Hugo Suggestions for Best Graphic Story, 2012

[womzilla]

After reviewing the 1000+ comics I read last year, I came up with a score of works that struck me as exceptional and that meet the qualifications of being science fiction or fantasy stories which were completed in 2012.

• Avengers Academy: Final Exam, by Christos Gaga, Andrea DeVito, et al
  
• Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection, by Gail Simone & Ardian Syaf
  
• The Boys: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men, by Garth Ennis and Darrick Robertson
  
• Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred, by David Hine and Shaky Kane
  
• Castle Waiting, by Linda Medly
  
• Chew: Space Cakes, by John Layman and Rob Guillory
  
• Crossed: Wish You Were Here, by Si Spurrier and Javier Barreno
  
• Demon Knights: Seven Against the Dark, by Paul Cornell and Diogenes Neves
  
• Everything Burns, by Matt Fraction, Keirion Gillen, Alan David, et al
  
• Infernal Man-Thing: Screenplay of the Living Dead Man, by Steve Gerber and Kevin Nowlan
  
• iZombie: Repossessed, by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred
  
• Locke and Key: Clockworks, by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodrigues
  
• Mind MGMT, by Matt Kindt
  
• New Deadwardians, by Dan Abnett and I. N. J. Culbard
  
• Prophet: Remission, by Brandon Graham, Simon Roy, et al
  
• RASL, by Jeff Smith
  
• Saucer Country: Run, by Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly
  
• Snarked, by Roger Landridge
  
• Unwritten: Tommy Taylor and the War of Words, by Mike Carey and Peter Gross
  
• Valen the Outcast, by Mark Alan Nelson and Matteo Scalera
  

It was very difficult to select 5 finalists from this list, and if I did it again tomorrow, I would probably choose at least slightly differently. I will say I was biased towards works that will not get another shot at nomination next year.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

You don't like the Darwyn Cooke / Amanda Conner "Silk Spectre" in the "Before Watchmen" series, then?
I know there are mixed feelings about the whole project, but I really like the Darwyn Cooke books in the series.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

I'm not willing to cross the picket line to support any of the Before Watchmen books. I was around in comics in 1986 when DC was bragging about how the contract for Watchmen was a real advance in creators' rights, and I'm not going to reward them for waiting 25 years to go back on their word.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Which are the works that won't get another shot?

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

More than half of them--Avengers Academy; The Boys; Bulletproof Coffin: Disinterred; Castle Waiting; Everything Burns; Infernal Man-Thing; iZombie; New Deadwardians; RASL; Snarked; and Valen the Outcast.

Infernal Man-Thing is probably the last new comic we'll ever see from Steve Gerber (he died in 2008; this was a script that he'd given to the artist a long time ago and the artist only got around to illustrating last year), so if it makes the nominations list, I'm definitely voting for it as lifetime achievement award for him.