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.[citation needed]
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
Mark Selan (Winner)
Aaron Burgess
Daniel Zachariou
ACHIEVEMENT OF THE YEAR
Gary Chaloner's John Law in print (Winner)
Dillon Naylor's 2004 (Batrisha wear in Target etc.)
Phase Two Comics
NEW TALENT DESERVING WIDER RECOGNITION
Matt Huynh (Winner)
Jase Harper
Chelsea Fritzlaff
SMALL PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR
Eat Comics, Tonia Walden, editor (Winner)
Sporadic, Jase Harper & Jules Faber, editors
Dirty Little Creep, Mandy Ord
INDEPENDENT PRESS TITLE OF THE YEAR
The Crumpleton Experiments, Nautilus Illustrations (Winner)
Killeroo, Ozone Studios
Azerath, Creatorline/Phosphorescent Comics
INTERNATIONAL TITLE OF THE YEAR
Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking, IDW (Winner)
Small Gods, Image Comics
District X, Marvel Comics
ANTHOLOGY OF THE YEAR
Eat Comics, Tonia Walden, editor (Winner)
Sporadic, Jase Harper & Jules Faber, editors
The Ink, Aaron Burgess, editor
WEBCOMIC OF THE YEAR
Platinum Grit (Winner)
Will Eisner's John Law
Raymondo Person
WRITER OF THE YEAR
Trudy Cooper et al. (Winner)
Christian Read
Daniel Reed
ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Trudy Cooper (Winner)
Jason Badower
Jase Harper
INKER OF THE YEAR
Gary Chaloner (Winner)
Doug Holgate
Darren Close
Daniel Reed
COLOURIST OF THE YEAR
Annette Kwok (Winner)
Doug Holgate
Jason Badower
LETTERER OF THE YEAR
Gary Chaloner (Winner)
Jason Paulos
Jason Kovacs
COVER ARTIST OF THE YEAR
Gary Chaloner, Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking (Winner)
Matt Huynh, Domino Joe, Bloom
Jason Badower, Killeroo Book 2
SINGLE ISSUE OR STORY OF THE YEAR
'Law, Luck and a Dead Eyed Mystic' (Will Eisner's John Law: Dead Man Walking), Gary Chaloner (Winner)
The Eldritch Kid #1, Christian Read & Christopher Burns
'Meat Burger Heaven' (Eat Comics), Dean Rankine
'Good for the Goose' (Killeroo Book 2), Jan Napiorkowski & Jason Badower
COMIC STRIP OF THE YEAR
Batrisha (K-Zone et al.), Dillon Naylor (Winner)
Grossgirl and Boogerboy (Mania), Dean Rankine
Raymondo Person, Patrick Alexander
RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR
Kings Comics, Sydney (Winner)
Phase Two Comics, online
Minotaur Books, Melbourne
DESIGN OR PRESENTATION OF THE YEAR
The Watch: Casus Belli, design by Karen Howard (Winner)
Killeroo Book Two, design by Darren Close
Keychain Comics, design by Aaron Burgess
LEDGER OF HONOUR
Peter Ledger* (automatically inducted)
Gary Chaloner (Winner)
Trudy Cooper
Tim McEwen
Tonia Walden
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)
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)
BRONZE: Matt Huynh (Happy Birthday Anyway, various)
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)
Heroes and Villains Exhibition (Kevin Patrick, curator)
RETAIL OUTLET OF THE YEAR (in recognition of Australian retail excellence and support in 2006)
Kings Comics, Sydney (winner/tie)
Phase Two Comics, Pulp Fiction (winner/tie)
Minotaur Books, Melbourne
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)