West Tisbury resident Paul Karasik was awarded the Inkpot Award on Friday at the San Diego Comic Con.

“It’s hard to catch me by surprise, but in this case, I was stunned,” he said via phone interview on his way back to Massachusetts.

Mr. Karasik is a cartoonist whose work frequently appears in The New York Times, The New Yorker and the Vineyard Gazette, among other publications. He has won two Eisner Awards for his work in comics, and his most recent book is an adaptation of Paul Auster’s The New York Trilogy, which came out in April.

Inkpot Awards are given to people who have made notable contributions to comics, animation film, television, science fiction and fandom. In addition to Mr. Karasik, winners include Stan Lee and Douglas Adams.

Mr. Karasik, who was a special guest at the convention, was preparing to give a lecture on The New York Trilogy when a representative of the convention asked to use the microphone to say a few words.

“I had a sinking feeling that he was going to cancel the talk or evacuate the auditorium, he was rather stern and insistent,” Mr. Karasik said. “The next thing I know, he’s saying very nice things about me to the audience and about my career....I was flabbergasted when they presented me [the] Inkpot Award.”

Mr. Karasik said that after he finished his presentation, Matt Groening, the creator of The Simpsons and an Inkpot Award winner, came up to congratulate him. They had breakfast the next day with several other cartoonists.

“That would not have happened two or three years ago,” Mr. Karasik said.

Mr. Karasik said he was honored to be recognized by his peers.

“I guess I was already on the map, but now, rather than a push pin, there’s a flag.”