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CAG Mini Grant #3 Awardees Announced

We are so thrilled to announce the third round of awardees for the CAG Mini Grant!

This year was especially challenging, as we were tasked with selecting twenty awardees from a pool of over six hundred incredible applications. We’re deeply grateful to our volunteer adjudication committee for their time!

As always: if you weren’t awarded a minigrant this round, it’s not because we didn’t want to give you one! We’re going to keep doing our best, and we hope that you will, too. The world deserves your comics, and you deserve to make those comics under fair and healthy conditions.

The recipients of our third CAG Mini Grant are:

69Michi
Alex Belardo Kostiw
Alyssa Ragni
Asia Steele
Caitlin Rose Boyle
Doyung Lee
Elle Shivers
Hanni Brosh
Katelyn Liao
Katie Hicks
Laika M. Taddei
Lee Ernest
Mario Tofano
Nahla Hambazaza
Naluxk
Narciso Espiritu
Nya Eaddy
Oasis of Hate
Sardiini
Ziyaad Rahman

Read on to learn more about this round’s awardees!

A cartoon dog that looks like a speech balloon walks along a green squiggle.

CAG Mini Grant Awardee Spotlight

69Michi

Bio Illustration by Michi69. A vampiric character with wavy dark hair and a pointy-toothed smile holds up a sheet of paper saying MICHI against a black-and-white-striped background. Two purple tentacles curl in from the sides of the image.

A STEM and digital art graduate, Michi has operated as a full-time solo independent comic artist since 2016. Having spent a decade bringing vibrant, long-form narratives directly to readers online, she is currently channeling her industry experience into developing her latest IP, Illicitly Yours.

My latest IP, Illicitly Yours, is an LGBTQ+ romantic comedy tracking the unexpected dynamics between a writer and an assassin. Through this project, I aim to deliver a heartwarming, character-driven narrative that offers the audiences a uniquely wholesome and engaging storytelling experience.

Alex Belardo Kostiw

Photograph of Alex Kostiw. A light-skinned person with black-and-gold-rimmed glasses and short brown hair contemplates a piece of paper.
Photograph of thoughtfully arranged zines, both open and closed, in a variety of colors.

Alex Belardo Kostiw is an artist, designer, and educator. Their work combines poetic elements, visual structures of comics, and conceptually driven forms to tell stories that transform the everyday and navigate human connections across time and space. Alex teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a community print studio called Spudnik Press.

I'm grateful for CAG's Mini Grant, which will go toward a comic I've been working on, about someone wandering in a forest of their own thoughts. Lately I've been interested how we situate ourselves in time. We can navigate a second, an hour, and maybe a lifetime, but how might we contend with time so vast, it almost seems to stand still?

Alyssa Ragni

Alyssa Ragni is a cartoonist living in Oakland, California with their partner and two cats. Alyssa loves telling queer stories and risograph printing their comics in bright colors. When they aren’t drawing, you can find Alyssa playing table top games, listening to loud music and daydreaming.

Thank you so so so much for selecting me for this grant! I'm excited to share that my first graphic novel pitch is out on submission at the moment. While I anxiously wait to hear back from publishers, I am writing a genderqueer, sapphic regency comic that is really special in my heart and I have some pretty visuals planned for it! That's what this grant will help me make and print, so thank you again! It means so much to have this support early in my comics career, I'm very honored!

Photograph of an open minicomic.

Asia Steele

Asia Steele (She/Her) is a Chicago based animator and cartoonist currently attending The School of the Art Institute of Chicago!
She loves to use bright, bold colors in her work and aims to showcase her characters’ personalities through dynamic movement and expression. Her work primarily focuses on everyday life along with the beauty, pain and everything in-between that comes with it.

I’m very honored to be a recipient of this grant! I look forward to using the funds to print more copies of my comics and apply to various zine/comic shows! Thank you so much, CAG, for your support, it’s incredibly beneficial and I truly do appreciate it!

Photograph of the cover of Senior Year Issue One: The Drama Club by Asia Steele. Three characters prepare themselves at a lighted vanity table; a bouquet of flowers and various cosmetics are scattered on the table.
Photo of two interior pages of Senior Year Issue One by Asia Steele.

Caitlin Rose Boyle

Caitlin Rose Boyle is the author & illustrator of the Frankie Fairy series for early readers, and the illustrator & co-creator for the series JONESY. When she isn’t drawing comics, she’s working as a storyboard artist in the animation industry. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her two rowdy black cats, her husband, and an extensive collection of houseplants.

I’m so excited and touched to be a CAG Mini-Grant recipient! I’m going to be using the funds to take a week or so to really dig into my next middle-grade pitch - with three Frankie books wrapped, it’s time for something new. Thank you to the Comics Advocacy Group for believing in me!

Doyung Lee

Bio illustration of Doyung Lee. Simple, fuzzy black lines delineate the author's shoulder-length hair and ear; their eyes are hidden by a pencil tucked behind their ear. A bird pirches on one end of the pencil. They are wearing a collared shirt with digital texture.

Doyung Lee makes comics, ceramic sculptures, and films. They’re currently working on the next book for “Diary of a Rotten Being”, a story about an art thief who daylights as a museum employee.

I am so honored to receive this mini-grant! One of my joys in making comics is printing out physical copies readers can hold and keep in their homes, and this grant will help me continue to self-publish my comics!

Cover image of Doyung Lee's Diary of a Rotten Being. The title is written in cursive pink handlettering over a character portrait in an ornate frame. The character - who has short, flipped-forward hair, bangs, and a black turtleneck underneath a collared shirt and blazer - gazes forward neutrally.

Elle Shivers

Photograph of Elle Shivers. A person with short, wavy dark hair and sunglasses gazes into the distance, framed by a blue sky.
Page from a comic by Elle Shivers. Black, white, and gray tones. PANEL 1 A character struggles on the ground, facing away from the viewer. SFX: haa haaa PANEL 2 Close on their hands, which clench in the dirt. SFX: squelch squelch PANEL 3 Wide view from above. They touch a hand to a dark pool. The area behind them is hidden in shadow. Illustrative text in the shadow reads ANNIVERSARO. Text underneath the panel reads Prologue: End.
Illustration by Elle Shivers. Wide horizontal format. A central figure in leather is bound and facing away from the viewer. They are rendered in stark black ink on purple; their ropes are bold green-yellow. The purple image is framed by a green-and-yellow border with green silhouettes and flowers, as well as the repeating text "Frente."

Elle Shivers is a genderqueer comic artist, illustrator, and writer based in Manila, Philippines. A lover of science fiction, the erotic, and the transformative power of both. Their comics have been published by small and/or independent presses worldwide.

Thank you for the award! I’m currently working on a longform medievalesque erotica webcomic called ANNIVERSARY, and I’m really excited to continue going all in with renewed vigor.

Hanni Brosh

Stylized illustration of Hanni Brosh. A green-skinned character with long, fluffy dark green hair and red glasses holds an orange-and-cream cat, whose lines intersect with Hanni's hair.

I’m Hanni! I live in Brooklyn with my little cat named Babka. I love manga and romance, sewing and quilting, dogs and cats, all seasons of the year.

I'm so thankful and excited to be a grant recipient! I am currently working on my series Gob Com (goblin comic) - a story about goblins, and about siblings... it's the most fun I've had making comics in a long time. This grant will go towards printing Gob Com Part 2, set to debut at Small Press Expo 2026. This will be the year of the goblin!

Wordless comic page by Hanni Brosh. Black and white with gray tones. PANEL 1 A small goblin watches a shooting star. They face away from the viewer. PANEL 2 The goblin is surprised when the shooting star punches its way through a cloud. SFX: pow Goblin: ! PANEL 3 The shooting star continues to descend. Goblin: !! PANEL 4 The goblin races down a hill. PANEL 5 They look up, following a bright starry trail in the sky.

Katelyn Liao

Katelyn Liao is an illustrator and visual development artist with a love for color, environments, and storytelling. Her passion for comics and sequential art is what first sparked her interest in these fields, and she continues to create personal work in these sequential forms. Through her art, Katelyn strives to tell stories that celebrate culture, connection, and the quiet experiences that shape us, with the hope of resonating with others and creating a sense of shared humanity.

I am incredibly grateful to receive this mini grant! I am currently having a lot of fun developing a personal project set in a landfill world with colorful characters and immersive environments that explore environmental issues and class disparities. I hope to continue expanding this project into a comic or animated work, and I'm excited to collaborate with other artists along the way, which is something this grant will help make possible! So thank you to the Comics Advocacy Group for supporting emerging artists and helping bring new stories to life!

Katie Hicks

Portrait illustration of Katie Hicks. A friendly character with round red nose, long light brown hair with bangs, and a purple collared shirt surrounded by doodles and swirls.

Katie Hicks is a comic artist and illustrator living in the Greater Toronto Area. They’ve recently published their debut graphic novel Astral Panic and love to combine cartoonish humour and heartfelt catharsis through comics.

I'm super excited to receive this award and I'm really looking forward to putting the grant money towards printing and self publishing a new mini comic! I've already started working on the comic and it covers feelings of social isolation and gender questioning through a sci fi story.

Cover of Astral Panic by Katie Hicks, published by Flying Eye Books. The central character looks wide-eyed at a phone. A billion notifications pop out of the phone and are very cute and charming but also overwhelming.

Laika M. Taddei

Portrait of Laika M. Taddei in front of a Choctaw Nation flag.

Laika M. Taddei is a Registered Artist with the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma currently residing on Coast Salish Lands. Their work focuses on dreams, memories, history, and the grey zone that those ideas exist in. They also do miniature paintings and illustrations.

Im currently working on a project titled “Thru the Realm of Ideas and Back” which is a surreal and dreamy thriller about going missing and finding yourself. Im so excited to have the opportunity to continue working on this deeply personal project and be able to share it with the world!

Comic page by Laika Taddei. PANEL 1 A character with a head that looks like a sun holds their hands up. They look confused. Character: Just PANEL 2 Their head turns bright pink and red. Character: What PANEL 3 Their colors become scribbly, breaking the boundaries of the panel's inks. Character: the PANEL 4 They look overwhelmed. They're bright pink over a blue-and-pink wavy background. Character: hell PANEL 5 A wide panel. They're in empty space. Colors and shapes cross over them. Character: is PANEL 6 The character clutches their face and closes their eyes in frustration. They're shaded in screen tone with a touch of yellow around the face. Character: going -- PANEL 7 Repetitions of their baffled face create a path back to their body, which we have zoomed away from; they are highlighted by a sun-like burst of yellow orange on a vast plain. Character: ON???

Lee Ernest

As a queer latine, I take priority in imbuing minority experiences into visual poetry.

I believe anthropomorphism, as a projection of what it means to be human, helps to deconstruct- and reconstruct! – the societal norms we live in.

Because taking a pencil to paper and sharing a story, at least to me, is simply magic; of bringing one wandering soul closer to another.

I'm extremely honored to receive the CAG Mini Grant and excited to start sketching and planning! So far, I've been working on a comic for the past 5 years, currently the script and draft pages for the prologue are being edited. Recently, I've been interested in delving into some biopic/journal comics. I'm so excited to start a new project!

A comic page by Lee Ernest. Black and white with gray tones. A closeup of feet float near the top of the page. A faceless, naked human is drawn in various overlapping poses underneath: hands over eyes, clutching throat, curled up. The character is shown again, closer, towards the bottom of the page: clutching their side and covering their face. Other poses in light lines repeat on top of them. Text is interwoven: with nothing but pounds of flesh bound to a repudiated body, under a name just as forsworn. with that same invasive compunction that shadows beneath the crevices of every echoed idiosyncracy...

Mario Tofano

Photograph of Mario Tofano looking wide-eyed at an open magazine or slim book with yellowed pages.

Mario Tofano is a writer, professor of arts and humanities, and the creator of Macaroni Comics.

Big thanks to the Comic Advocacy Group! I am honored and grateful to receive the CAG mini grant. The funds will support the production of “Death to Caesar!”— an ABC book, featuring 26 artists, lampooning history’s most ruthless tyrants — to be released fall 2026.

Comic page by Mario Tofano and Emma Dominici. PANEL 1 A performer in wrestling attire walks through a group of people. Caption: You just follow your gut... Announcer: The greatest appetite the world has ever known... Caption: Answer the call... PANEL 2 They raise their arms in a wrestling ring. Announcer: De-Lux-Us SFX: Luxus! Lux! Luxus! PANEL 3 They sit at a tall chair. Two hooks atop the chair pierce dangling sharks. There's a long table in front of the chair, with various strange dishes on it. Caption: And feast. Caption: First course: omafuna PANEL 4 They open their mouth wide. Caption: In Namibia, the giant bullfrog is a delicacy. If prepared incorrectly the poison in the skin will cause liver failure. PANEL 5 View from behind their open mouth as we see a closeup of their meal impaled on a long poker. SFX: hhnn hmmm
From “Cosmic Reflux," published by Warden Comics with artwork by Emma Dominici.
A wordless comic page by Mario Tofano and Renzo Podestá. PANEL 1 Back view of a masculine character with a long ponytail as they stand before a glowing ghost in robes. PANEL 2 We see their astonished face. PANEL 3 They approach the ghost. PANEL 4 They hold out a hand... PANEL 5 And try to touch the ghost, which is dissipating into glowing smoke.
From a self-published comic, “Wrath,” with artwork by Renzo Podestá.

Nahla Hambazaza

Nahla is an Egyptian comics artist who loves sci-fi and fantasy. She strives to depict Arab culture in a way that is simultaneously truthful and farcical.

I’m excited to be working on an Arab sci-fi comic.

Colorful comic page by Nahla Hambazaza. PANEL 1 A character with wavy blue hair and elegant headdress rests their arms on a translucent blue sphere. They're surrounded by creamy clouds and decorative floral motifs. PANEL 2 There are two left hands on either side of the panel. The hand on the left holds a dark flame. The hand on the right holds a warm drink. The hands frame a shape broken into four segments. Each segment contains a symbol. Left: flame Top: eye Right: warm drink Bottom: broken heart
A cutout-style illustration by Nahla Hambazaza. Two characters sit on a rug holding brown drinks in glasses. They seem to be having a conversation.

Naluxk

Bio illustration of Naluxk. Black-and-white closeup of a bird-like character screaming at the viewer.

Heyo, name’s Naluxk. I’m an Ecuadorian American comic artist based in New York. I’ve made comics with DC, Manga Plus and currently working on my personal projects like “Counter Punch” and “Sick Guts” !

Super thankful and honored to receive this award! Currently working on some personal comic oneshots like “Sick Guts” and “Counter Punch” (with Counter Punch being fully sketched and written!) Excited to share more about them soon!

Narciso Espiritu

Bio illustration of Narciso Espiritu. A doodle of a short-haired head with a neutral expression floats on a yellow-to-orange gradient background.

Narciso is a dude who makes pictures. His work is described as kinetic, saturated, and “menacing.” Narciso is also an educator who has led illustration and comics classes at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit, and with Steven Shik, co-created the DPLX COMIX project.

"Great appreciation to the Comics Advocacy Group and everyone out there making comics at all levels. You are all an inspiration to me and countless others. I hope we continue to lift each other up. As for me, I'll be self-publishing a short comic later this year focusing on an elder sell-sword named Randi Pittsburgh as she contends with the decisions in her life, a collection of the daily comics I've created through the DPLX.CMX project, and my very important, least important Pro-Wrestling Reportage Zines. "

Comic page by Narciso Espiritu. An illustration of four habaneros on a vine -- orange, green, peach, and red -- is split across four vertical panels. PANEL 1 Caption: Every year, I make this sauce... Caption: With habanero peppers from my garden. PANEL 2 Caption: It's kind of a new tradition for me... PANEL 3 Caption: To remind myself of th' important things... PANEL 4 Caption: And why I should keep growing.
A gif cycling between Hourly Comic Day panels by Narciso Espiritu. Gray and black on yellow background.

Nya Eaddy

Nya Eaddy is a queer, diabetic African American illustrator, screen printer, and comic artist. She is passionate about crafts and community building. She enjoys illustrating bugs, cats, and balancing the eerie with the whimsy.

I am honored to have received this award! I am currently working on a graphic novel called Elevator Pitch, a psychological thriller in which the main character, Marcy, must give an elevator pitch to save her life instead of the job interview like she planned. It is the first long form sequential project I have worked on and I am excited to produce it!

Illustration by Nya Eaddy. A Black woman with long locs and red glasses is seen in profile holding up a tablet stylus. Cute ladybugs sit on long green leaves in the foreground.
Illustration by Nya Eaddy. Caterpillars lounge at a cocktail party holding little drinks in their little mitts.

Oasis of Hate

Bio image for Oasis of Hate. An elfin-eared doll-like character with shiny black eyes and luminescent white skin holds their hands up to the viewer. Threads of mercury curl in front of them.

Oasis of Hate is the alias of a Polish comic book artist and illustrator, created as a space to fully explore her personal artistic vision beyond the expectations and constraints of commercial work.

Her practice draws inspiration from horror manga, obscure video games, and gothic literature, blending these influences into dark, atmospheric narratives and illustrations.

She has contributed to numerous independent anthologies and publications dedicated to alternative comics, including LOK Zine #08: Plan(t)s, Batbutt Zine, Hardcore Ambient #1: Beginnings, Family Store #1: Projects, Not So Sad Zine #5, Please Do Not Touch Mag #2, Healing Tales #2, and The Lifted Brow #44: Digital Intimacies. In Poland, her work has also appeared in publications such as Klub Zin, Ciut Zin, Cyberpussy, and Girls to the Front.

I'm currently completing my first full-length graphic novel, loosely inspired by James Hogg's The Brownie of the Black Haggs. It's been a challenging process, but I'm excited for the final stretch. This grant would give me the freedom to fully polish and complete the remaining pages.

Comic page by Oasis of Hate. Black and white with gray tones. A character wearing leather and heels holds a riding crop, facing away from the viewer. Their body overlaps two panels. PANEL 1 Two identical characters in puffy-shouldered dresses and tidy high buns bow their heads sweatily. PANEL 2 A black horse kneels in sand, their mouth open.

Sardiini

Bio illustration of Sardiini. A character with reddish hair in a ponytail, cap, and tank top gazes at the viewer. There's a stylus in their hand.

Sardiini (she/they) is a Finnish comic artist with a fine arts and media background. They’ve been doing webcomics since their early teens, and right now they’re working on Palette; a LGBTQ+ drama/romance webcomic for adults. They’re probably writing or drawing more comics this very second.

Kiitos tuhannesti! I'm soo looking forward to working on my next zine and other side projects I got in my sleeve, of course not forgetting Palette.

Illustration by Sardiini. A dark-haired character and white-haired character sit side by side on the ground in front of a brown background.

Ziyaad Rahman

Photograph of Ziyaad Rahman, arms crossed, gazing at viewer.

Ziyaad Rahman, also known as Awali, is a South African Mangaka with a Master’s in History who independently created Siri Watu, the country’s first Afro-Manga blending Japanese aesthetics with African storytelling. Featured internationally on TV5 Monde, he voluntarily hosted and produced the first season of Anime Manga Otaku on Cape Town TV, a free community station. A show aimed at exploring anime’s cultural exchange potential in South Africa. He is now developing Siri Watu Volume 4 alongside and producing South African afro-manga anthology Afro-Shout.

Thank you so much for the grant, I sincerely appreciate it! We are developing Afro-Shout, an Afro-manga anthology that gives creators across Southern Africa a platform to share stories inspired by local people, culture, and mythology, while connecting with the global manga fanbase. All our creators are passionate fans and talented storytellers, and Afro-Shout provides the outlet they need to help this emerging genre stand proudly beside its contemporaries in manga. I am greatly appreciative of the support that this grant will help us achieve.

Cover of Volume 3 of Siri Watu: South Africa's First Afro-Manga by Ziyaad Rahman. A confident-looking character with black-streaked orange hair and tan skin looks back over their shoulder, hands aflame. Behind them, a stern character with long red hair and brown skin holds up a hand that's glowing pink.

More about the CAG Mini Grant

The CAG Mini Grant provides small, unrestricted funding to comic creators who are in need of additional resources. As the cost of food and rent are growing prohibitive, many creators find themselves taking on additional work with time they do not have in order to make ends meet. Our goal in offering this $500 mutual aid grant is to give cartoonists some time and space to work on the projects most important to them.

This effort was made possible by many wonderful donors. If you would like to contribute to our future grants and other initiatives, please consider making a tax-deductible donation (or setting up a recurring donation)!

If you would like to receive updates from the Comics Advocacy Group, please follow us on social media (bluesky), and we’ll let you know when our newsletter is up and running. We are a young nonprofit, and your support makes all the difference. Thank you!! 

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