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(New Bedford, MA/USA—February 24, 2023) The non-profit Inkwell Awards, devoted to promoting the art of comic book inking, announced in December its second Joe Sinnott Tribute Challenge Spotlight, renamed the Legacy Challenge, featuring Marvel’s Spider-Man and Mary Jane by artist Alex Saviuk.

The event was launched in 2021 to commemorate the life and long career of the late, award-winning ink artist Joe Sinnott, and the prior annual inking event that had borne his name since 2010. The previous Challenge featured Sinnott’s oft-partner Ron Frenz on Thor. This year, artist Alex Saviuk‘s exclusive pencil art was scanned and sent to a variety of ink artists to embellish. Saviuk and Sinnott were art partners on the Amazing Spider-Man Sunday comic strip with writer/co-creator Stan Lee from the 1990s until the strip’s end in 2019. Saviuk’s Challenge pinup includes The Web of Spider-Man logo to celebrate his six-year stint as penciller on that title.

For over two months, artists volunteered to participate by inking the blueline pencils printed on board with the option of using the clean, slick line for which Sinnott was known, or in their own way to showcase how much the ink artist can contribute stylistically. Both professionals and amateurs were allowed to take part.

As in past years, Sinnott’s son Mark and daughter-in-law also contributed. Artists include relative newcomers and legendary veterans, from mainstream professionals to small press/indie pros. And ink artists new to the Challenges include Dan Panosian, Romeo Tanghal, Bob Smith, Sergio Cariello and Jason Metcalf among others. In alphabetical order, the participants are:

Gerry Acerno
Jeff Austin
Mike Barreiro
Noah Barrett
Steven Berry
Ken Branch
Eliot R. Brown
Sergio Cariello
Kevin Conrad
Marc Deering

The Legacy tribute event furthers the inking advocacy’s dual mission of promoting the artform and educating the public. Each inked page will be signed by Saviuk and the inker. All pages, plus a certificate of authenticity signed by The Inkwells’ founder/director, Bob Almond, will be auctioned off as an eBay fundraiser in biweekly waves beginning Saturday February 24.

Information about the upcoming fundraising auctions can be found on the Inkwell’s website and Facebook group.

(New Bedford, MA/USA—December 5, 2022) The non-profit Inkwell Awards, devoted to promoting the art of comic book inking, has announced its second Joe  Sinnott Tribute Challenge Spotlight, renamed the Legacy Challenge. The event features artist Alex Saviuk‘s exclusive pencil art of Marvel’s Spider-Man & MJ which was scanned and sent to a variety of ink artists to embellish.

The event was launched in 2021 to commemorate the life and career of the award-winning, multi-decade ink artist Joe Sinnott, who passed away in 2020, and the annual inking event that bore his name since 2010. Inkwell Awards’ founder, Bob Almond, explains:

“Our previous Sinnott Inking Challenges were major events for us and our supporters. Joe would give us a tightly and/or loosely penciled drawing of a popular character. Then ink artists of various experience levels would complete the scanned art in black and white, each bringing his or her own style to the piece. Fans are then able to see the difference in the penciled and inked versions to better understand how much inkers contribute to the artform.”

The tribute furthers the inking advocacy’s dual mission of promoting the artform and educating the public. Each inked page will be signed by Saviuk and the inker. All pages, plus a certificate of authenticity signed and numbered by Almond, will then be auctioned off as a fundraiser in biweekly waves beginning this spring.

Sinnott’s son Mark shares, “On behalf of the Inkwell Awards and the entire Sinnott family I would like to thank you for taking part in this year’s Joe Sinnott Legacy Inking Challenge. As many of you know in years past Joe always enjoyed seeing the different inked renditions of his pencils to make the Joe Sinnott Inking Challenge such a success.  It is with great pleasure to me that this year’s Challenge is featuring my dad’s longtime penciller on the Sunday Spider-Man strip, Alex Saviuk. Joe had the pleasure to work with Alex over the span of 22 years on that strip, far longer than Joe had worked with anyone else. We are so glad that he agreed to be a part of this and keep Joe’s legacy going. Thank you Alex, and thank you, the inkers who will be taking part in this challenge. I look forward to seeing your finished work. I know my dad would be proud as well.”

“On behalf of the Inkwells,” added Almond, “our sincerest thanks to Mark, Alex, all of the many dozens of participating inkers, and all involved for their cooperation, support of our program, and appreciation of ink artists.”

Information about the upcoming fundraising auctions can be found on the Inkwell’s website.

The Inkwell Awards is the only official 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to promote and educate regarding the art form of comic-book inking, as well as annually recognize the best ink artists and their work. Established in 2008, the Inkwells are overseen by a volunteer committee of industry professionals and assisted by various professional ambassadors and contributors. They sponsor the Dave Simons Inkwell Memorial Scholarship Fund for the Kubert School and host the Joe Sinnott Hall of Fame Award.

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