2017 Judging Panel & Judging Process

2017 Judging Panel

Philip Bentley (Vic)

Philip Bentley is a writer, editor and historian with a long history in Australian comics. A founding partner in the Minotaur comic shop (1977-89) he also co-edited and contributed to two 1980s anthologies Inkspots and Fox Comics. He produced Word Balloons (2006-13), a magazine on Australian comics, wherein he chronicled some of the above events, collecting these writings in A Life in Comics (2013). He continues to have a sporadic career writing comics, most recently published in Going Down Swinging, Tango and Passionate Nomads, a former Ledger recipient. He currently reviews comics for Matt Emery’s Pikitia Press blog.

W. Chew “Chewie” Chan (NSW)

By day, mild mannered Chewie Chan provides storyboards and concept art for such movies like the Academy Award winning Happy Feet, Mad Max: Fury Road and Superman Returns and drawing such comic books and characters like Iron Man, The Phantom and Cthulhu Tales. But in times of need, he dawns his alter ego to become the Comics Consultant! His clients include major movie studios like Warner Bros (Justice League: Mortal), See Pictures (The Little Death), SBS (The Boat), Kinokuniya Bookstores and is a much sought after lecturer/analyst (UTS Masters Of Animation, Sydney Writer’s Festival, Books+Publishing Magazine).

Sophia Parsons Cope (Vic)

Sophia Parsons Cope is a British-born artist living in Melbourne. She is an illustrator and self-publishes comics and zines (the most recent being a sci-fi serial comic titled ZORYA), regularly working out of Squishface Studio in Brunswick. Sophia also co-organises the All Star Women’s Comic Book Club, which held its inaugural Women In Comics Festival in December 2016. She really likes dogs.
artblog: http://soufexdraws.tumblr.com
instagram: @soufexdraws https://www.instagram.com/soufexdraws/
twitter: @soufex https://twitter.com/soufex

Ben Kooyman (NSW)

Ben Kooyman has a PhD in English from Flinders University and has spent most of his adult life in the halls of ivy, working at Flinders University, University of South Australia, and the Australian College of Physical Education. He has published journal articles and book chapters on Shakespeare and horror films & filmmakers and written a book on the latter. In recent years Ben’s scholarly interests have shifted towards Australian comics and film; he writes on the former at Australian Comics Journal (www.australiancomicsjournal.com) and the latter at Down Under Flix (www.downunderflix.com)

Mark Selan (SA)

Mark has been mucking about Australian comics for over 15 years now, sticking his fingers and odd shaped head into many endeavours including supporting, organising, writing, editing, moderating, publishing, sponsoring, selling, blogging, administering and enjoying Australian comics. He is now judging.
https://twitter.com/markonascooter
https://greenlightcomics.com/about/

Sarah Wignall (NSW)

Former Ledger Award recipient, Sarah is an illustrator, comic artist, programmer and systems engineer. She began drawing in 1998, and slowly expanded from simple character fanart to creating her own fully-fledged characters and the stories in which to reveal them. Beginning her graphic novel obsession with Inverloch, a 760 page comic, many hundreds more pages followed with Dreamless, The Phoenix Requiem and finally the Ledger Award winning Finding Gossamyr.
http://www.arts-angel.com/
http://requiem.seraph-inn.com/

See also:

Judging Process

Gold, Silver and Bronze Ledgers will be presented for outstanding comics work published in the calendar year January 1 to December 31, 2016.

Judged by a panel of experts listed above, the awards are open to any individual comics/sequential art projects, print and/or digital/web, that are produced (all or in part) by an Australian creator (who identifies as Australian or lives in Australia), or publishers whose main business operations are based in Australia.

The Ledger Awards are not a popularity vote, with the judges being asked to consider each project on its own merits in creativity, craft and execution.

Judging Method

1. A “Long List” of works produced across the calendar year will be developed and made available on the Ledgers’ web site. Projects will also be added to the list via a “Call for Entries”.
2. The Judging Panel will assess the “Long List” and each judge will develop a “Short List” of work they believe to be outstanding and worthy of the highest Ledger award: The Gold Ledger.
3. Judges will meet (either in person or online) to discuss the merits of each others Short Lists.
4. Judges each finalise their Short Lists and submit their selections to the Organising Committee.
5. The Committee compare all short lists to arrive at Gold, Silver and Bronze Ledger recipients.

Gold Ledger: awarded when the same project appears on 5 or more judges’ Short Lists.
Silver Ledger: awarded when appearing on only 4 Short Lists.
Bronze Ledger: awarded when appearing on only 3 Short Lists.

In the rare case where a judge has work in the calendar year that is Short Listed, then that judge cannot vote on the work in question. A Ledger Awards patron will step in to vote on that particular work. The Ledger Awards patrons are Christie Marx and Gary Chaloner.