The 30th Comic-Con International, held in San Diego, bestowed its highest honor upon Tom Batiuk with the 1999 Inkpot Award for his outstanding contribution to the field of comics.
Comic-Con International represents many related popular art forms, including science fiction and fantasy literature, art, film and television, comic strips, costuming, games, interactive multimedia as well as Japanese animation. Comic-Con is the largest comic book and popular arts convention in the world.
Each year the association presents its award to people within the popular arts community who have shown consistent excellence in their field. In addition, Batiuk was a guest at the 1999 Comic-Con International.
Batiuk is the creator of the Funky Winkerbean comic strip, which appears in 400 newspapers in the United States and abroad. His outstanding agreement treatment of a variety of social issues such as guns in the classroom, drug use, dyslexia, teen pregnancy and teen suicide make him the perfect recipient for this award. Batiuk is also the creator of Crankshaft, a comic strip which appears in more than 300 newspapers.
Comic-Con International is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to creating awareness of and appreciation for comics and related popular arts, primarily through the presentation of conventions and events that support the historic and ongoing contribution to art and culture. For more information about Comic-Con International, please write to: Comic-Con International, 311 Fourth Ave., Suite 512, San Diego, CA 92101, or visit their website.
