While expanding their Reuben Weekend to be more available to the public via NCS Fest,
the National Cartoonists Society is also expanding its awards categories.
A few years ago the NCS added Online Comics – Short Form, Online Comics – Long Form categories to the divisional award categories. This year they have added “the all-new Online Animation division!” This was revealed (to me) in their call for submissions for this year’s awards.
Online Animation is defined as any animated cartoon that was shown for the first time online, not on television or in a theater.
ONLINE ANIMATION – All entries must be work created for online viewing ONLY, and released in the 2018 calendar year.
This would, like their Online comics divisions, contain multitudes. Among them would be the new King Features Popeye cartoons, the first of which were released in 2018, and GoComics Short Animation entries from last Fall.
I guess stuff like Mark Fiore‘s animation is eligible for this and the Editorial Cartooning awards.
The other new divisional award is VARIETY ENTERTAINMENT
Variety Entertainment is defined as any newspaper, magazine, or online cartoon feature that contains puzzles, games, activities, trivia, history, or instruction.
This opens up an NCS divisional award to a host of cartoonists with illustrated features who never really had a shot at a comic strip award.
Some samples that I think would be qualified for a Variety Divisional Award:
