# Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story

The Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story is given each year for science fiction or fantasy stories told in graphic form and published or translated into English during the previous calendar year. It has been awarded annually since 2009. The Hugo Awards have been described as "a fine showcase for speculative fiction" and "the best known literary award for science fiction writing".
In the 19 nomination years, 106 works from 66 series have been nominated, including Retro Hugos. Works from 13 different series have won the award, including Retro Hugos. Girl Genius, written by Kaja and Phil Foglio, drawn by Phil Foglio, and colored by Cheyenne Wright, won the first three awards. After their third straight win in 2011, the Girl Genius team announced that, in order to show the category was a "viable award", they were refusing nomination for the following year (after which the award was up for re-ratification); Girl Genius was nominated a fourth time in 2014. For the following five years, the award was taken by a different series or work every year, and included both webcomics and installments of published series. The 2017–2019 awards saw the second series to win three times, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda's Monstress, and was followed since by different works each year until 2024, when Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples's Saga won for a second time. The three Retro Hugos were won by early comic books such as Bill Finger and Bob Kane's Batman #1, William Moulton Marston and H. G. Peter's Wonder Woman #5: "Battle for Womanhood", and Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster's Superman: "The Mysterious Mr. Mxyzptlk". Saga has the most nominations at eight, followed by Monstress at seven and Howard Tayler's Schlock Mercenary at five, while Bill Willingham's Fables, Brian K. Vaughan and Cliff Chiang's Paper Girls, and Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon have been nominated four times. Nine other works have at least two nominations.

## Selection

Hugo Award nominees and winners are chosen by supporting or attending members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, and the presentation evening constitutes its central event. The selection process is defined in the World Science Fiction Society Constitution as instant-runoff voting with six nominees, except in the case of a tie as happened in 2009. The graphic stories on the ballot are the six most-nominated by members that year, with no limit on the number of stories that can be nominated. Initial nominations are made by members in January through March, while voting on the ballot of six nominations is performed roughly in April through July, subject to change depending on when that year's Worldcon is held. Prior to 2017, the final ballot was five works; it was changed that year to six, with each initial nominator limited to five nominations. Worldcons are generally held near the start of September, and are held in a different city around the world each year. In addition to the regular Hugo awards, beginning in 1996 Retrospective Hugo Awards, or "Retro Hugos", have been available to be awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may be awarded only for years in which a World Science Fiction Convention, or Worldcon, was hosted but no awards were originally given. To date, Retro Hugo awards have been given for graphic stories only for 1941 and 1944.

## Winners and nominees

In the following table, the years correspond to the date of the ceremony, rather than when the story was first published. Entries with a yellow background have won the award; those with a gray background are the other nominated works.
* Winners and joint winners
Winners and nominees :
| Year | Work | Creator(s) | Publisher(s) |
| 2009 | Girl Genius, Volume 8: Agatha Heterodyne and the Chapel of Bones* | Kaja Foglio (writer), Phil Foglio (writer, artist), Cheyenne Wright (colorist) | Airship Entertainment |
| 2009 | The Dresden Files: Welcome to the Jungle | Jim Butcher (writer), Ardian Syaf (artist) | Del Rey Books/Dabel Brothers Productions |
| 2009 | Fables: War and Pieces | Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (artist), Andrew Peopy (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Todd Klein (letterist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2009 | Schlock Mercenary: The Body Politic | Howard Tayler (writer, artist) | The Tayler Corporation |
| 2009 | Serenity: Better Days | Joss Whedon (writer), Brett Matthews (writer), Will Conrad (artist), Michelle Madsen (colorist), Jo Chen (cover) | Dark Horse Comics |
| 2009 | Y: The Last Man, Volume 10: Whys and Wherefores | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Pia Guerra (penciller), Jose Marzan, Jr. (inker) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2010 | Girl Genius, Volume 9: Agatha Heterodyne and the Heirs of the Storm* | Kaja Foglio (writer), Phil Foglio (writer, artist), Cheyenne Wright (colorist) | Airship Entertainment |
| 2010 | Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? | Neil Gaiman (writer), Andy Kubert (penciller), Scott Williams (inker) | DC Comics |
| 2010 | Captain Britain and MI13. Volume 3: Vampire State | Paul Cornell (writer), Leonard Kirk (penciller), Mike Collins (penciller), Adrian Alphona (penciller), Ardian Syaf (penciller) | Marvel Comics |
| 2010 | Fables: The Dark Ages | Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (penciller), Steve Leialoha (artist), Peter Gross (artist), Andrew Peopy (artist), Mike Allred (artist), David Hahn (artist), Lee Loughridge (colorist), Laura Allred (colorist), Todd Klein (letterist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2010 | Schlock Mercenary: The Longshoreman of the Apocalypse | Howard Tayler (writer, artist) | The Tayler Corporation |
| 2011 | Girl Genius, Volume 10: Agatha Heterodyne and the Guardian Muse* | Kaja Foglio (writer), Phil Foglio (writer, artist), Cheyenne Wright (colorist) | Airship Entertainment |
| 2011 | Fables: Witches | Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2011 | Grandville Mon Amour | Bryan Talbot (writer, artist) | Dark Horse Comics |
| 2011 | Schlock Mercenary: Massively Parallel | Howard Tayler (writer, artist) | Hypernode |
| 2011 | The Unwritten, Volume 2: Inside Man | Mike Carey (writer), Peter Gross (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2012 | Digger* | Ursula Vernon (writer, artist) | Sofawolf Press |
| 2012 | Fables: Rose Red | Bill Willingham (writer), Mark Buckingham (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2012 | Locke & Key Volume 4: Keys To The Kingdom | Joe Hill (writer), Gabriel Rodriguez (artist) | IDW Publishing |
| 2012 | Schlock Mercenary: Force Multiplication | Howard Tayler (writer, artist) | The Tayler Corporation |
| 2012 | The Unwritten, Volume 4: Leviathan | Mike Carey (writer), Peter Gross (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2013 | Saga, Volume 1* | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2013 | Grandville Bête Noire | Bryan Talbot (writer, artist) | Dark Horse Comics |
| 2013 | Locke & Key Volume 5: Clockworks | Joe Hill (writer), Gabriel Rodriguez (artist) | IDW Publishing |
| 2013 | Schlock Mercenary: Random Access Memorabilia | Howard Tayler (writer, artist) | The Tayler Corporation |
| 2013 | Saucer Country, Volume 1: Run | Paul Cornell (writer), Ryan Kelly (artist), Jimmy Broxton (artist), Goran Sudžuka (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2014 | "Time"* | Randall Munroe | xkcd |
| 2014 | Girl Genius, Volume 13: Agatha Heterodyne & The Sleeping City | Kaja Foglio (writer), Phil Foglio (writer, artist), Cheyenne Wright (colorist) | Airship Entertainment |
| 2014 | The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who | Paul Cornell (writer), Jimmy Broxton (artist) | IDW Publishing |
| 2014 | The Meathouse Man | Raya Golden (artist), George R. R. Martin (original work) | Jet City Comics |
| 2014 | Saga, Volume 2 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2015 | Ms. Marvel, Volume 1: No Normal* | G. Willow Wilson (writer), Adrian Alphona (artist), Jake Wyatt (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2015 | Rat Queens, Volume 1: Sass and Sorcery | Kurtis J. Weibe (writer), Roc Upchurch (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2015 | Saga, Volume 3 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2015 | Sex Criminals, Volume 1: One Weird Trick | Matt Fraction (writer), Chip Zdarsky (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2015 | The Zombie Nation Book #2: Reduce Reuse Reanimate | Carter Reid | The Zombie Nation |
| 2016 | The Sandman: Overture* | Neil Gaiman (writer), J. H. Williams III (artist) | Vertigo Comics |
| 2016 | The Divine | Boaz Lavie (writer), Asaf Hanuka (artist), Tomer Hanuka (artist) | First Second Books |
| 2016 | Erin Dies Alone | Grey Carter (writer), Cory Rydell (artist) | dyingalone.net |
| 2016 | Full Frontal Nerdity | Aaron Williams | ffn.nodwick.com |
| 2016 | Invisible Republic, Volume 1 | Corinna Bechko (writer), Gabriel Hardman (writer, artist) | Image Comics |
| 2017 | Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening* | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2017 | Black Panther, Volume 1: A Nation Under Our Feet | Ta-Nehisi Coates (writer), Brian Stelfreeze (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2017 | Ms. Marvel, Volume 5: Super Famous | G. Willow Wilson (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2017 | Paper Girls, Volume 1 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Jared Fletcher (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2017 | Saga, Volume 6 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist), Fonografiks (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2017 | The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man | Tom King (writer), Gabriel Hernandez Walta (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2018 | Monstress, Volume 2: The Blood* | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2018 | Bitch Planet, Volume 2: President Bitch | Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Valentine De Landro (artist), Taki Soma (artist), Kelly Fitzpatrick (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2018 | Black Bolt, Volume 1: Hard Time | Saladin Ahmed (writer), Christian Ward (artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Marvel Comics |
| 2018 | My Favorite Thing Is Monsters | Emil Ferris (writer, artist) | Fantagraphics Books |
| 2018 | Paper Girls, Volume 3 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Jared Fletcher (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2018 | Saga, Volume 7 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2019 | Monstress, Volume 3: Haven* | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2019 | Abbott | Saladin Ahmed (writer), Sami Kivelä (artist), Jason Wordie (colorist), Jim Campbell (letterer) | Boom! Studios |
| 2019 | Black Panther: Long Live the King | Nnedi Okorafor (writer), Aaron Covington (writer), André Lima Araújo (artist), Mario Del Pennino (artist), Tana Ford (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2019 | On a Sunbeam | Tillie Walden (writer, artist) | First Second Books |
| 2019 | Paper Girls, Volume 4 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), Matthew Wilson (colorist), Jared Fletcher (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2019 | Saga, Volume 9 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2020 | LaGuardia* | Nnedi Okorafor (writer), Tana Ford (artist), James Devlin (colorist) | Berger Books / Dark Horse Comics |
| 2020 | Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker | Kieron Gillen (writer), Stephanie Hans (artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2020 | Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2020 | Mooncakes | Suzanne Walker (writer), Wendy Xu (artist), Joamette Gil (letterer) | Oni Press / Lion Forge Comics |
| 2020 | Paper Girls, Volume 6 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Cliff Chiang (artist), Matt Wilson (colorist), Jared K. Fletcher (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2020 | The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: Okay | Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist), Matt Wilson (colorist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2021 | Parable of the Sower: A Graphic Novel Adaptation* | Octavia E. Butler (original author), Damian Duffy (writer), John Jennings (artist) | Abrams Books |
| 2021 | Die, Volume 2: Split the Party | Kieron Gillen (writer), Stephanie Hans (artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2021 | Ghost-Spider, Volume 1: Dog Days Are Over | Seanan McGuire (writer), Takeshi Miyazawa (artist), Rosie Kämpe (artist) | Marvel Comics |
| 2021 | Invisible Kingdom, Volume 2: Edge of Everything | G. Willow Wilson (writer), Christian Ward (artist) | Dark Horse Comics |
| 2021 | Monstress, Volume 5: Warchild | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2021 | Once & Future, Volume 1: The King Is Undead | Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (colorist), Ed Dukeshire (letterer) | Boom! Studios |
| 2022 | Far Sector* | N. K. Jemisin (writer), Jamal Campbell (artist) | DC Comics |
| 2022 | Die, Volume 4: Bleed | Kieron Gillen (writer), Stephanie Hans (artist), Clayton Cowles (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2022 | Lore Olympus, Volume 1 | Rachel Smythe (writer, artist) | Del Rey Books |
| 2022 | Monstress, Volume 6: The Vow | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2022 | Once & Future, Volume 3: The Parliament of Magpies | Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist), Tamra Bonvillain (colorist) | Boom! Studios |
| 2022 | Strange Adventures | Tom King (writer), Mitch Gerads (artist), Evan "Doc" Shaner (artist) | DC Comics |
| 2023 | Cyberpunk 2077: Big City Dreams* | Bartosz Sztybor (writer), Filipe Andrade (artist), Alessio Fioriniello (artist), Roman Titov (colorist), Krzysztof Ostrowski (colorist) | Dark Horse Comics |
| 2023 | Dune: The Official Movie Graphic Novel | Lilah Sturges (writer), Drew Johnson (artist), Zid (colorist) | Legendary Comics |
| 2023 | Monstress, Volume 7: Devourer | Marjorie Liu (writer), Sana Takeda (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2023 | Once & Future, Volume 4: Monarchies in the UK | Kieron Gillen (writer), Dan Mora (artist) | Boom! Studios |
| 2023 | Saga, Volume 10 | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist), Fonografiks (letterer) | Image Comics |
| 2023 | Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow | Tom King (writer), Bilquis Evely (artist), Matheus Lopes (colorist) | DC Comics |
| 2024 | Saga, Volume 11* | Brian K. Vaughan (writer), Fiona Staples (artist) | Image Comics |
| 2024 | Bea Wolf | Zach Weinersmith (writer), Boulet (artist) | First Second Books |
| 2024 | Shubeik Lubeik | Deena Mohamed | Pantheon Graphic Library |
| 2024 | The Three Body Problem, Part One | Cai Jin (writer), Ge Wendi (writer), Bo Mu (writer), Caojijiuridong (artist), Liu Cixin (original novel) | Zhejiang Literature and Art Publishing House |
| 2024 | The Witches of World War II | Paul Cornell (writer), Valeria Burzo (artist) | TKO Studios |
| 2024 | Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons | Kelly Sue DeConnick (writer), Phil Jimenez (artist), Gene Ha (artist), Nicola Scott (artist) | DC Comics |

### Retro Hugos

Beginning with the 1996 Worldcon, the World Science Fiction Society created the concept of "Retro Hugos", in which the Hugo award could be retroactively awarded for 50, 75, or 100 years prior. Retro Hugos may be awarded only for years after 1939 in which no awards were originally given. The only times the Graphic Story category has both existed and received enough nominations to support a Retro Hugo category was in 2016 for 1941, 2019 for 1944, and 2020 for 1945.
Retro Hugo winners and nominees :
| Year | Year awarded | Work | Creator(s) | Publisher(s) |
| 1941 | 2016 | Batman #1* | Bill Finger (writer), Bob Kane (artist) | Detective Comics (DC Comics) |
| 1941 | 2016 | Captain Marvel: "Introducing Captain Marvel" | Bill Parker, C. C. Beck | Whiz Comics #2 (Fawcett Comics) |
| 1941 | 2016 | Flash Gordon: "The Ice Kingdom of Mongo" | Alex Raymond, Don Moore | King Features Syndicate |
| 1941 | 2016 | The Origin of the Spirit | Will Eisner | Register and Tribune Syndicate |
| 1941 | 2016 | The Spectre: "The Spectre"/"The Spectre Strikes!" | Jerry Siegel (writer), Bernard Baily (artist) | More Fun Comics |
| 1944 | 2019 | Wonder Woman #5: "Battle for Womanhood"* | William Moulton Marston (writer), H. G. Peter (artist) | DC Comics |
| 1944 | 2019 | Buck Rogers: "Martians Invade Jupiter" | Philip Francis Nowlan (writer), Dick Calkins (artist) | National Newspaper Service |
| 1944 | 2019 | Flash Gordon: "Fiery Desert of Mongo" | Alex Raymond (writer, artist) | King Features Syndicate |
| 1944 | 2019 | Garth | Steve Dowling (writer, artist) | Daily Mirror |
| 1944 | 2019 | Plastic Man #1: "The Game of Death" | Jack Cole (writer, artist) | Vital Publications |
| 1944 | 2019 | The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn | Hergé (writer, artist) | Le Soir |
| 1945 | 2020 | Superman: "The Mysterious Mr. Mxyzptlk"* | Jerry Siegel (writer), Ira Yarbrough (artist), Joe Shuster (artist) | Detective Comics (DC Comics) |
| 1945 | 2020 | Buck Rogers: "Hollow Planetoid" | Dick Calkins (artist) | National Newspaper Service |
| 1945 | 2020 | Donald Duck: "The Mad Chemist" | Carl Barks (writer, artist) | Dell Comics |
| 1945 | 2020 | Flash Gordon: "Battle for Tropica" | Alex Raymond (writer, artist) | King Features Syndicate |
| 1945 | 2020 | Flash Gordon: "Triumph in Tropica" | Alex Raymond (writer, artist) | King Features Syndicate |
| 1945 | 2020 | The Spirit: "For the Love of Clara Defoe" | Manly Wade Wellman (writer), Lou Fine (artist), Don Komisarow (artist) | Register and Tribune Syndicate |