Nominees for this year’s Joe Shuster Awards, recognizing achievements in the field of Canadian comics, have been announced.

Tragically Hip frontman Gord Downie and Jeff Lemire are nominated in the writing and art categories, respectively, for Secret Path (Simon & Schuster), an album/graphic novel that tells the story of Chanie Wenjack, a young boy who died fleeing from an Ontario residential school in 1966. Lemire is also nominated in the writing category for his work on comics from Dark Horse, Image, Marvel, and Valiant.

Toronto-based living cartoon Chip Zdarsky was nominated for his writing on several series, including Marvel’s Howard the Duck, Civil War II, and The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, and “new Riverdale” Archie title Jughead. Ryan North was was also nominated for his writing on several of the same titles.

Nominees in the cartoonist category include visual artist Teva Harrison for In Between Days: A Memoir of Living with Cancer (House of Anansi Press), and Guy Delisle for S’enfuir, récit d’un otage (Dargaud).

The Toronto Comics Anthology group is nominated for the Gene Day Award for self-publishing for Toronto Comics, Vol. 3, while Montreal-based Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is nominated for the Harry Kremer Award for best retailer.

Nominees for the Dragon Award, recognizing comics for kids, include Scott Chantler for Three Thieves Vol. 7: Iron Hand (Kids Can Press) and Fanny Britt and Isabel Arsenault for Louis parmi les spectres (La Pastèque).

Other nominees include Ty Templeton, for the comic blog Bun Toons; Michael Cho, in the cover artist category, for his work on several DC omnibus volumes and a series of Marvel variant covers; Stuart Immonen, for illustrating the Millarworld/Marvel comic Empress; and Fiona Staples as artist of Image’s Saga.

The Joe Shuster Awards were founded in 2004, and are named for the Canadian co-creator of Superman. Winners of this year’s awards will be revealed in September.