The Lab Press Scores a Huge Summer Awards Haul for Its Debut Graphic Novels

The Lab Press came into the graphic novel game swinging, and the independent publisher’s first wave of releases is now stacking hardware to match the ambition. Across the 2026 summer book awards season, its debut slate has picked up major wins and finalist honors for Essentials Vol. 1, Creatures & Corridors, Hunger and Super Science Vol. 1.

At the 2026 IBPA Book Awards, Essentials Vol. 1 by Chris “Doc” Wyatt and Luke Arnold won Gold in the Graphic Novel category and also took the Bill Fisher Award for Best First Book: Fiction. Creatures & Corridors by Brandon Auman and Andrea Mutti earned Gold in Fiction: Horror. IBPA later highlighted The Lab Press as a five-award winner across Essentials Vol. 1 and Creatures & Corridors.

The publisher also landed a major Outstanding Book of the Year Gold Medal at the 2026 Independent Publisher Book Awards, better known as the IPPYs, for The Lab Press Graphic Novel Collection. The honored collection included Essentials Vol. 1, Super Science Vol. 1, Hunger and Creatures & Corridors.

The 2026 Storytrade Book Awards added another wave of recognition. Essentials Vol. 1 won Graphic Novel Fiction, while Hunger, Super Science Vol. 1 and Creatures & Corridors were named finalists in the same category. Hunger also won Regional World Fiction and placed as a finalist in Horror, while Creatures & Corridors earned a finalist spot in Urban Fantasy.

Hunger, written by Nihaarika Negi with art by Joe Bocardo and colors by José Villarrubia, also took Silver in the 2025 Foreword INDIES Graphic Novels & Comics category. The historical body-horror graphic novel has continued building attention for its collision of colonial history, trauma, famine and supernatural horror.

The awards run is a serious statement for a publisher whose first books only began reaching readers recently. The Lab Press has built its identity around high-end presentation, creator-driven genre work and graphic novels that are willing to get weird, dark and ambitious without asking permission first.

For indie comics, this is the kind of momentum worth watching. Awards do not replace readers, but when a young publisher starts collecting Golds, Silvers and finalist spots across multiple organizations with multiple books, the signal gets loud real quick.