Etan Comics, the Ethiopian-origin, Houston-based, Black-owned publisher of African-inspired comics, has been named Fan Favourite Publisher at the 2026 Ringo Awards, with founder Beserat Debebe accepting the trophy from Jim Lee, President, Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics.
The list of winners places Etan Comics among this year’s fan favourites, alongside Batman for Favourite Hero and Doctor Doom for Favourite Villain. The Mike Wieringo Comic Book Industry Awards were presented on the evening of Saturday, 26 September, as part of Baltimore Comic-Con, according to the event’s announcement of the final ballot. Launched in 2017, the Ringos recognise work across more than 20 categories and describe themselves as the only industry awards nominated by both fans and professionals. Lee was also honoured at the ceremony, receiving the Hero Initiative Lifetime Achievement Award.
Debebe marked the win on social media, writing that the moment left him in such shock that he forgot to thank his family, readers, creators, comic shop owners, printing partners, journalists and educators from the stage. He used the post to do so. “All glory to God,” he wrote, adding that the team looks forward to serving readers for years to come.
He also looked back on how the imprint began. Eight years ago, he said, almost no one knew Etan Comics existed, and he accepted that because he knew a comic centred on his Ethiopian heritage now existed. It was the kind of book he had long wanted to see from DC and Marvel. He then kept publishing, investing heavily in hand-drawn art and in African creators, taking what he called huge risks and delivering books consistently and on time while readership grew each year.
Those early projects also included Zufan. In an interview with the Houston Chronicle, Debebe said he began writing it to raise awareness of Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia, a subject he grew up learning in school but which is rarely discussed alongside other wartime atrocities. The release of Black Panther in 2018 pushed him to try an Afrofuturist comic about his homeland. “I was my ideal customer, essentially,” he told the paper. “I wanted these kinds of stories so bad.” He has also said he learned English partly through superheroes.
Etan Comics is not pausing to celebrate. Its next release, You Called, launches on 20 October. The sci-fi and fantasy anthology is based on African folklore and collects 10 stories by more than 20 African creators. It is the publisher’s third anthology, following Long Distance and Carry On. Readers can register interest on the book’s Kickstarter page to be notified at launch and qualify for early-bird deals.
The win brings a publisher that has centred African writers and artists before one of the US comics industry’s biggest audiences, weeks before its next anthology reaches readers.
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