The Harvey Awards returned from a two-year hiatus with a streamlined format and a new home in New York.

The awards focused on graphic novels, rather than serial comics, and traditional superhero comics were recognized only in absentia, as the source material for category that honored the best adaptation into another medium (see "Harvey Award Nominees for 2018"). There were only six categories, plus four special awards in three other categories, and the awards ceremony, hosted by Publishers Weekly senior editor Calvin Reid, was just about an hour long.

The award winners were:

Digital Book of the Year: Barrier, by Brian K. Vaughn, Marcos Martin, and Muntsa Vicente (Panel Syndicate)

Best European Book: California Dreamin’: Cass Elliot Before the Mamas & the Papas, by Pénélope Bagieu (First Second Books)

Best Manga: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, by Nagata Kabi (Seven Seas Entertainment)

Best Children or Young Adult Book: (Tie) The Prince and the Dressmaker, by Jen Wang (First Second), and The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neill (Oni Press)

Best Adaptation from Comic Book/Graphic Novel: Black Panther (Walt Disney Pictures), directed by Ryan Coogler, adapted from Black Panther (Marvel Comics)

Book of the Year: Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda (Image Comics)

The Comics Industry Pioneer Award was given to Jackie Estrada, who has been instrumental in the development of Comic-Con International in San Diego, coming up with innovations such as pro registration and artists’ alley.  She was also the official photographer of Comic-Con for many years and is the longtime administrator of the Eisner Awards.

Dave Gibbons and Roz Chast were given the Harvey Hall of Fame Award, and Harold Sakuishi, creator of Beck, received the International Spotlight Award.

The awards moved from Baltimore Comic Con to New York Comic Con two years ago (see "Harvey Awards Move to New York Comic Con"), but last year’s event was simply a brief ceremony that honored Harvey Kurtzman, for whom the awards were named, as well as the late Darwyn Cooke, who was named to the Harvey Awards Hall of Fame, and Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima, who received an International Spotlight Award.

The awards are now hosted by ReedPop, the parent company of New York Comic Con, and were sponsored by the comics news site The Beat.  The steering committee consisted of Harvey Kurtzman’s daughter, Nellie Kurtzman, as well as Chip Mosher and John Lind, and the nominations were made by a panel of over 50 comics professionals.

Click Gallery below for images of winners!