The Sproing Award is awarded by Norsk Tegneserieforum (NTF), an organisation to promote interest and understanding for

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. Since 1987, the award has been presented for the ''Best Norwegian Strips'', a comic strip or comic book by a Norwegian, and ''Best Translated Strips'', an international comic strip/comic book translated into Norwegian. Since 2003, there has also been awarded a Sproing for ''Best Comics Debut''. At NTF's annual meeting, a jury is selected which reads all publications of the year and choose five nominees for the national and international classes, and three nominees for the debut class. Initially, voting was exclusive to NTF members, but has been opened to the public in the 2000s.

Best translated comics

*1987:

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...

, for ''Donald Duck: I det gamle Persia'' (

Egmont Serieforlaget The Egmont Group (officially Egmont International Holding A/S; known as Gutenberghus Group until 1992) is a Danish media corporation founded and rooted in Copenhagen, Denmark. The business area of Egmont has traditionally been magazine publishi ...

) *1988:

Bill Watterson William Boyd Watterson II (born July 5, 1958) is an American cartoonist who authored the comic strip ''Calvin and Hobbes''. The strip was syndicated from 1985 to 1995. Watterson concluded ''Calvin and Hobbes'' with a short statement to newspa ...

, for ''Tommy & Tigern #1'' ('' Calvin & Hobbes'') ( Semic) *1989:

Brian Bolland Brian Bolland (; born 26 March 1951)Salisbury, Mark, ''Artists on Comic Art'' (Titan Books, 2000) , p. 11 is a British comics artist. Best known in the United Kingdom as one of the Judge Dredd artists for British comics anthology ''2000 AD (comi ...

and

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

, for ''Det glade vanvidd'' (Semic) *1990: Francois Bourgeon, for ''Skumringens venner'' (''Les compagnons de crépuscule'') (Cappelen) *1991:

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...

, for ''Donald Duck: Tilbake til Xanadu'' (Egmont Serieforlaget) *1992:

Peter Madsen Peter Langkjær Madsen (; born 12 January 1971) is a Danish convicted murderer and former entrepreneur. In April 2018, he was convicted of the August 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine, '' UC3 Nautilus'', and se ...

and others, for ''Valhall: Frøyas smykke'' (Semic) *1993:

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

, for ''

Maus ''Maus'', often published as ''Maus: A Survivor's Tale'', is a graphic novel by American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, serialized from 1980 to 1991. It depicts Spiegelman interviewing his father about his experiences as a History of the Jews in P ...

'' (Cappelen) *1994:

Daniel Clowes Daniel Gillespie Clowes (; born April 14, 1961) is an American cartoonist, graphic novelist, illustrator, and screenwriter. Most of Clowes's work first appeared in ''Eightball (comic book), Eightball'', a solo anthology comic book series. An ''E ...

, for ''"Blå Italienske Greier" i Fidus'' (No Comprendo Press) *1995:

Gary Larson Gary Larson (born August 14, 1950) is an American cartoonist who created ''The Far Side'', a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to more than 1,900 newspapers for fifteen years. The series ended on January 1, 1995, ...

, for ''"Madame Qs forbannelse" i Larsons gale verden'' (Bladkompaniet) *1996:

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

and others, for ''Sandman: Lyden av vingeslag'' (Bladkompaniet) *1997:

, for ''"Marco Polos skatt" i Donald Duck & Co nr. 27'' (Egmont) *1998: Jeff Smith, for ''

Bone A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, ...

: Flukten fra Boneville'' (Bladkompaniet) *1999:

Quino Joaquín Salvador Lavado Tejón (17 July 193230 September 2020), better known by his pen name Quino (), was an Argentina, Argentine cartoonist. His comic strip ''Mafalda'' (which ran from 1964 to 1973) is popular in many parts of the Americas ...

, for ''1 side i Larsons gale verden nr. 4'' (Bladkompaniet) *2000: **

Jean Giraud Jean Henri Gaston Giraud (; 8 May 1938 – 10 March 2012) was a French artist, cartoonist, and writer who worked in the Franco-Belgian comics, Franco-Belgian ''bandes dessinées'' (BD) tradition. Giraud garnered worldwide acclaim predomin ...

, for ''

Blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

: Geronimo'' (Egmont Serieforlaget) ** Jeff Smith, for ''Bone: Det store kuveddeløpet'' (Bladkompaniet) *2001:

Martin Kellerman Martin Kellerman (born 1973 in Växjö) is a Swedish cartoonist, known for the comic strip ''Rocky''. He was influenced by American and Swedish underground cartoonists such as Peter Bagge, Max Andersson, Robert Crumb, Harvey Pekar, Joe Matt an ...

, for ''

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

-sekvenser i Pondus nr. 1-4'' (Bladkompaniet) *2002:

, for '' Ghost World'' (No Comprendo Press) *2003:

, for ''Menneskesønnen'' (Det norske bibelselskap) *2004:

and Kevin O'Neill, for ''

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Leagues (band), ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer ...

, del 2'' (Schibsted Forlagene) *2005:

Marjane Satrapi Marjane Satrapi (; ; born 22 November 1969) is a French-Iranian graphic novelist, cartoonist, illustrator, film director, and children's book author. Her best-known works include the graphic novel ''Persepolis (comics), Persepolis'' and Persepo ...

, for ''

Persepolis Persepolis (; ; ) was the ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire (). It is situated in the plains of Marvdasht, encircled by the southern Zagros mountains, Fars province of Iran. It is one of the key Iranian cultural heritage sites and ...

'' (No Comprendo Press) *2006:

Joann Sfar Joann Sfar (; born 28 August 1971) is a French comics artist, comic book creator, novelist, and film director. Life and career Sfar was born in Nice, the son of Lilou, a pop singer, who died when he was three, and André Sfar, a lawyer well know ...

, for ''Rabbinerens Katt'' (''Le chat du rabbin'') (Egmont Serieforlaget) *2008: David B., for '' Epileptisk'' (''l'Ascension du Haut Mal'') (No Comprendo Press)

Best Norwegian comics

*1987:

Tor Bomann-Larsen Tor Bomann-Larsen (born 26 April 1951) is a Norwegian illustrator, children's writer, non-fiction writer, novelist and government scholar. Biography Tor Bomann-Larsen was born in Jevnaker, Oppland on 26 April 1951, a son of engineer Erik B ...

, for ''Drama i Bayern'' (Cappelen) *1988: **

Arild Midthun Arild Midthun (born 6 May 1964) is a Norwegian illustrator, cartoonist and comics artist from Bergen. Among his early production is the comics strip ''Patrick & Co'' in the newspaper ''Bergens Tidende'' 1977, a spy series written by Tormod Løk ...

and

Terje Nordberg Terje Nordberg (born 21 November 1949) is a Norwegian comics artist, comics writer and magazine editor. He lives in San Jose, California with his wife Nancy. He is also a painter having painted scenes of California, often with whimsical cows. He ...

, for ''Troll: Sølvskatten'' (Bladkompaniet), **

Christopher Nielsen Christopher Nielsen (born 20 April 1963 in Oslo) is a Norwegian comics artist. He is especially known for his subcultural depictions. Nielsen got his first comics printed in 1980 after entering a competition in the Norwegian anarchist magazi ...

, for ''En fettsugers bekjennelser'' (Semic) *1989:

, for ''UR i Rummpfftillfftooo? nr. 3'' (self published) *1990:

Bjørn Ousland Bjørn Ousland (born 14 May 1959) is a Norwegian illustrator, children's writer and comics writer. His breakthrough was the album series ''Solruns saga'' from 1988 to 1993. Among his later albums are ''Mumle Gåsegg'' from 1999, ''Soria Moria ...

and

Eirik Ildahl Eirik Ildahl (born 19 June 1957) is a Norwegian comics writer, scriptwriter, playwright and novelist. He was born in Hamar. Among his comics series is ''Sirkus'' from 1980 onwards (with co-writer Terje Nordberg and illustrator Arild Midthun), ...

, for ''Solruns saga: Nattlys'' (Bladkompaniet) *1991: Morten Myklebust and Kåre Holt, for ''Kristina av Tunsberg'' (Mykle Illustrasjoner) *1992: Inka-Lill, for ''Ridderne av Dor 1: Hjertets knekt'' (Bladkompaniet) *1993:

Steffen Kverneland Steffen Kverneland (born 14 January 1963) is a Norwegian illustrator and comics writer. He was born in Haugesund, and settled in Oslo from 1987. He has specialized on creating comics series based on classical literature. Among his early albums a ...

, for ''Jonas Fjeld: De knyttede never'' (TEGN A/Lbum) *1994: Siri Dokken and Baard Enoksen, for ''Kongens Mann'' (Cappelen) *1995:

Jason Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece is featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Med ...

, for ''Lomma full av regn'' (TEGN A/Lbum) *1996: Inka-Lill, for ''Ridderne av Dor 4: Lovens Bokstav'' (Bladkompaniet) *1997: Tore Strand Olsen, for ''"Tore Hund" i Forresten nr. 4'' (Jippi Forlag) *1998:

Frode Øverli Frode Øverli (born 15 August 1968 in Bergen, Norway) is a Norwegian comic strip cartoonist, considered one of the most successful in Scandinavia. Biography He began his career in 1984 when his Parody, parodies of ''The Phantom'' became a regul ...

, for ''Pondus: Alt for Norge'' (Bladkompaniet) *1999: Karine Haaland, for ''"Angsten eter sjelen" i Våre venner menneskene'' (Bladkompaniet) *2000:

, for ''Mjau Mjau 10: Si meg en ting'' (Jippi Forlag) *2001: Odd Henning Skyllingstad, for ''Serie uten tittel i Forresten nr. 11'' (Jippi Forlag) *2002: Ronny Haugeland, for ''Downs Duck i bl.a. Forresten'' (Jippi Forlag) *2003:

, for ''Pondus julespesial'' (Schibsted) *2004:

Lars Fiske Lars Fiske (born 21 July 1966) is a Norwegian comics writer and artist, and creator of picture books. He was born in Oslo and is married to illustrator and writer Anna Fiske. Fiske created the album ''Matje: debutanten'' in 1996, and the foll ...

and

, for ''Olaf G'' (No Comprendo Press) *2005:

, for ''Uflaks'' (No Comprendo Press) *2006: Bendik von Kaltenborn, for ''Seks sultne menn'' (Dongery) *2007: Sigbjørn Lilleeng, for ''Nebelgrad Blues 3'' (Jippi Forlag) *2008: Pushwagner, for ''Soft City'' (No Comprendo Press). *2009: Bendik Kaltenborn, for ''Serier som vil deg vel'' (No Comprendo Press). *2010: Sindre Goksøyr, for ''Hrmf!'' (Dongery Forlag). *2011:

Børge Lund Børge Lund (born 13 March 1979) is a retired Norwegian handball player and current handball coach of Elverum. He played 216 matches and scored 390 goals for the Norway men's national handball team between 2000 and 2014. He participated at the 20 ...

, for ''Lunch'' (Egmont Serieforlaget). *2012: Øyvind Holen and

Mikael Noguchi Mikael is a masculine given name, a variant of the Hebrew name Michael (מִיכָאֵל), which means "Who is like God". It is used predominantly throughout Scandinavia and Finland. Mikaela is the feminine form of the name. In France, the name is w ...

, for ''Drabant'' (Cappelen Damm). *2013:

Knut Nærum Knut Nærum (born 3 March 1961) is a Norwegian comedian, author, comics writer and TV entertainer. He is best known for being one of the permanent panelists in the Norwegian show '' Nytt på nytt'' ("News Anew"). On 23 April 2015, Nærum announc ...

, Tormod Løkling and

, for ''Donald Duck julealbum: Skrues barndom: Kampen om jula'' (Egmont Serieforlaget). *2014: Bjarte Agdestein, Endre Skandfer and Ronald Kabícek, for ''Krüger & Krogh 1: Brennpunkt Oslo'' (Egmont Serieforlaget). *2015:

, for ''Automobilfabrikken Fiske'' (No Comprendo Press). *2016: Håkon Aasnes, for ''

Smørbukk ''Smørbukk'' is a Norwegian comic strip. It was started in 1938 by text writer Andreas Haavoll and illustrator Jens R. Nilssen. The first Smørbukk story was based on the fairytale Buttercup (fairy tale), Buttercup collected by Asbjørnsen and M ...

: Jula 2016'' (Norsk Barneblad). *2017:

Øyvind Sagåsen Øyvind or Oyvind may refer to: *Øyvind Aasland (born 1967), Norwegian darts player * Øyvind Alapnes (born 1976), Norwegian football referee * Jon Øyvind Andersen (born 1965), Norwegian black metal guitarist * Carl Øyvind Apeland (born 1964), N ...

, for ''Radio Gaga'' (in ''Pondus''). *2018:

Lise Myhre Lise Myhre (born 1 November 1975 in Lørenskog) is a Norwegian cartoonist. Her most famous cartoon is ''Nemi Nemi is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome (central Italy), in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcani ...

, for ''Nemi''. *2019: Jens K. Styve, for ''Dunce''. *2020: Thore Hansen, for ''Euffen og Solan''. *2021: Therese G. Eide, for ''Intet nytt fra hjemmefronten''. *2022: Torbjørn Lien, for ''Kollektivet''. *2023: Nils Axle Kanten, for ''Hjalmar''.

Best debut

*2003: Siri Pettersen, for ''Anti-Klimaks'' (bl.a. Schibsted Forlagene) *2004:

Bjørn Sortland Bjørn Sortland (born 1 May 1968) is a Norwegian writer for children and young adults. Biography Sortland made his literary debut in 1992 with ''Det er ikkje natta'', a book for young adults. His next book, ''Raudt, blått og litt gult'' (1993), ...

and

Øyvind Torseter Øyvind Torseter (born 2 October 1972) is a Norwegian artist, illustrator, comics, comic book artist and writer. For his lasting contribution as a children's illustrator, Torseter was a finalist in 2014 for the biennial, international Hans Chris ...

, for ''On the road again, again'' (No Comprendo Press) *2005: Astrid Hansen, for ''Serier uten tittel'' (in ''Nemi'') (Egmont Serieforlaget) *2006: Lene Ask, for ''Hitler, Jesus og farfar'' (Jippi Forlag) *2008:

Gunnar Wærness Gunnar Wærness (born 22 November 1971) is a Norwegian poet. He made his literary début in 1999 with the poetry collection ''Kongesplint'', for which he was awarded the Tarjei Vesaas' debutantpris. Among his other poetry collections are ''Takk' ...

, for ''Bli verden'' (Oktober forlag)

Sources

NTF Sproing Award info
;Footnotes

External links

Sproing Award official site
{{in lang, no Comics awards Norwegian awards Norwegian comics Awards established in 1987