Nickelodeon Magazine has launched its first-ever “Best Kids’ Graphic Novel Awards” competition.  Submissions for the contest must be received by September 30th, with voting set for December at the Nickelodeon Magazine online site.  The winners, who will be chosen from a list selected by the Nickelodeon Magazine staff, will be announced in print and online in the spring of 2009 in conjunction with the release of Nickelodeon Magazine’s annual comics issue.

Nickelodeon welcomes all submissions appropriate for kids between the ages of seven and thirteen.  Nickelodeon Magazine, which is published 11 times a year, reaches an estimated 7.7 million readers per issue.  The team of judges who will select the list of graphic novels that will be voted on is being led by two individuals with great experience in and knowledge of the comics world including Dave Roman, who contributed to the Flight 3 anthology, co-created the Harvey and Ignatz-nominated Webcomics, Jax Epoch and the Quicken Forbidden and Teen Boat, and is married to comics artist Raina Telgemaier, and Chris Duffy, a former associate editor at DC Comics who has brought top flight alternative comics artists such as Kaz, Ivan Brunetti and Johnny Ryan to the pages of Nickelodeon Magazine.

Duffy and Roman are responsible for "The Comic Book," a collection of comic strips for kids produced by leading alt comics artists, that is a regular (and often stunning) feature of Nickelodeon Magazine.