Reading the Hugos: Best Graphic Story: 2018 Edition

When it comes to the Hugo awards, the category that I get the most excited about is Best Graphic Story. As someone who really enjoys comics, I see this as a wonderful opportunity to highlight some of the best titles of the previous year. And for people who don’t read as many comics books as I do, it’s potentially a way to sample something great. And boy, are there some great ones on the list this year. Below you’ll find thoughts each of the nominees, and my predictions on who might win.

Bitch Planet, vol 2: President Bitch
Writer: Kelley Sue DeConnick
Artist: Valentine De Landro

Bitch Planet is a feminist, sci-fi dystopia that presents a grim view of the future for women that don’t “fit in a box.” Those who are non-compliant may even find themselves shipped off to a stifling, planet sized prison. After a single-issue which tells the personal history of one of the inmates, President Bitch dives right back into the story. In fact, as someone who hadn’t read the first volume in a little while, I found some parts to be a little confusing. Regardless, President Bitch remains a fascinating comic filled with hard truths, which are complimented well by De Landro’s raw style of artwork.

Interestingly enough, one of my favorite part of Bitch Planet isn’t the main story, but the little fake advertisements that show up at the back of each issue, lampooning the unrealistic expectations put on women. These tiny blurbs do a great job of cementing the worldbuilding in an efficient manner, as well as showing the reader that the dire future of Bitch Planet is not as far away as you’d might expect.

Will it Win? – I don’t think so. While Hugo voters have award feminist works in the past (such as Ancillary Justice), this second volume in a series is just not a good jumping on point to new readers. I suspect that will work against it.

Black Bolt, vol 1: Hard Time
Writer: Saladin Ahmed
Artist: Christian Ward

The second nominee to focus on prison life, Hard Time explores what would happen if Black Bolt, king of the Inhumans was imprisoned against his will, his incredible powers (his voice) stolen from him. Seeking freedom, Black Bolt must team up with an unlikely team of misfits if he wishes to step into the outside world again.

There are two things that Hard Time does really well. The first one is creating character sympathy. I’ve never cared much for Black Bolt (or any of the Inhumans really), but it didn’t take long before writer Saladin Ahmed had me completely on his side. And then he did the same thing with Crusher Creel of all people! The second real strength of the comic is the artwork, which utilizes dark blues and greens in contrast to bright, almost florescent highlights to create a pallete that is just as rich as the story. And given that the story is really good, that says a lot.

Will it Win? – Superhero comics don’t get a lot of love at the Hugo Awards, having won only a single Hugo in the ten years the Best Graphic Story has been in existence, so that’s working against it. At the same time, the comic is very accessible to new readers, and Ahmed is a Campbell award winner, so that might be enough to shift the odds. I’ll call this the one the dark horse candidate. I wouldn’t mind seeing it win!

Monstress, vol 2: The Blood
Writer: Marjorie M. Liu
Artist: Sana Takeda

Monstress is a grimdark fantasy that focuses on Maika Halfwolf, a freedom fighter that finds herself possessed by a dark force. While Maika’s struggles are compelling, as is the dark, matriarchal world she lives in, the real strength of Monstress is how artist Sana Takeada manages to bring Marjorie’s Liu’s unique vision to life. While reading The Blood, I constantly found myself pausing to mull over the gorgeous character design-many which focus on half-human/half-animal individuals-or the amazing detail on each and every costume. While I am certainly excited to see what happens to Maika next (especially given certain developments at the end of this volume!) I would continue to read this comic just based on the high quality of the artwork alone.

Will it Win? – Volume one of Monstress did take home the Hugo last year, so it has a chance, but subsequent volumes in series don’t normally win Hugos (with the exception of Girl Genius). I’d put the odds at 50/50.

My Favorite Thing is Monsters, Book One
Writer and Artist: Emil Ferris

Taking place in Chicago during the 1960s, My Favorite Thing is Monsters tells the story of Karen Reyes, a horror obsessed 10-year-old girl who decides to investigate the murder of her upstairs neighbor. And while that summarizes the basic plot, it really doesn’t give you an idea of what a masterpiece My Favorite Thing is Monsters is. The graphic novel is presented as if it were Karen’s notebooks, complete with lined paper. While the artwork is not conventionally attractive (if anything they remind me a bit of the style you might find in Mad Magazine), they contain some of the most fascinating images I’ve seen in comics in a long time.

On top of the murder mystery storyline, My Favorite Thing is Monsters explores the concepts of family, sexuality, self-image, art, history prejudice, illness, pulp horror and more, resulting in roughly four hundred pages brimming with meaty content. The only thing that people might find annoying about it, is the fact that this is very much half of a story, with the second, concluding volume coming out this fall. Still, there’s so much to enjoy and explore, that I ultimately found that aspect to be forgivable.

Will it Win?- I wouldn’t be surprised if it did! As previously mentioned, the fact that the story has yet to be completed will turn some people off, but My Favorite Thing is Monsters is such a unique reading experience, that you can’t help but be pulled in.

Paper Girls, Volume 3
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Cliff Chiang

Brian K Vaughan’s time traveling adventure continues as our team of paper girls are transported to the prehistoric past to rescue one of their own. Volume 3 doesn’t have quite the personal touch as Volume 2 did, which focused on meeting a future version of oneself, but the results are still entertaining. Our young heroines are forced to split up, and end up encountering allies (including a adolescent girl from the past, and a a time traveling woman from the future), and confronting dangerous enemies, but I think my favorite part of the book was seeing KJ make some important discoveries about herself. As always, Cliff Chiang’s artwork is topnotch, tackling everything from a technologically advance future, to long ago past, with aplomb.

Will It Win?- Brian K. Vaughan is certainly a favorite of Hugo voters (as this reviewer as well). Since the Best Graphic story award came about, he’s been nominated eight times- including twice this year alone. Paper Girls, Volume 1 was even nominated last year, but it didn’t win, which is why I don’t think Volume Three has much of a chance to nab the award this year. It’s still worth checking out though, for fans of the series.

Saga, Volume 7
Writer: Brian K. Vaughan
Artist: Fiona Staples

And here’s Brian K Vaughan’s second nomination of the year! Volume Seven of the always amazing Saga sees Alana, Marko and their unique family stranded on the war-torn planet, Phang, with deadly results. I refer to this graphic novel a as the really depressing volume of Saga, which may sound strange, given that this series has never been cheerful. But when the shocking death of one of the series most beloved characters isn’t the most depressing thing to happen in this graphic novel, then you know you’re in for some sad stuff. Saga, Volume Seven is written with the same level of sophistication as you’ve come to expect from the series, with Fiona Staples oscillating back and forth between cute and horrifying characters designs. I’m happy I’ve read it, but thanks to that ending, I never want to pick it up again.

Will it Win – This is the fifth Hugo nomination for Saga, which is very impressive. But given that it hasn’t won anything since Volume One back in 2013, I think the odds are against this it. Image tried to bill this as a “self-contained event” and while it certainly has a beginning, middle, and quite an ending, I wouldn’t really it call it friendly to new readers.

There you have it! The six nominees for Best Graphic Story for this year’s Hugo Awards. Just like last year, this is a solid list of nominees. Even if you aren’t a voter, I hope you’ll consider checking a few of them out, as every volume on this list is worth your time and attention.