The Laughing Ogre of Columbus, Ohio, owned by Chris Lloyd, was named the winner of this year’s Will Eisner Spirit of Comics Retailer Award, which honors a retailer who has supported the medium in both their local community and the larger world of comics. The store was chosen from among five finalists who were announced last week (see “Five Stores Are Finalists”).

The judges for this year’s award were comics writer and professional Henry Barajas; artist Ryan Benjamin; Kyle Kreamer, Manager in Diamond Comic Book Distributors’ Retailer Services Department; Sergio Lopez, owner of last year’s winner, Nostromo Comics in Seville Spain; Tata Rambo, Director of Operations, Top Cow Productions; Helm Greycastle, Direct Market Outreach Coordinator, Top Cow Productions; and cartoonist Jeff Smith. As in previous years, the awards were facilitated by Joe Ferrara, owner of Atlantis Fantasyworld in Santa Cruz, California.