The Graphic Medicine International Collective (GMIC), a not-for-profit organization with a mission to guide and support the uses of comics in health, is thrilled to open the submission process for our 2025 awards. These awards are meant to recognize and honor outstanding health-related comic projects published in 2024. They are made possible by your donations and a generous matching gift in Honor of Nancy and Herbert Wolf.
There are a few changes this year, so please be sure to read the FAQ below closely.
Graphic Medicine Award FAQ
Q: What qualifies as a work of graphic medicine for this award?
A: Comics of any length that emphasize one or more health-related topics and were completed or published in 2024 are eligible for this award. Graphic medicine comics take as their theme (or meaningfully include) topics that impact health. We define the term “health” here broadly, based on the World Health Organization definition: a state of physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Comics can be fiction or nonfiction, memoir or biography, educational and/or entertaining. Both print and web-based comics are eligible for this award.
Q: Is there only one award?
No, there will be three awards in 2025. This is a change from last year. There will be one award for short-form comics (28 pages or less) and one award for long-form comics (greater than 28 pages) and one award for educational comics.This new third award category, launching this year, is meant to promote excellence in educational graphic medicine. It is intended to celebrate comics with a primarily instructional aim: comics that emphasize one or more medical topics, treatments, diseases, devices, and biological functions to teach medical professionals, medical students, patients, caregivers, or the general public. Submissions in this new category can be of any length.
Q: How will educational comics be evaluated?
A: Submitted educational comics will be evaluated on:
- Innovation and creativity
- Potential for impact on learning outcomes
- Community engagement and collaboration
- Medical accuracy (required, but conventional medical illustrations are not)
- Accessibility and ease of understanding
- Effective use of the comics medium
Q: Must eligible comics be published in English?
A: No, but all incorporated text must be translated into English for judging purposes and the original text must have been published in the preceding five years (i.e., 2019 or later).
Q: I used AI to help generate my comic. Can I submit it for a GMIC Award?
A: Comics generated in whole or in part using artificial intelligence (AI) will not be considered for any of the three GMIC Awards.
Q: Who can submit a work for consideration?
A: Each comic for consideration must be submitted by the creator of the comic or their publisher. Due to the nature of the award process, we will not be able to accept anonymous submissions, but we will respect pseudonyms.
Q: How should works be submitted?
All works should be submitted as a PDF using this online form.
Q: May I submit more than one comic for the award?
A: Yes, but you must do a separate entry form for each.
Q: May I submit a webcomic?
A: Yes, but the comic you want judged must have been completed in 2024 and be submitted as a PDF. You may also provide a link to the online comic to demonstrate interactivity if necessary. Each title may only be submitted once.
Q: Is there a deadline for making submissions for the 2025 GMIC award?
A: Yes. All submissions must be made by Friday, January 31st, 2025.
Q: How will the award winners be selected?
A: Three shortlists of awards (long form, short form, and educational ) will be generated from all submitted works. These lists will be announced to the public by April 30, 2025. The GMIC Award Judges will then meet to choose the winners. Both shortlisting and final judges are a diverse group consisting of at least five persons, each representing one or more of these categories: cartoonist, academic, clinician, librarian, person with lived experience of illness, caregiving, and/or disability, and comics critic/reviewer.
Q: When will the award be presented?
A: The winners of the 2025 GMIC Awards will be announced in a special online event in July 2025, details to come.
Q: What will the award winner receive?
A: The winning comics will be awarded $600 (U.S. dollars) and a keepsake suitable for display. Please note that the monetary award may be subject to taxes for which the winner will be responsible.
Q: You said this was a matching grant – how can we contribute?
Please note: donations are not expected or required from applicants for the award.
EXCELLENT QUESTION! Receipt of this generous gift is contingent on raising matching funds! To help make this award possible, you can make a tax-deductible donation here. Your support is essential to ensure the future of this award! We thank you for your generosity in advance.
If you would prefer to mail a physical check, please send it to:
ATTN: Graphic Medicine Award Committee
Graphic Medicine International Collective
PO Box 2267
Worcester, MA 01613
United States
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THIS AWARD!
Q: What if I have any questions about the awards?
Feel free to reach out to us with any questions.
Does this include web comics? I post a daily strip on-line called Doc Rat. Later, I publish them as collections in books.
Hi – Yes, webcomics qualify, but you will need to follow the submission process and provide a PDF of the comic you would like considered for the award.