The Howard E. Day Prize was a $500 comic book award for outstanding achievement in self-publishing awarded yearly between 2001 and 2007 at the Columbus, Ohio-based convention the Small Press and Alternative Comics Expo (SPACE). It was followed by the SPACE Prizes and inspired while not being related to the Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing awarded at the Joe Shuster Awards ceremony.
Named after Canadian self-publishing pioneer Gene Day, the Day Prize was created by comic-book writer-artist-publisher Dave Sim and his collaborator, Gerhard, in memory of Sim's late mentor (née Howard Eugene Day). It consisted of a $500 cash award and a commemorative plaque. in Columbus, Ohio. The recipient was chosen by Sim and Gerhard from a pool of works submitted at SPACE the previous year. Each year the duo alternated duties, with one reading all entries received and drafting the short list of final nominees and the other judging those books to determine the ultimate winner.
Following Sim's withdrawal from participating in any convention in 2007, the award took the name SPACE Prize from 2008, with a $300 prize a plaque. Sim nevertheless agreed that the Joe Shuster Awards use Day's name for their best self-published comics award, providing Day's relatives agreed and that the name of the prize be slightly different; hence the name Gene Day Award for Self-Publishing awarded since 2009, while being not linked with the original Day Prize.
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
All The Wrong Places by Tom Galambos
Askari Hodari #1 by Glen Brewer
Darklanders #1 by Philip Alan Gregory
Faith: A Fable by Bill Knapp
Happy Ever After in the Marketplace by Tony Consiglio
Jumbo Jape by Sean Bieri
Reporter #1 by Dylan Williams
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Amelia Rules! #2 by Jimmy Gownley
Askari Hodari #2 by Glen Brewer
Insignificant Gods #1 by Evan Derian
Misa by Tom Williams
Myth of 8-Opus #5 by Thomas Scioli
Sequential Book Seven: Stand on a Mountain, Look Back by Paul Hornschemeier
Teenagers From Mars #1 Words by Rick Spears, Pictures by Rob G
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Askari Hodari #3 by Glen Brewer
Attic Wit #4 by Matt Dembicki, Rafal Gosieniecki, Marek Turek, Mariuz Zawadzki, Krzysztof Kaluszka
The Gypsy Lounge by Jasen Lex
Happy Town #7 by Justin Madson
pop gun war: chapters 2, 4 and 5 by Farel Dalrymple
Possum at Large #1 by Chad Lambert
Street Angel #1 by Dick Troutman & Brian Maruca
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Chromosome Crossroads by Karl Kressbach
Detached #1 by Jim Coon
Lackluster World #1 by Eric Adams
Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective — The Long Ever After Chapter 2: Glass Slipper by Frank Cammuso
Nisha #1 by Robert Gavila
Obsessive Crush by Pat Lewis
Owly: The Way Home by Andy Runton
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Icecreamlandia #2 Eve Englezos & Josh Moutray
"Justin’s Big Chance" by Anton Bogaty (in Slam Bang #7)
The Lone and Level Sands by A. David Lewis (writer) and mpMann, also known as Marvin Perry Mann
Maxwell the Demon by Tonia Walden (in Attic Wit #6)
Point Pleasant #1 by Chad Lambert (writer) and Steve Black, Ryan Scott, Dan Barlow & Jason Moser (artists)
Static Dreaming by Erik K. Siano
Zig Zag #1 by J. Chris Campbell
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Abominable by Pat Lewis
Beaver by Jim Coon
Being Different by Michelle Arcand
Chemistry-Comic & CD Soundtrack by Steve Peters
Guitar Solo by Mike Dawson
One Horse Town by Pat Lewis
Potlatch #5 Too Much Matheson by Chad Lambert, writer and Tom Williams, artist
Under the Midnight Sun by Dusty Neal, Artist and Christopher Studabaker, Writer
Short-listed works, listed alphabetically by title, with winner in boldface.
Day Break Vol.1 by Brian Ralph
The Ineffables: Political Science by Craig Bogart
Mr. Big by Matt & Carol Dembicki
Skull Pen #1 by Robert James Algeo
Victims at the End of the World by Rickey Gonzales
W.Y.S.I.W.Y.G Technical Pamphlet by Ed Piskor
