Finally, my disjointed knowledge of graphic novels and science fiction paid off. Or at least saved me a dime.
Summit Coffee, my local coffee shop, has a daily trivia question, which gets you a ten cent discount if you get it right. If it’s local trivia or sports trivia, I’m a lost cause. But every once in a while the question is right up my alley.
Today’s question: What is the only graphic novel to have won a Hugo Award?
Immediately I’m thinking it’s either Frank Miller or Alan Moore. Art Spiegelman is probably the most mainstream prize-winningest graphic novelist, with the Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, but I knew he never got a Hugo, one of the two leading science fiction awards (the other is the Nebula).
Most of Miller’s work isn’t science fiction, really — I would call it more superhero realism. So that left Moore, but which work? I had to go with his most acclaimed work: Watchmen.
Nailed it. And I was actually the first person today to get it right.
Congrads. Did you check out the Watchmen trailer? It looks pretty good.
I’ve found that a lot of people do tend to class superhero works under science fiction.
Thank you for inspiring me to read my first graphic novel. The Hugo Award sucked me in and despite my reservations, I got right into it and loved it. Pretty heavy themes for a ginormous comic book! Now I’ll have to be sure to see the film and be disdainfully disappointed, of course.
Any other graphic novels you would recommend?
Glad you tested the waters with Watchmen. If you want another superhero graphic novel, check out Frank Miller’s 1986 classic, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Something new in the genre I’ve been encouraging people to read is the more rooted in reality, Shooting War. Finally, if you want to see how people are taking graphic novels in very serious, personal directions, take a look at Alison Bechdel’s memoir, Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic.