(New Bedford, MA/USA—November 10, 2025) The non-profit Inkwell Awards, devoted to promoting the art of comic book inking, has released the list of artists participating in its 9th annual Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge Spotlight. This year’s Challenge features legendary creator GENE COLAN’s tonal pencil of public domain properties like his iconic Dracula design from Marvel’s Tomb of Dracula series and Jack the Ripper in a Victorian London setting. The event is setto launch in 2026, the year that celebrates what would be his 100th birthday anniversary. Inkwell director Bob Almond shared “Clearly a major obstacle is that Gene is no longer with us. This is the first time we didn’t have a featured living pencil artist but this commission piece has been circulating online for a few years and many have asked about what it would look like inked,(even if that wasn’t the original intention which tempted us). We were able to acquire permission from the Colan Estate thanks to their estate attorney and Inkwell special ambassador, Clifford Meth and the owner of the original art, Simon Reed, in low-resolution to use as we wished, for educational and fundraising purposes. Another difference from previous Challenges is that while Gene was an artistic collaborator with Joe Sinnott, notably on “Captain America”, making this eligible for the Joe Sinnott Legacy Challenge which is traditionally open to any inker participants, the nature and complexity of the image, especially in low-resolution, made us feel that we’d need to give it the Spotlight treatment of recruiting and extending invites to a limited selection of 10-20 of the best ink finishers in the industry, starting with those artists still with us who have previously partnered with Gene. We are offering two size versions, the traditional 11″x17″ blueline on board with logo and a 9×12 version for those creators that have little time to participate due to a crazy schedule of paying assignments and convention tours. The artists can receive the files in grayscale or other colors if requested.”
Gene Colan first broke into the comic book business in the Golden-age in 1944 at Fiction House before he did a short stint in the Army Air Corps towards the end of WWII and returning to civilian life and Timely Comics, the precursor to Marvel Comics, in 1946. He was hired on staff and worked on Captain America Comics until the majority of staff was let go in the 1948 industry downturn and he went to freelance at National Comics, the precursor of DC, as well as taking on some Atlas assignments (what Timely became before Marvel). After the Marvel Silver-age launch, Gene was hired for superhero work in the mid-’60s under the pseudonym “Adam Austin” for Sub-Mariner in Tales to Astonish and Iron Man in Tales of Suspense. Stan Lee was able to convince Gene to move over to Marvel and use the “Marvel Method”, using his own name in credits, which lead to series stints on Doctor Strange, Daredevil and Captain America, where he worked with Joe Sinnott and co-created the first African-American mainstream superhero, the Falcon. He also co-created the Kree-born Captain Marvel and the original Guardians of the Galaxy. In the 1970s, he started a long, uninterrupted run with Marv Wolfman on Tomb of Dracula (most-brilliantly inked by Tom Palmer) for 70 issues, where he co-created Blade the Vampire Slayer, did most of the issues of Steve Gerber’s Howard the Duck series and even a brief return to Daredevil. After a falling out with Marvel editor-in-chief, Jim Shooter, Gene moved over to DC Comics in 1981, where he had memorable runs on Batman and Wonder Woman and new properties like Night Force, Silverblade, Jemm, Son of Saturn and Nathaniel Dusk. This would be followed by independent work at Eclipse, Archie and Dark Horse before returning back to Marvel in the late 1980s into the 2000s, even returning to characters Dracula and Daredevil. In 2005, he would be inducted into the Will Eisner Hall of Fame. His final work was for Captain America #601 in 2009 for which he won an Eisner Award before passing away in 2011 at the age of 84.
The Spotlight Challenge grew out of the original Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge but showcases legendary and contemporary, “fan-favorite” talents on a more limited scale with various veteran published inkers. In chronological order, previous Spotlight pencillers were Jim Lee, Neal Adams, Erik Larsen, David Finch, Ivan Reis, Mike Deodato Jr., Walter Simonson and Rudy Nebres.
This year’s invited participating ink artists (in alphabetical order) currently are:
Sergio Cariello
Kevin Conrad
Scott Hanna
Geof Isherwood
Klaus Janson
Andrew Pepoy
Tom Raney
Joe Rubinstein
Bob Smith
Keith Williams
“Changes in the roster often take place with artists needing to drop out due to work schedule conflicts and others subsequently pulled in from a waiting list, so the final line-up may differ by auction time. Every year we are thrilled with the response from the artist community,” Almond said. “We realize schedules can be crazy, so we are very grateful to those who can step up.” Much like the Legacy version, the Challenge Spotlight furthers the inking advocacy’s dual mission of promoting the artform and educating the public. Blue-lined art files featuring the pencilled Gene Colan pinup will be sent to the artists to finish in ink. Each inked page will be signed by the respective inker and include a certificate of authenticity, signed with limited numbering assigned by Almond. All pages will be previewed at the Inkwell Awards Facebook group page and subsequently auctioned on the Inkwells’ eBay page in two to three waves occurring in one or two week intervals starting in late January (specific date to be announced as we get closer). In the later, traditionally-displayed, animated gif of samples, fans will be able to see the difference in the pencilled and inked versions to better understand how much inkers contribute to the art form. Proceeds from the auction support fundraising for the Inkwells. Said Almond, “On behalf of the Inkwells, our sincerest thanks to the participating artists and all involved for their cooperation, support of our program, and appreciation of ink artists.”
The Inkwell Awards is the only official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and educate regarding the art form of comic-book inking, as well as annually recognize the best ink artists and their work. Established in 2008, the Inkwells are overseen by a volunteer committee of industry professionals and assisted by various professional ambassadors and contributors. They sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Kubert School and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award. As of 2024, their live awards ceremony is hosted at the Hershey Comic Con.
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