The finalists for the 2026 Hugo Awards were announced this week. Once again offering an intriguing mix of material – not least in the Best Graphic Story or Comic category. The winners will be announced at a ceremony held at LAcon V, Anaheim on August 30.
At our count two of the six titles came from the superhero (sub)genre. One is Kieren Gillen & Caspar Wijngaard‘s The Power Fantasy (Image), with DC Absolute represented by Absolute Wonder Woman, by Kelly Thompson, Hayden Sherman, Mattia de Iulis, and Jordie Bellaire.
The list also has one adaptation (Ursula Le Guin classic A Wizard of Earthsea, by Fred Fordham), one picture book (The Invisible Parade, by Leigh Bardugo & John Picacio), one original graphic novel (The Space Cat, by Nnedi Okorafor & Tana Ford) and one webcomic (A Girl and Her Fed, by KB Spangler & Ale Presser).
Every one of the six finalists comes from different publishers. DC, First Second, and Image were the main comics publishers, with one self published, and two from traditional book publishers (Little, Brown Books; and Clarion).
The 2026 Best Graphic Story or Comic finalists were decided by a 362 vote ballot, which saw 243 books nominated. 2025’s category winner was Star Trek: Lower Decks – Warp Your Own Way, a choose your own adventure style book by Ryan North, Chris Fenoglio, Charlie Kirchoff and Jeff Eckleberry; published by IDW.
A Hugo Awards regular in the Graphic Story or Comic category was notably absent this year: Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s Monstress. It’s tenth volume released in November 2025 but did not make the cut. Nearly every volume in the series has received a Hugo nomination, with the previous exception being volume 8, in 2024. Graphic Story or Comic category semi-regular, Kieren Gillenreturned with his latest new series, alongisde co-creator/artist Caspar Wijngaard, The Power Fantasy. Another Hugo Awards regular, less seen in this category, is Nnedi Okorafor, whose entry saw her reteam with LaGuardia (Berger Books, 2019) artist Tana Ford for graphic novel The Space Cat. Okorafor is twice nominated this year, with another nomination in her usual prose stomping grounds for latest book Death of the Author (William Morrow; Gollancz) up for Best Novel.
In other categories, critical and commercial juggernauts KPop Demon Hunters, Sinners, Andor (season two) and Superman made finalist in the Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form category, joined by Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein and Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17.
Best Dramatic Presentation’s Short Form category had Murderbot doubly represented with two episodes making the cut, alongside individual episodes of Doctor Who, Severance, Pluribus, and The Wheel of Time filling the remainder.
Best Game or Interactive Work was filled with the most popular and talked about indie games from the past year, with Clair Obscur, Hades II, Blue Prince, and Hollow Knight: Silksong making the cut. Superhero game Dispatch also got a spot, joined by Citizen Sleeper 2.
Best Graphic Story or Comic
- The Invisible Parade, by Leigh Bardugo & John Picacio (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; Orion UK)
- The Power Fantasy Volume 1: The Superpowers, written by Kieron Gillen, art by Caspar Wijngaard, lettering by Clayton Cowles (Image Comics)
- A Wizard of Earthsea: A Graphic Novel, written by Ursula K. Le Guin, adapted & art by Fred Fordham (Clarion; Walker UK)
- The Space Cat, written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford (First Second)
- Absolute Wonder Woman Vol. 1: The Last Amazon, written by Kelly Thompson, art by Hayden Sherman & Mattia de Iulis, coloring by Jordie Bellaire, lettering by Becca Carey (DC Comics)
- A Girl and Her Fed, written by KB Spangler, art by Ale Presser (agirlandherfed.com)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form
- Andor (Season 2), written by Tom Bissell, Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, and Beau Willimon, directed by Ariel Kleiman, Janus Metz, Alonso Ruizpalacios (Disney+)
- Frankenstein, screenplay by Guillermo del Toro, directed by Guillermo del Toro (Netflix)
- KPop Demon Hunters, screenplay by Danya Jimenez & Hannah McMechan, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans; directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans (Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix)
- Mickey 17, screenplay by Bong Joon Ho, directed by Bong Joon Ho (Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Sinners, screenplay by Ryan Coogler, directed by Ryan Coogler (Proximity Media, Warner Bros. Pictures)
- Superman, screenplay by James Gunn, directed by James Gunn (DC Studios)
Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form
- Doctor Who: “The Story & the Engine”, written by Inua Ellams, directed by Makalla McPherson (BBC One, Disney +)
- Murderbot: “All Systems Red”, written by Paul Weitz & Chris Weitz, directed by Roseanne Liang, based on the book All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Apple TV)
- Murderbot: “The Perimeter”, written Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz, directed by Paul Weitz, based on the book All Systems Red by Martha Wells (Apple TV)
- Pluribus: “We Is Us”, written and directed by Vince Gilligan, directed by Vince Gilligan (Apple TV)
- Severance: “Cold Harbor”, written by Dan Erickson, directed by Ben Stiller (Apple TV)
- The Wheel of Time: “The Road to the Spear”, written by Rafe Lee Judkins, directed by Thomas Napper, based on the book The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (Amazon Prime Video)
Best Game or Interactive Work
- Blue Prince, developed by Dogubomb, published by Raw Fury
- Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, developed by Jump Over the Age, published by Fellow Traveller
- Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, developed by Sandfall Interactive, published by Kepler Interactive
- Dispatch, developed and published AdHoc Studio
- Hades II, developed and published by Supergiant Games
- Hollow Knight: Silksong, developed and published by Team Cherry
For all other categories up for the Hugo Awards, check here
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