The Doug Wright Awards for the best in Canadian comics were handed out in Toronto, in conjunction with the Toronto Comic Arts Festival, on June 7.

The winners in each category receive a small cash prize, with the winner of The Nipper additionally receiving a week-long retreat at the Valleyview Artist Retreat, in Caledon, Ontario.

 The Giants of the North: The Canadian Cartooning Hall of Fame, in its 20th year, inducted two cartoonists at the event: Lou Skuce (1886–1951), newspaper and magazine editorial and sports cartoonist, comic strip creator, and illustrator, who was long considered “Canada’s greatest cartoonist,” and Richard Comely, the publisher, artist, and writer best known as the co-creator of the Canadian superhero Captain Canuck.

The winners are:

The Doug Wright Award for best book

• I’m So Glad We Had This Time Together by Maurice Vellekoop (Random House Canada)

The Nipper: The Doug Wright Award for emerging talent

• The Jellyfish by Boum, Robin Lang, and Helge Dascher, trans. (Pow Pow Press)

The Pigskin Peters: The Doug Wright Award for best small- or micro-press book

• Customer Service by Patrick Allaby (self-published)

The Egghead: The Doug Wright Award for best kids’ book

• Lost at Windy River: A True Story of Survival by Trina Rathgeber, Alina Pete, Jillian Dolan (Orca Book Publishers)