We’ve got analysis, picks, and the actual winners here for
you in the essential categories (i.e. the categories where I’ve read most of or
all the titles). They're being updated as the news rolls in.
Best Continuing Series: An easy category for me. I don’t
think most of these books are that good. Wicked + Divine is closest to a top
tier book, but clearly not as good as BH.
Our pick: Black Hammer
Winner: Monstress
Best Limited Series: X-Men: Grand Design is very good, but Mister
Miracle is a top 10 book. It’s the clear choice.
Our pick: Mister Miracle
Winner: Black Panther: World of Wakanda (?)
Best New Series: This category has 3 very good series in it,
including Black Bolt by newcomer of the year Saladin Ahmed & Grass Kings by
the woefully underrated Matt Kindt & the even more woefully underrated
Tyler Jenkins. But, Royal City is the best of these books by a limited margin.
Our Pick: Royal City
Winner: Black Bolt
Best Writer: Toughest category for me. Both King &
Lemire are great & Kindt is very good. Mark Russell is the biggest stretch
in any category this year imo. Marjorie Liu is good, but Monstress is
overrated. Today though, Lemire is writing 5 top 20 books. That’s unprecedented.
Our Pick: Jeff Lemire
Winner: Tom King/Marjorie Liu (the first tie ever)
Best Writer/Artist: I only read three of these, but My
Favorite Thing is Monsters was fantastic. Easy choice.
Our Pick: Emil Ferris
Winner: Ferris
Best Penciller/Inker: Into the Silent Sea was unbelievable.
It was beyond anything I’ve seen in a Hellboy book before and I think Mignola
is a master. Gianni was amazing. Must win. Mitch Gerads (Mister Miracle,
Sheriff of Babylon) has been doing some great work though so I won’t be shocked
or sore if he takes it home.
Our Pick: Gary Gianni
Winner: Gerads
Best Cover Artist: The best part of Monstress is those
covers. They’re unbelievable. I don’t think these are the five top cover
artists today, but I believe Takeda is the easy choice in this category.
Our Pick: Sana Takeda
Winner: Takeda
Best Coloring: Dave Stewart is always the best colorist.
Elizabeth Breitweiser was robbed from being nominated in this category for her
work on Kill or Be Killed btw.
Our Pick: Dave Stewart
Winner: Emil Ferris (a fair pick, she did that whole book –
writing, pencils, inks, colors, and letters – on her own)
Biggest surprise: World of Wakanda over Mister Miracle. Both
creators won their categories for best pencil/inks & best writer but their
series failed to bring home the title? Hard to understand there. World of
Wakanda was a weak title in a strong category imo. Pretty shocking.
Biggest hype: Monstress. Liu won in best writer. Takeda for
best covers. Best series for teens. Best ongoing. That’s a lot for a middling
fantasy title methinks. Isola is objectively a better book already. I get that
folks really want “not superheroes” to win awards, but this seems like a
serious stretch. I think Black Hammer will go down as one of the most important
titles maybe ever so I’m especially surprised to see Lemire leave tonight
with nothing.
Side comment: I saw some goofball call Mister Miracle “THE
DC book of the moment”. That’s a farce. Both Batman & Justice League are
better books in terms of story, art, & execution. Mister Miracle is up
there, but it’s not quite on that level. I know it’s not popular to give
traditional superhero fare the nod, but those books are exceptional examples of
how regular superhero books with no existential angst can deliver powerfully compelling
stories nonetheless.
No comments:
Post a Comment