Previously I took a look at this year’s Hugo finalists for novel, short fiction, and series.  Now I’m finally back to look at graphic story, related work, dramatic presentation, and game finalists.

Best Graphic Story or Comic

• Bea Wolf, written by Zach Weinersmith, art by Boulet (First Second)
• Saga, Vol. 11 written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples (Image Comics)
• Shubeik Lubeik, Deena Mohamed (Pantheon); as Your Wish Is My Command (Granta)
• 三体漫画：第一部 / The Three Body Problem, Part One, adapted from the novels by 刘慈欣 (Liu Cixin), written by 蔡劲 (Cai Jin),戈闻頔 (Ge Wendi), and 薄暮 (Bo Mu), art by 草祭九日东 (Caojijiuridong) (Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House)
• The Witches of World War II written by Paul Cornell, art by Valeria Burzo (TKO Studios LLC)
• Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons written by Kelly Sue DeConnick, art by Phil Jimenez, Gene Ha and Nicola Scott (DC Comics)

Surprising that there is  only one repeat finalist from a series, although I do enjoy Saga and was planning to read the latest volume at some point.  I’m glad to see another Chinese finalist, an adaptation of Lin Cixin’s Hugo-winning novel, The Three Body Problem.  Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons was on my own ballot.  I look forward to reading the remaining three which all look good.

Best Related Work

• All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays by Niall Harrison (Briardene Books)
• 中国科幻口述史, 第二卷, 第三卷，(Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History, vols 2 and 3) ed. 杨枫 / Yang Feng (8-Light Minutes Culture & Chengdu Time Press)
• A City on Mars by Kelly Weinersmith and Zach Weinersmith (Penguin Press; Particular Books)
• The Culture: The Drawings, by Iain M. Banks (Orbit)
• 雨果X访谈 (Discover X), presented by 王雅婷 (Tina Wong)
• A Traveller in Time: The Critical Practice of Maureen Kincaid Speller, by Maureen Kincaid Speller, edited by Nina Allan (Luna Press Publishing)

All These Worlds, A City on Mars, and A Traveller in Time were all my own nominees.  Zach Weinersmith, co-author of A City on Mars, is also a finalist (with artist Boulet) in Best Graphic Story.  Volume 1 of Chinese Science Fiction: An Oral History was a finalist last year.  The Culture: The Drawings is a collection of annotated illustrations from Iain M. Banks’ personal notebooks on his series of books in the Culture setting.  Discover X is a series of video interviews done for the 2023 Chengdu Worldcon.  It also received enough votes to make the ballot in Best Fancast but was declared ineligible in that category because it is a professional production.  Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood declined a finalist spot for their promotional tweets about This Is How You Lose the Time War.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form

• Barbie, screenplay by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, directed by Greta Gerwig (Warner Bros. Studios)
• Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, screenplay by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein and Michael Gilio, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Paramount Pictures)
• Nimona, screenplay by Robert L. Baird and Lloyd Taylor, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (Annapurna Animations)
• Poor Things, screenplay by Tony McNamara, directed by Yorgos Lanthimos (Element Pictures)
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Dave Callaham, directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson (Columbia Pictures / Marvel Entertainment / Avi Arad Productions / Lord Miller / Pascal Pictures / Sony Pictures Animation)
• 流浪地球2 / The Wandering Earth II, based on the novel by 刘慈欣 Liu Cixin, screenplay by 杨治学 Yang Zhixue, 郭帆 / Frant Gwo, 龚格尔 Gong Geer, and 叶濡畅 Ye Ruchang, script consultant 王红卫 Wang Hongwei, directed by 郭帆 / Frant Gwo (中影创意（北京）电影有限公司 / CFC Pictures Ltd, 郭帆（北京）影业有限公司 / G!Film (Beijing) Studio Co. Ltd, 北京登峰国际文化传播有限公司 / Beijing Dengfeng International Culture Communication Co, Ltd, 中国电影股份有限公司 / China Film Co. Ltd)

Barbie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse were on my ballot.  Nimona and Poor Things were both already on my watch list.  The Wandering Earth II, another adaptation of Liu Cixin’s work, is available through my library on hoopla with English sub-titles.  I understand that it is a prequel so watching the first one isn’t necessary.  Barbie, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Nimona, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are all also finalists for the Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.

Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form

• Doctor Who: “The Giggle”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Chanya Button (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)
• Loki: “Glorious Purpose”, screenplay by Eric Martin, Michael Waldron and Katharyn Blair, directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Marvel / Disney+)
• The Last of Us: “Long, Long Time”, written by Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann, directed by Peter Hoar (Naughty Dog / Sony Pictures)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Those Old Scientists”, written by Kathryn Lyn and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Jonathan Frakes (CBS / Paramount+)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: “Subspace Rhapsody”, written by Dana Horgan and Bill Wolkoff, directed by Dermott Downs (CBS / Paramount+)
• Doctor Who: “Wild Blue Yonder”, written by Russell T. Davies, directed by Tom Kingsley (Bad Wolf with BBC Studios for The BBC and Disney Branded Television)

This category looks like old times with two episodes of Doctor Who and two episodes of a Star Trek show.  An episode of Loki was previously nominated back in 2022.  “Long, Long Time” from The Last of Us is also a finalist for the Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.  I haven’t seen any of these yet although I was already planning to watch season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.  Therefore, obviously, nothing here was on my ballot.

Best Game or Interactive Work

• Alan Wake 2, developed by Remedy Entertainment, published by Epic Games
• Baldur’s Gate 3, produced by Larian Studios
• Chants of Sennaar, developed by Rundisc, published by Focus Entertainment
• DREDGE, developed by Black Salt Games, published by Team17
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, produced by Nintendo
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, developed by Respawn Entertainment, published by Electronic Arts and Lucasfilm Games

I’m happy for those that have been working to get this category on the Hugo ballot.  I am a tiny bit disappointed that there isn’t anything here besides video games since the category was intentionally left open to any type of game.  But I can hardly complain since I didn’t nominate anything myself.  Alan Wake 2, Baldur’s Gate 3, Chants of Sennaar, and DREDGE are all also finalists for the Nebula Award for Game Writing.

I’ll be back again with more of my initial thoughts on the finalists as I go through them.  What do you think of these finalists?  Did your favorites make the list?