Svetlana Chmakova’s Awkward, published by Yen Press, won the Dwayne McDuffie Award given out at the Ann Arbor Comic Arts Festival this weekend.

The award honors the pioneering comics and animation writer and Humanitas Prize winner Dwayne McDuffie, the co-founder of Milestone Media and creator (or co-creator) of more than a dozen comic book series including Icon, Static, Deathlok II, Hardware, and Damage Control. 

The judges considered over 100 titles published in 2015 that were created for readers up to 13 years of age and narrowed the field down to ten based on four criteria: Quality, Timelessness, Originality, and Diversity. The shortlist for the award can be viewed here: “2nd Annual Dwayne McDuffie Award for Kids' Comics Finalists.”

The Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity in Comics winner in the adult category was announced in February (see “Dwayne McDuffie Award Winner Announced”).