2015 Wild Webcomic Quasi Awards Nominations

Once again I am back with the Wild Webcomic Quasi-Awards.  The goal of these awards is recognize comics for their achievements in a wide array of categories.  Each nominee for their award category should represent their category at their best.  As I am the lone judge and nominator of these awards, these are my opinions based on the comics I have read and reviewed as part of this blog.  On to the nominees.

Best Black and White Art - Nominees should express great use of line, form, shape and shading using a mostly monotone pallet on a consistent basis.

Dead Winter - Zombies and the people struggling against them rarely look as good as they do in this well drawn piece whose world's only hint of color is a dash of red and a dream here and there.
Deep Fried's Weapon Brown - The post-apocalyptic Sunday funnies is dark, gritty and gorgeous.  Though it revels in the violence of the world, it also does so with detail rarely seen in most comics.
Little Guardians - The imaginative monsters that inhabit the strange world of the guardians and the human characters that struggle against their natures and destinies make this comic one of best drawn comics out there.

Best Color Art - Nominees should express great use of line, form and hue using a multi-color pallet on a consistant basis.

Sunstone (NSFW) - This absolutely gorgeous comic about love and bondage started life as a series of pinups and has only become more beautiful as time as gone on.
Romantically Apocalyptic - The photo realistic artwork of this comic is second to none and the bizarre events and characters that inhabit it are almost beyond amazing.
The Demon Archives - Soldiers in identical battle armor might seem easy to draw, but to make each stand out and create a story using those same looking characters might be one of the greatest feats one can imagine in art.

Best Gag Comic - Nominees should express excellent use of timing, word play and humor within a single strip or page on a consistent basis.

The Non-Adventures of Wonderella - She's not a hero, but not a villain either, and her non-adventures usually result in more damage than any villain can ever hope to do.  And yet, she still hasn't caught that leprechaun.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal - While some jokes are more "intellectual" than others, the basis is that humans can screw up just about anything if we put or minds to it, or not.
Chainsawsuit - Sometimes a random joke is all that's needed.  There's no rhyme or reason to it, no high minded idea, and no hero to poke fun at, just random events that are too silly to pass up.

Best Shortform Comic - Nominees should be able to tell coherent and independent stories based around a small cast or idea without requiring an overarching plan or story to the comic as a whole.

The Adventures of Dr. McNinja - He's a doctor, a ninja and Irish and these are his adventures.  They're silly, over the top and often don't make a lick of sense in the long run.  Well, as long as they don't deal with King Radical.
Aptitude Test - While the story started as a simple one shot tale of a test, the ongoing short stories continue the fact that the real test is life, and a multiple choice test can only hint at person's true potential.
Spinnerette - With superhero comics either becoming pale imitations of their former selves, selling out to big media or simply dying off, it's great to find one comic that makes an honest shot at telling classic heroic tales.

Best Longform Comic - Nominees should be able to tell a coherent and consistent story over a long period following a character or cast from the first strip to an eventual last strip in an interesting and engaging way.

Girl Genius - One day, her locket broke, since then Agatha has been on a quest to claim her heritage from those who fear it, those who desire it, and those who would like nothing more than to destroy it in a world where mad science is the norm.
Gaia - A group of friends finally graduate from school, amongst the best in their class, only to have things go horribly wrong.  Through making new allies and friends, a greater adventure awaits all of them and it will take all they have and know to make it through.
What Birds Know - It was just a school project, but when three friends head into the woods what they found was a history they never knew and a fire looking for a lone spark to rise again.

Best Cast - Nominees should have a cohesive cast of characters who support and build each other in ways that make each essential to the other and creating a great whole from the sum of their parts.

Sluggy Freelance - For 17 years the ever expanding cast of Sluggy Freelance has grown, but in numbers and personally into a memorable group where no one character ever stands completely above the others.
Dumbing of Age - A kind of rehash of previous comics, the various characters from four different comics are brought together to tell a new story with fresh eyes.
Bohemian Nights - When a group of twenty-something friends get together, wild parties and drinking contests occur, but they only get a few hours to play before returning to their dreary lives and planning the next meeting.

Best Character - Nominees should be a single character that stands out from the rest of the cast with a strong personality, history or story, but also one that drives the story through their actions.

J. Thomas Blackwell from Between Failures - Though manipulative, Thomas spends his time trying to bring together his crew of retail workers to make them a stronger team, and better friends, even while he deals with his own demons he can't quite control.
Alison Green from Strong Female Protagonist - She started a revolution by taking of her mask, and now seeks to save the world without fighting a supervillain, a task more daunting than any she has ever faced before.
Dang Thu Mai from Derelict - A survivor in a world destroyed by disaster, Dang isn't some gun ho hero or ruthless monster, but a normal person struggling with her own fears and insecurities in the face of survival.

Best New Comic - Nominees should show general excellence in the creation and publication of a new webcomic starting between now and the previous nomination announcement.

Stand Still, Stay Silent - The end of the world wasn't the end of humanity, and the plaque that killed billions was only the start of the world's troubles.  Now a small group seeks long lost knowledge in the world that was.
Blindsprings - A lost princess who finally returns home hundreds of years later.  A group of persecuted magic users.  A collection of spirits who want to make a deal.  The truth of this world is slowly coming to light in this fantasy tale.
Subhuman Sanctum - A chance encounter turns a boy's life upside down, but while this new world beacons him onward, old obligations rear their head and the question of whether to follow a new way or stay with the old becomes the center piece of this comic.

Best Completed Comic - Nominees should be naturally completed comics that stand out as great pieces of fiction and art.

Errant Story - This epic fantasy tale continues to hold the standard for long pieces of webcomic fiction and stands as the artists current masterpiece.
Miracle of Science - A science fiction tale of love and mutual discovery that enthralls the reader in a wonderful world and amazing action.
Rice Boy - There are few worlds as creative and amazing as this and with a story that is epic and characters who are great.

Best Overall Comic - Nominees must show general excellence in the fields of art, writing and publication over the length of the comic's lifespan.

Derelict - A comic that hits every note of what great comics should strive for with interesting, realistic characters, great art, and an intriguing world.
Gunnerkrigg Court - The continuing story of a school on the edge of magic and science and how the two collide and interact remains one of the standards webcomics are held to.
Gaia - This epic fantasy comic picks up the torch set down by other great comics and stories and begins a new, exciting journey where the final goal is still a mystery, but it's coming up fast.