Hugo 2016?

[arf]

I thought it would be worthwhile to see who would be interested in trying to nominate Tom's work for the 2016 Hugo Award (Graphic Story category)

The question is, what to nominate? You *might* think Vol. 5: Refinement is the obvious choice, but it isn't eligible since the content was first published (online) in 2013-14, not 2015. Nor is the just completed Ch 56 (though it will be eligible for the 2017 award)

Anyway, I've set up a poll of the possible items that could be nominated. Add your 3 votes, and comment on why below.

(Uh, of course, Tom has veto rights on all this!)

[arf]

I suppose I'd better keep the ball rolling with my critiques:
- Totem: nice little tale, marred a little by those two joker-bots at the end. (I'm not sure in-house punchlines would work with a wider audience)
- The Tree: Most dramatic, hands down! Unfortunately, it hasn't a lot of fantasy content
- Sneak: interesting, but it doesn't really stand alone
- Annie and the Fire: Probably the most balanced chapter in terms of story, and fantastical content.
- Meetings and Re-meetings: Nice story, but the initial 'primitive' art style might throw readers unfamiliar with Tom's work.
- The Breakout: Not without a 55 chapter exposition!
- Story arc (51-54): I think this set makes the best body of work (I didn't include Totem as it seems separate. Then again, it does explain where rabbit boy came from)
- Story arc (51-55): We might be tolerant of Tom's occasional trolls. Viewed dispassionately, including the Breakout makes the whole set-up fall flat (unless you think 'Annie and The Fire' adequately explains Tony's abrupt change of heart)
- Traveller: No opinion, since I haven't read it.

[keef]

1. Meetings and Re-Meetings

   the initial 'primitive' art style might throw readers unfamiliar with Tom's work.

   I don't think that would be a problem. It's an excellent chapter to make people curious about Gunnerkrigg, I think.
2. All of 2015
3. Totem
   

About Traveller: It is a good read, but I think to really enjoy it you should know a bit about GKC mythology.

[CoyoteReborn]

The choice is clear – only two chapters involved Me!

A shameful fact, when you really think about it

[Daedalus]

My votes go to "Meetings and Re-Meetings", "The Breakout", and "Story Arc: 51-55".

As painful as this arc was to live through at the time...

[Jelly Jellybean]

I would go with the story arc 51-54 because I think the arc stands alone better than any individual chapter and I would leave 55 out because I think many people unfamiliar with the comic might not understand that its brevity is a joke.  Maybe limit the arc to 51-53.

I actually think Traveller is a better stand alone story because all you really needed to know before reading the story is that Paz can communicate with animals.  But Tom's use of color is one of his strengths and Traveller is black and white.

[kajorma]

I am biased.
I love robot way too much.
That story-line is what really draws me to this comic, and I love when he gets his preach on.

I'd go with Chapter 56, but cut off at 1608 (since it's within the bounds, and makes a decent stopping point)
1609 unfortunately starts the bit that can't be included.

[Rasselas]

I think Annie and the Fire works best as a standalone story. It gives a glimpse at the depth of the story, it has supernatural elements, it shows both the court and the forest. It's intriguing on its own, I think it would make me want to read the whole comic.

[fish]

While I believe "Annie and the Fire" to be the best choice as a stand-alone, I feel like the revelations and developements in the surrounding chapters are too important to omit. It's rare to even have five GC chapters in a row dealing with the same plot line. I'd leave out "Totem" as well, but am not sure about "Breakout". Is it too much of an inside joke? Does it deflate the previously built up tension? Hmm...


By the way, how does a work even get nominated for the Hugo award?

[arf]

Jan 13, 2016 17:59:29 GMT fish said:

By the way, how does a work even get nominated for the Hugo award?

I'm not sure yet, other than that it is fan driven. I will have to find out.
(Last year's was marred by some 'stacking' unpleasantness btw)

Update: Hugos are handled by the hosts of that year's Worldcon (for 2016, that is Kansas City.) Works may be nominated by anyone with membership of Worldcon for either this year or last year. Voting proceeds in two stages: The initial phase starts in 'early' January (although it hasn't started yet) and results in a short-list of half a dozen or so entries per category. The final ballot occurs among this year's Worldcon members only, starting from May. NB: You do *not* have to attend Worldcon to vote! A 'supporting' membership is available to non-attenders.

To be honest, if we do go through with this, I'd be more than happy if GC gets to the nomination stage. It is likely to have some stiff competition this year.

So far, the arc is winning. I am coming round to considering Totem as a prologue to the arc (plus, first impressions count, and it has some glorious opening pages. Rather than redo this poll, if the arc does win, I'll run another one to see whether folks want Totem including.

[KMar]

Bump. Once again, it's the Hugo awards nomination season, but I certainly can't remember everything Tom published in 2016. City Life with City Face?

[Runningflame]

I'd say include Totem--the "do what you promised" bit from Meetings and Re-Meetings requires background. In fact, the rabbit-boy plotline pretty much bookends the arc.  Kind of interesting, now that I think about it: it symbolizes Annie starting to recover, getting back to the things she was doing before Anthony showed up.

I could go either way on including The Breakout, but I voted in favor because the previous chapter leads right into it.

And I had to give some love to Traveller.  I'd be the first one to tell you that color is a huge part of why I like Gunnerkrigg Court; but despite the black-and-white-ness, Traveller is absolutely gorgeous.  I mean, come on.  It's probably not the best choice for a nomination (and the ending is a bit odd), but I couldn't leave it at 0 votes.

Edit: Welp, this is last year's poll.  Anyway, my comments still stand.

[KMar]

Jan 9, 2017 21:15:22 GMT Runningflame said:

I'd say include Totem--the "do what you promised" bit from Meetings and Re-Meetings requires background. In fact, the rabbit-boy plotline pretty much bookends the arc.  Kind of interesting, now that I think about it: it symbolizes Annie starting to recover, getting back to the things she was doing before Anthony showed up.

I could go either way on including The Breakout, but I voted in favor because the previous chapter leads right into it.

And I had to give some love to Traveller.  I'd be the first one to tell you that color is a huge part of why I like Gunnerkrigg Court; but despite the black-and-white-ness, Traveller is absolutely gorgeous.  I mean, come on.  It's probably not the best choice for a nomination (and the ending is a bit odd), but I couldn't leave it at 0 votes.

Edit: Welp, this is last year's poll.  Anyway, my comments still stand.

Yes, I am borrowing the last year's thread because I am not composing a new poll yet, not evening knowing what I should include in the poll...

You know, I'm not actually sure if Hugo rules absolutely require this kind "pick and choose", maybe I'll just submit GKC as an ongoing webcomic.

[fish]

What happened last year anyway? Was it eliminated before nomination?

[KMar]

Maybe someone nominated it but it didn't make it to the final shortlist.