Comic Art Fans has announced the recipients of the first Jack & Roz Kirby Awards at Original Art Expo!
Honoring the King: The Inaugural Jack & Roz Kirby Awards at OAX
Collectors Network Holdings, PBC (CNHP), a Public Benefit Corporation that owns Comic Art Fans (CAF), is pleased to announce the seven recipients of the inaugural Jack & Roz Kirby Awards (the Kirbys).
The Kirbys are an annual award recognizing excellence, innovation, and humanity in narrative communication. Its first award ceremony was held at the Original Art Expo (OAX) in Florida on February 21st and co-hosted by Kasra Ghanbari and Rob Salkowitz.
OAX is an art fair and trade show hybrid being developed to progress to an annual platform for an exclusive showcasing of the narrative arts, including: comic books, illustration, comic strips, collector cards, games, animation, and other visual storytelling methods.
Defining Excellence: The Oversight Council and Voting Process
The Kirbys were announced back in October 2025 under a unified partnership between CAF, the Kirby Estate, and the Kirby Museum. The Founding Sponsors of the Kirby Awards were Marvel Comics, Cosmic Lion Productions, GalaxyCon, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
The award process was conducted by an Oversight Council, Advisory Board, and Voting Committee who had the responsibilities to nominate candidates and vote on the award winners.
“The first Jack & Roz Kirby Awards was a wonderful and meaningful event due in large part to the incredible contributions and goodwill of all involved,” said Kasra Ghanbari, CEO of CNHP and Creator of the Jack & Roz Kirby Awards. “I want to especially thank both Tracy Kirby and Jeremy Kirby, who were in attendance with their family members along with Tom Kraft and Rand Hoppe of the Kirby Museum. Looking forward, the 2027 Kirby Awards will have an expanded Advisory Board and Voting Committee, which will be announced by June with the 2027 award process starting in July and ending by October.”
“The Kirby family would like to congratulate everyone involved, as well as the first award recipients,” said Tracy Kirby, representative of the Kirby Estate. “We are thrilled how this all came together and honored Jack’s legacy and Roz’s love and dedication to Jack’s success and perseverance. As part of the Oversight Council, I am excited for the future of these awards and our partnership with CAF.”
The Core Awards: Celebrating the Life of the Independent Creator
For its first year, the Kirbys consisted of seven total award categories that celebrate the artist’s journey. The awards categories have no time restrictions, aside from the Newcomer Award; no geographic limits; and are English only (original/translated). Nominees must be alive at the time of nomination and, after winning a Kirby Award, are ineligible to be nominated for another five years.
CORE AWARDS
The five Core Awards reflect attributes of Jack Kirby and of dedicated, lifelong creators. Voting Committee members have the exclusive responsibility to provide up to two nominations per category and are the sole voters for these categories.
The Power of Independence: Nate Powell’s Steadfast Voice
INDEPENDENCE
“one who remains steadfast and fierce”
Winner: Nate Powell
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to operate outside the confines of established systems and control structures to freely create works that express deeply personal beliefs, themes, and values without censorship and commercial pressure.
Innovation and Vision: Bill Sienkiewicz and Kevin Nowlan
INNOVATOR
“one distinguished by new methods, approaches, and ideas”
Winner: Bill Sienkiewicz
The nominee has demonstrated clear innovation in methods, techniques, styles, storytelling, solutions, and/or packaging, and in so doing, has challenged the status quo and expanded the possibilities for all.
VISIONARY
“one distinguished by vital originality”
Winner: Kevin Nowlan
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to display and communicate worlds, characters, ideas, symbols, and realities beyond our current norms and understanding in contributing to our general comprehension and evolution.
The Newcomer and the Storyteller: Zoe Thorogood and John Romita Jr.
NEWCOMER
“one to support in all ways”
Winner: Zoe Thorogood
The nominee has demonstrated early in their artistic life unique capabilities, viewpoints, perspectives, dedication, and perseverance that invites the possibility of consistently unique and impactful works being created.
STORYTELLER
“one adept at shared human connection”
Winner: John Romita, Jr.
The nominee has demonstrated the ability to synthesize the complex and varied components of storytelling to powerfully connect with, engage, and impact others.
Legacy of the Masters: John Byrne and Walter Simonson
LEGACY AWARDS
The two Legacy Awards are a type of career achievement award, one of which is rooted in a fundamental character trait of a distinguished creator, and the other recognizing the underlying quality, innovation, importance, and distinction of a creator’s body of work. Nominations are electively provided by all Oversight Council, Advisory Board, and Voting Committee members and then voted on by the Oversight Council and Voting Committee.
The Creator Award: John Byrne’s Exemplary Body of Work
CREATOR
“one whose life’s work is exemplar for those to come”
Winner: John Byrne
The nominee has demonstrated the desire, ability, and commitment to time and again reenter the creative process and engage the often unpredictable and arduous creative journey towards conveying to us new stories, characters, themes, symbols, and possibilities.
The Teacher Award: Walter Simonson’s Guidance to the Next Generation
TEACHER
“one who suspends self and readily bestows experience and guidance”
Winner: Walter Simonson
The nominee has demonstrated the rare and critical ability to take that which they’ve experienced and learned and in a natural and discerning manner communicate their knowledge to others in a way that’s timely, uplifting, and impactful.
The Future of the Kirbys: OAX 2027 and Beyond
In a provided statement, the Kirby Museum said, “Congratulations to the inaugural Jack & Roz Kirby Award recipients! We are proud to honor those who keep the Kirby legacy alive.”
A representative example of the Kirby Award statue designed by Kasra Ghanbari and sculpted by Carlos Soca was unveiled at the OAX ceremony. The statue is meant to be a stark depiction of what it takes to create: “a working space, the basic tools you’ve mastered, and your internal drive to create”.
The statue combines iconic imagery from Jack Kirby’s work space with Albrecht Dürer’s engravings Melencolia I and Saint Jerome In His Study. It is presented to the recipient as the ultimate invitation and challenge, with the statue’s empty chair becoming the space for the award winner’s laser-engraved name.
It has been designed and constructed as a handmade work of art that the Kirby Awards organizers collectively hope will take its place in a creator’s studio space or home.
The full ceremony video of the Kirby Awards is available on the CAF+ YouTube Channel.
Note: The information above was sourced from a press release.
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