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Hugos |-| : the NSFW edition
..posted from work, of course.
Best Graphic Story
The category where I had already read most of the noms! Yay!
...actually I think it says... something, about the current state of fandom, that *this* was the only category with enough natural consensus to keep the Puppies from winning most of the slots. What is it about current comics/SF fandom that led to this? Suggestions welcome.
This is also the first category where there are multiple nominees and I would be outright delighted if any of them won! I am going to be debbie downer under the cuts again, but srsly, if you are looking for good comics, I would happily recommend any of these.
Anyway, 4 nominations:
Ms. Marvel Vol 1
1. Was it SF/F?
It had a person getting superpowers from alien gas and then having to fight a genetically engineered evil inventor! It's definitely a superhero book that is deliberately going directly for classic superhero, genre-wise. I'd say it's sort of iffy whether that's SF or not, but people have been sticking it under the broad umbrella for awhile, so sure, why not.
2. Was it good?
It was super-fun, and the art style works really well! Kamala is great, her characterization and her supporting cast are great, it knows exactly what it wants to do (classic teen superhero story) and is doing a great job at it.
The plot is kind of the weakest part, though. And it's not doing a groundbreaking job, exactly? It's your bog-standard superhero origin story. It does a good job but not a knock-your-socks off one at that. Unless you think "having a main character who is female, teenaged, geeky, brown-skinned, Muslim, Pakistani-American, and - worst of all - from Jersey" ought to count as groundbreaking, instead of just, you know, having the sort of people who exist in RL in it, which ought to be base-level "not awful". (And it's interesting that three of the four noms have lead characters who are brown-skinned women - and possibly the main antagonist in the fourth. Perhaps I am not the only one who has started picking up comics on the basis of "if they have brown-skinned women on the covers they probably don't 100% suck.")
3. Is it good SF?
Ehhhhh. It's a good superhero comic. But a lot of Vol. 1 is origin story and then setting up the first big villain arc. We don't really get any resolution on either of those until Vol. 2, though, which includes any attempt whatsoever at explaining what is up with the alien gas and the crazy inventor, it's all just sort of inexplicable stuff that is happening? for some reason? So taken on its own as Vol. 1, the SFFnal aspects are not the strongest aspects of the story. Although the exploration of Kamala's powers is pretty cool.
Rat Queens Volume 1
1. Is it SFF?
It's basically someone's D&D campaign, so yes.
2. Is it good?
It's super-fun! I liked the art (shame about the artist) and the characters were all great.
The plot was basically somebody's D&D campaign. A fun and well-done D&D campaign, mind you! As stuff in the genre "Comics by people who have played A LOT of RPGs" go, this is near the top. I am not sure that it really breaks out of the genre much, though.
3. Is it good SF?
The worldbuilding is great, and the characters are believable as people who have inhabited that world, and the plot does a reasonably good job of putting together the sorts of things that would happen in that world. And I do love the ways it's deliberately satirizing and subverting and sabotaging the cliches and assumptions of its tiny subgenre. See above again about tiny subgenre, though.
Saga Volume 3
1. Is it SFF?
It's the DEVIL PEOPLE vs. THE ANGEL PEOPLE (except they're all bad because war is bad) on a TREE SPACESHIP in SPACE. So yeah, I guess, yeah.
2. Is it good?
So after I was so scathing about nominating middle parts of serials as stand-alones, I want to be fair about this one's volume-three-ness. I read the first three trades in one go (and have not got around to catching up since) and didn't re-read for this - see above about NSFW-ness - so I just skimmed to try to remember where it started and ended. I think this trade works reasonably well on its own, though? It starts with a "here are the basics" recap and ends at a pretty satisfying ending point. That said it's far from being a complete story - nothing is resolved and we're still introducing new complications - and as part of being a long serial, it's already starting to get sort of rambly, and annoying about the temporarily dropped plot threads and characters. (I understand this gets worse later)
Still really fun, though. I almost accidentally re-read it while trying to skim.
3. Is it good SFF?
I love all the worldbuilding in this SO MUCH. It's such an utterly creative and weird and yet utterly believable interstellar-civilization-with-magic-and-ghosts, and it does good SF work in using that to explore what people are, and the art works so well at giving it life it, and it doesn't step back from anything or pull its punches, and there's always a feeling that the world is much bigger than the story, and that the story's earned it when it goes there. It's one of the best SF comics, in terms of pure SF, that I have read in years.
Also: Won last year for Vol.1.
1. Is it SFF?
It's about two people who discover that their orgasms can stop time, literally, and what they do when they discover that. So yeah, probably SF, although definitely toward the magical realism/urban fantasy/superheroes end of things.
2. Is it good?
I like it a lot more than I expected! People talking about it have usually described the basic premise as if that was enough, but it's not really the premise that makes it good, it's what it does with it. It's about two people meeting and falling for each other, and it does a really good job at that thing where you meet someone and you click and you get to know each other REALLY WELL in a really short period of time, without ever really falling back on unrealistic romance cliches - and what starts to happen when that first intimacy bubble starts to fade and you realize that you don't have quite as much in common as you thought when you were swept up together. It's also about two people telling the histories of their individual sexual awakenings and histories. And it's about what you would do if you had a space where you could do anything, with no consequences, and what it says about you. And it does some really neat stuff with the comics storytelling medium and with structure, and the art does an amazing job. Also it's a delightful sex comedy.
Also there was something about trying to save a library? But they didn't spend much time on it and it didn't really make a lot of sense, so ehhh.
It does stop at a point where there's basically no resolution to anything, though.
3. Was it good SF?
It spends a lot of time just playing with the "stopped time" mechanics, and has a lot of fun with them, and I love the way it spins them out and where it chooses to go. I'm not sure I buy the rules as laid out as being internally consistent, but on the other hand the characters admit they are still trying to figure out how it works - and they are actively experimenting. And toward the end we finally meet some characters who apparently have a lot more experience and information with the power, so it's obvious that there is more to learn.
I think my current ballot is Sex Criminals, Saga, Rat Queens, Ms. Marvel, but I could be convinced otherwise.
Best Graphic Story
The category where I had already read most of the noms! Yay!
...actually I think it says... something, about the current state of fandom, that *this* was the only category with enough natural consensus to keep the Puppies from winning most of the slots. What is it about current comics/SF fandom that led to this? Suggestions welcome.
This is also the first category where there are multiple nominees and I would be outright delighted if any of them won! I am going to be debbie downer under the cuts again, but srsly, if you are looking for good comics, I would happily recommend any of these.
Anyway, 4 nominations:
Ms. Marvel Vol 1
1. Was it SF/F?
It had a person getting superpowers from alien gas and then having to fight a genetically engineered evil inventor! It's definitely a superhero book that is deliberately going directly for classic superhero, genre-wise. I'd say it's sort of iffy whether that's SF or not, but people have been sticking it under the broad umbrella for awhile, so sure, why not.
2. Was it good?
It was super-fun, and the art style works really well! Kamala is great, her characterization and her supporting cast are great, it knows exactly what it wants to do (classic teen superhero story) and is doing a great job at it.
The plot is kind of the weakest part, though. And it's not doing a groundbreaking job, exactly? It's your bog-standard superhero origin story. It does a good job but not a knock-your-socks off one at that. Unless you think "having a main character who is female, teenaged, geeky, brown-skinned, Muslim, Pakistani-American, and - worst of all - from Jersey" ought to count as groundbreaking, instead of just, you know, having the sort of people who exist in RL in it, which ought to be base-level "not awful". (And it's interesting that three of the four noms have lead characters who are brown-skinned women - and possibly the main antagonist in the fourth. Perhaps I am not the only one who has started picking up comics on the basis of "if they have brown-skinned women on the covers they probably don't 100% suck.")
3. Is it good SF?
Ehhhhh. It's a good superhero comic. But a lot of Vol. 1 is origin story and then setting up the first big villain arc. We don't really get any resolution on either of those until Vol. 2, though, which includes any attempt whatsoever at explaining what is up with the alien gas and the crazy inventor, it's all just sort of inexplicable stuff that is happening? for some reason? So taken on its own as Vol. 1, the SFFnal aspects are not the strongest aspects of the story. Although the exploration of Kamala's powers is pretty cool.
Rat Queens Volume 1
1. Is it SFF?
It's basically someone's D&D campaign, so yes.
2. Is it good?
It's super-fun! I liked the art (shame about the artist) and the characters were all great.
The plot was basically somebody's D&D campaign. A fun and well-done D&D campaign, mind you! As stuff in the genre "Comics by people who have played A LOT of RPGs" go, this is near the top. I am not sure that it really breaks out of the genre much, though.
3. Is it good SF?
The worldbuilding is great, and the characters are believable as people who have inhabited that world, and the plot does a reasonably good job of putting together the sorts of things that would happen in that world. And I do love the ways it's deliberately satirizing and subverting and sabotaging the cliches and assumptions of its tiny subgenre. See above again about tiny subgenre, though.
Saga Volume 3
1. Is it SFF?
It's the DEVIL PEOPLE vs. THE ANGEL PEOPLE (except they're all bad because war is bad) on a TREE SPACESHIP in SPACE. So yeah, I guess, yeah.
2. Is it good?
So after I was so scathing about nominating middle parts of serials as stand-alones, I want to be fair about this one's volume-three-ness. I read the first three trades in one go (and have not got around to catching up since) and didn't re-read for this - see above about NSFW-ness - so I just skimmed to try to remember where it started and ended. I think this trade works reasonably well on its own, though? It starts with a "here are the basics" recap and ends at a pretty satisfying ending point. That said it's far from being a complete story - nothing is resolved and we're still introducing new complications - and as part of being a long serial, it's already starting to get sort of rambly, and annoying about the temporarily dropped plot threads and characters. (I understand this gets worse later)
Still really fun, though. I almost accidentally re-read it while trying to skim.
3. Is it good SFF?
I love all the worldbuilding in this SO MUCH. It's such an utterly creative and weird and yet utterly believable interstellar-civilization-with-magic-and-ghosts, and it does good SF work in using that to explore what people are, and the art works so well at giving it life it, and it doesn't step back from anything or pull its punches, and there's always a feeling that the world is much bigger than the story, and that the story's earned it when it goes there. It's one of the best SF comics, in terms of pure SF, that I have read in years.
Also: Won last year for Vol.1.
1. Is it SFF?
It's about two people who discover that their orgasms can stop time, literally, and what they do when they discover that. So yeah, probably SF, although definitely toward the magical realism/urban fantasy/superheroes end of things.
2. Is it good?
I like it a lot more than I expected! People talking about it have usually described the basic premise as if that was enough, but it's not really the premise that makes it good, it's what it does with it. It's about two people meeting and falling for each other, and it does a really good job at that thing where you meet someone and you click and you get to know each other REALLY WELL in a really short period of time, without ever really falling back on unrealistic romance cliches - and what starts to happen when that first intimacy bubble starts to fade and you realize that you don't have quite as much in common as you thought when you were swept up together. It's also about two people telling the histories of their individual sexual awakenings and histories. And it's about what you would do if you had a space where you could do anything, with no consequences, and what it says about you. And it does some really neat stuff with the comics storytelling medium and with structure, and the art does an amazing job. Also it's a delightful sex comedy.
Also there was something about trying to save a library? But they didn't spend much time on it and it didn't really make a lot of sense, so ehhh.
It does stop at a point where there's basically no resolution to anything, though.
3. Was it good SF?
It spends a lot of time just playing with the "stopped time" mechanics, and has a lot of fun with them, and I love the way it spins them out and where it chooses to go. I'm not sure I buy the rules as laid out as being internally consistent, but on the other hand the characters admit they are still trying to figure out how it works - and they are actively experimenting. And toward the end we finally meet some characters who apparently have a lot more experience and information with the power, so it's obvious that there is more to learn.
I think my current ballot is Sex Criminals, Saga, Rat Queens, Ms. Marvel, but I could be convinced otherwise.
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In that case, my question is: why don't the puppies care about this category? I assume they didn't include fan artist because they legitimately neither knew nor cared about it, but it's not like comics are a niche interest among conservative male fan types, and it's not like there's a shortage of awful misogynistic shoot 'em ups available.
Granted it would be hard to promote their own works in this cat, but that didn't stop them in the dramatic presentation categories.
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So it's written by Brian K. Vaughan, then?