The Comics Buyer's Guide (CBG) magazine administered the annual Comics Buyer's Guide Fan Awards from 1982 to circa 2010, with the first awards announced in issue #500 (June 17, 1983). Upon taking over as CBG editors, Don and Maggie Thompson aspired to bring back a series of comic book fan awards like the Goethe Awards, which they had administered in the first half of the 1970s. (The Goethe Award — later known as the Comic Fan Art Award — originated with the fanzine Newfangles and then shared close ties with The Buyer's Guide to Comics Fandom.) The format and balloting of the Fan Awards were in many ways derived from the Goethe Award/Comic Fan Art Award. The awards were initially voted on by CBG subscribers; the voting was later opened up to everyone. As many as 5,000 votes were cast per year during the 1990s. The awards were often presented at the annual Chicago Comicon until 1996 (when the Wizard Fan Awards moved in); from that point forward the CBG Award results were simply published in the magazine. As of 2006, awards were presented in 12 categories.

Past winners

Dates for awards are slightly confusing, as explained by the Comic Book Awards Almanac: "The awards are for work done in the listed year; the results are published the following year. (Note that prior to approximately 1997, CBG referred to the current year's awards by the year the work was done, but around 1997, CBG started referring to the current year's awards by the year the award was given – though they continued referring to awards prior to the switchover date by the year the work was done. For consistency, the years on this site either refer to the year the work was done, or include the context necessary to determine which meaning is indicated.)" Alex Ross won the CBG Award for Favorite Painter seven years in a row, resulting in that publication's retirement of that category in 2001. Comics Buyer's Guide Senior Editor Maggie Thompson later commented in regard to this, "Ross may simply be the field's Favorite Painter, period. That's despite the fact that many outstanding painters are at work in today's comic books." The following are past winners (where the information is available):

Favorite Publisher

Favorite Editor

Favorite Writer

Favorite Artist/Penciller

Favorite Fan Artist

Favorite Inker

Favorite Letterer

Favorite Colorist

Favorite Comic Book

Favorite Original Graphic Novel/Album

Favorite Reprint Graphic Novel/Album

Favorite Limited Series

Favorite Painter

Favorite Character

Favorite Cover Artist

Favorite Comic-Book Story

Favorite Direct-Sales Only Title (Phil Seuling Award)

Favorite Publication About Comics