fellow artist extraordinaire, Adam Hughes, by her side.
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The Advisory Board provides unique perspectives and counsel on awards direction, guiding principles, new awards, produced ceremony, marketing, press coverage, and Voting Committee candidates, along with assessing nominations and selections. Members may electively provide one nomination for each of the two Legacy Awards. Advisory Board positions are performed on a volunteer basis.
RODNEY BARNES – Rodney is a Peabody Award-winning writer and producer for film, TV, animation, and comics whose work includes being Executive Producer of Winning Time for HBO, Marvel’s Runaways for Hulu, and The Boondocks for Cartoon Network.
JULIE BELL – Julie is a world-renowned and award-winning fine artist and illustrator who is a two-time winner of Chesley Awards and a ARC Living Master.
SARAHJANE BLUM – Sarahjane is Director of Illustration at Heritage Auctions and a recognized expert in the field, writing and speaking extensively about 20th century narrative art and popular culture.
JIM DEMONAKOS – Jim is the founder of LightBox Expo and Emerald City Con, a NYT best-selling graphic novelist, and the producer/director of the award-winning documentary Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters.
ANDREW FARAGO – Andrew is Curator of San Francisco’s Cartoon Art Museumand author of more than a dozen books on comics, cartoons, movies, and popular culture.
GAMAL HENNESSY, ESQ – Gamal is an attorney, author, and business consultant with more than 25 years of experience in the comic book and independent entertainment industry.
TAMSIN ISLES – Tamsin is an artists’ representative working with some of the most renowned names in comics, concept art, and illustration today: Lee Bermejo, Crisse, Geof Darrow, Adi Granov, and Esad Ribic.
JANN JONES – Jann is the former Senior Coordinating Editor at DC Comics, has worked at several video game publishers, and is a frequent juror at Film Festivals.
ADAM KUBERT – Adam is an award-winning comic book artist with a distinctive style and skill that have made him a long-time fan favorite, as well as a teacher of comic storytelling and art to both students and professionals.
CHRIS RYALL – Chris has enjoyed a prolific career as a comic-industry writer, editor, publisher, CCO, and historian, as well as executive producer of Netflix’s Locke & Key. In 2025, he assumed the District 5 seat on San Diego’s Board of Library Commissioners.
ROB SALKOWITZ – Rob writes about comics, media, and entertainment at Forbes, ICv2, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere, and teaches comics storytelling at the University of Washington. He is the author of several books, including Comic-Con and the Business of Pop Culture.
ROY SCHWARTZ – Roy is a pop culture historian, author, exhibit curator, and documentary producer. He is a board member of the American Jewish Historical Society.
JEFF SINGH, MD – Jeff is a distinguished art collector and comic book historian who is a long-time active member and contributor to Comics & Fantasy Art Amateur Press Association (CFA-APA).
JIM STERANKO – Jim is an iconic figure and innovator in comics and illustration, as well as author, publisher, comics historian, and conceptual artist for film whose work has been widely exhibited at major institutions such as the Smithsonian in Washington, DC, as well as the Louvre in Paris.
JEFF TREXLER, ESQ – Jeff is Interim Director of the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and a First Amendment advocate for creators and the comic book industry with extensive background in the fashion industry including serving as Associate Director of Fashion Law Institute.
SEAN WATKINS, PHD – Sean is the owner of Athenaeum Comic Art, championing original comic art, indie creators, and collectors through exhibitions, collaborations, and community driven initiatives that celebrate visual storytelling.
JOE WOS – Joe is a six-time Emmy Award-winning cartoonist, author, and educator, and host of Cartoon Academy broadcast to PBS affiliates nationally, as well as founder of the ToonSeum, a museum dedicated exclusively to cartoon arts, and creator of Mazetoons, a syndicated cartoon and related series of books.
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Kasra Ghanbari is available for interviews, panels, and editorial features focused on the mission, impact, and future of The Kirby Awards.
For all requests, please contact Matthew Sardo, Director of Digital Communications, at msardo@comicartfans.com.
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Jack Kirby (1917-1994) and Roz Kirby (1922-1997) were married in 1942, and over the next 50 plus years this is what they did together: revolutionized genres such as crime, war, romance and superhero comics including the creation of X-Men (Professor X, Cyclops, Marvel Girl/Phoenix, Beast, Angel, Iceman), Fantastic Four (Reed Richards, Sue Storm, Johnny Storm, Ben Grimm), The Avengers, The Forever People, The Inhumans, The Eternals, The New Gods, Sgt. Fury & His Howling Commandos, Captain America, Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Galactus, Silver Surfer, Black Panther, Wasp, Scarlet Witch, Wonder Man, Machine Man, Ant-Man, Magneto, Doctor Doom, Nick Fury, Red Skull, SHIELD, AIM, HYDRA, The Sentinels, The Skrulls, Uatu (The Watcher), Black Bolt, MODOK, Mister Miracle, Darkseid, OMAC, Kamandi, and The Demon amongst many, many other characters and properties.
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THE ROSALIND KIRBY FAMILY TRUST
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The Rosalind Kirby Trust upholds the legacy of Jack Kirby and ensures his creations continue to inspire millions around the world. More information HERE.
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THE JACK KIRBY MUSEUM & RESEARCH CENTER
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The Jack Kirby Museum & Research Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging the study, understanding, preservation, and appreciation of the life, work, and legacy of Jack Kirby—one of the most influential creators in comics and popular culture—more information HERE.
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ABOUT Collectors Network Holdings, PBC
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Collectors Network Holdings, PBC, is a public benefit company that owns and operates ComicArtFans.com (CAF), the global hub for everything related to original art from comic books and other narrative or visual storytelling art, as well as several other brands including the Original Art Expo (OAX), the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards, the Comic Art LIVE virtual art con (CAL), Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), Art Scout, the CAF+ YouTube channel, and the deCAF mobile app (Apple App Store/Google Play).
CAF is the premier website in the world serving comic book and narrative art collectors, artists, auction houses, art dealers, and artist representatives. CAF’s deCAF mobile app is now available globally for iOS and Android devices under “Comic Art Fans” through Apple’s App Store and Google Play. Make sure to subscribe to the CAF newsletters, OAX newsletter, and CAF+ YouTube channel, as well as our Instagram and Facebookpages. Find all of our links at Linktree.
Every month, CAF has 15,000+ active users and 400,000+ visits from nearly 200,000 visitors that generate 3,000,000+ page views. Collectors may easily set up either free or premium galleries on CAF, where they’ll find over 1,000,000 pieces of art posted by collectors and artists in their galleries and personal classifieds, which is additionally supplemented by 100,000s of art pieces from art dealers and artist representative websites. CAF is proud to be a truly global hub, with more than half of our traffic coming from outside the United States, most notably from France, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Spain.
CAF’s event division includes Comic Art LIVE (CAL), the biggest virtual comic art convention in the world, which is held twice annually in May and November, as well as its Original Art Expo (OAX) in Orlando, Florida, which has immediately established itself as the premier visual storytelling art event in the world. OAX is an art fair and trade show hybrid being developed as an annual platform to exclusively showcase the narrative arts, most especially comic book, comic strip, illustration, and collectible card art. Year three of OAX is February 20-22, 2026 and will again feature the Illustration Art Expo (IAX) and Card Art Expo (CAX) as part of OAX and will present the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards presentation. Watch the OAX 2024 Intro Footage video HERE. CAF’s event division also includes Indie Comics Creator Con (IC3), a portfolio of both in-person and virtual shows committed to providing an affordable, dynamic, and inclusive platform that brings together independent comic book creators, artists, publishers, art collectors, and fans to celebrate and support unique and diverse creators in comics
CAF also operates the highly active CAF+ YouTube channel, a community resource that produces a regular slate of weekly content including interviews with prominent creators and art collectors; previews of major auction house events; info and announcements for our CAL, OAX, and IC3 shows; the popular Dueling Dealers and Amateur Dealers of Comic Art programs pitting professional and/or amateur comic art dealers against one another; and art sale shows directly conducted with artists, artist reps, non-profits, and other fundraising groups.
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