Yes, folks, it's that time of year again--I'm voting for the Hugo Awards. Since I'm on vacation from the day job this week, I've set aside this block of time to hopefully get my ballot finalized. I'm going to be a lot briefer about the bulk of these categories, mainly because most of the ballot isn't as egregiously stupid as last year's.
These are some of the categories I've decided so far.
Best Graphic Novel
1) The Sandman: Overture written by Neil Gaiman, art by J.H. Williams III (Vertigo)
This, of course, is the 800-pound gorilla of the category. It was also on my nominating ballot. It's a beautiful story with stunning artwork, and if you can afford the hardcover deluxe edition, I would suggest you pick it up.
2) No Award
3) The Divine written by Boaz Lavie, art by Asaf Hanuka and Tomer Hanuka (First Second)
4) Invisible Republic Vol 1 written by Corinna Bechko and Gabriel Hardman, art by Gabriel Hardman (Image Comics)
The Divine and Invisible Republic Vol. 1 are both pretty pedestrian stories, and neither's artwork is outstanding, but either one is better than the two webcomics, Erin Dies Alone and Full Frontal Nerdity. Erin is dull and Nerdity is dumb, so I'm leaving them off the ballot altogether.
Best Fancast
I'm not into podcasts, so I'm not fond of the category.
No Award
Best Fan Artist
(There were some samples of these artists included in the Hugo voters' packet; for others, I just searched for the artist's name.)
1) disse 86
Pretty disturbing stuff, some of it, but visually striking.
2) Christian Quinot
Neither as intense or as detailed as Disse's.
3) Steve Stiles
This artist has far more of a sense of humor than the first two, but his stuff unfortunately isn't as good.
4) No Award
The remaining artists, Matthew Callahan and Kukuruyo, are simply not Hugo quality, as far as I'm concerned.
I'll continue knocking these out for the rest of the week.
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