Books with Pictures is excited to partner with Salt & Honey, a former podcast turned Youtube show, dedicated to storytelling by well-known creators Leslie Hung (Snotgirl) and Sloane Leong (A Map to the Sun, Prism Stalker).

This year they have chosen to hold the Minicomics Awards, open to short form comics produced during 2021. Below you can find their episode discussing entrants, followed by a list of the winners and runners up for each category!

All comics that are available in physical form are soon to be available in person at Books with Pictures, and those with digital availability are linked.

Salt & Honey’s Full episode discussing the Awards.

For most cartoonists, minicomics are the form in which they begin to develop their storytelling skills and also the place they return to experiment and push their voices, and the medium, further. The fact of their accessibility also means we get a bounty of incredibly unique work across a wide range of genres and from a variety of marginalized perspectives. With that in mind, Sloane and Leslie wanted to find a way to spotlight some of the many minicomics being made and we decided the best way to do this was to host our first ever MINICOMIC AWARD SHOW. We’re excited to bring to the fore some amazing, under-the-radar work and hopefully encourage more people to make minicomics!
Salt and Honey Website

Horror

Winner

Devil’s Pawn by Aysha U. Farah (A) Megan Llewellyn

. Read Here .

Quotes from the Judges:

“This is an incredible comic, I’d like to see this in print.”
Sloane Leong

“The art is so unnerving! How did they draw this?”
Kris Mukai

“Really beautiful, highly rendered, sort of surreal.”
Leslie Hung

Runners Up

Red Shoes – Phaica
“The art, pacing, and paneling felt crystal clear.” – Kris Mukai
The Ember of Salome – Eli Lin
“This is a really cool Josei style comic.” – Leslie Hung
Soul Searching – Jade Lejeck
“I love it. It’s so charming.” – Sloane Leong

Fantasy

. Read Here .

Quotes from the Judges:

“I just really enjoyed this one… I loved the flow of the comic.”
Leslie Hung

“I loved that it was fantasy but it also felt way too realistic.”
Kris Mukai

“I thought this was just really fun and clever.”
Sloane Leong

Runners Up

Crayon – Pa Luis
“So pretty and nostalgic.” – Leslie Hung
Where the Lotus Sleeps – C. A. P. Ward
“A really ambitious comic.” – Kris Mukai
Sandcastle – Céu Isatto
“A lot of beautiful really textured drawings” – Sloane Leong
Dance ’til Dawn (Zelda Fan Comic) – Aatmaja Pandya
“I love their approach and interpretation.” – Leslie Hung

Winner

Made in Heaven by Kruttika Susarla

Scifi

Winner

ARC29 #3 by Marc Michaud

. Read Here .

Quotes from the Judges:

“I really loved this comic a lot.”
Sloane Leong

“I could not stop reading this one.”
Kris Mukai

“It was really cool.”
Leslie Hung

Runners Up

Goodnight Starman – Leo Fox
“Really fascinating visuals.” – Sloane Leong
No 1. Filipino Girl – Danielle Chuatico
“I really liked all the cartooning and thought that was put into this one.” – Leslie Hung
Golly – Masha Zhdanova
“I thought there was a lot of interesting stuff going on in this story.” – Kris Mukai
Agent Blue: The Millennium Ball – Chloe Howard
“So beautiful, I just love the way this comic looks.” – Leslie Hung

Autobio / Nonfiction

. Read Here .

Quotes from the Judges:

“I just love this comic. A lot. This might have been my favorite comic.”
Leslie Hung

“This hit so close to home.”
Sloane Leong

“I was screaming through this whole comic.”
Kris Mukai

Runners Up

Polly Who? 2 – Jen Milton
“A really solid diary comic.” – Kris Mukai
I Hate Introspection – Helen Schremf
“This was super visually striking to me.” – Sloane Leong

Winner

you meet in a moonlit clearing by Barbara Benas

Romance

Winner

My Cicadas Are Dead by Jade L.F.T Peters

. Read Here .

Quotes from the Judges:

“I love how subtle the world-building is.”
Leslie Hung

“I thought it was great.”
Kris Mukai

“These little intimacies these characters have felt earned.”
Sloane Leong

Runners Up

Moving On – Richard Mercado
“I really liked Richard’s cartooning in this.” – Sloane Leong
Tender is the Night – AL
“I really liked the drawings in it, this is another short, soft story.” – Kris Mukai
Date Night – Filipa Estrela
“Sometimes I just wanna read a comic about two kids going on dates!” – Kris Mukai

Congratulations to all of the winners from us here at Books with Pictures! We can’t wait to see what you do, and what other works these awards will reveal in the future.

Thank you so much to Sloane and Leslie for hosting this event, and for your partnership. Please take a moment to check out their works, as well as Salt & Honey itself!