Hugo Recs: Graphic Novel or Comic

This category used to have a lot of very quirky stuff and has gotten a bit more mainstream over time. But I miss the more quirky nominations like Digger or the XKCD time comic. So most of my picks for this are more along those lines. Here they are:

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu This graphic novel featuring a romance between a witch and a werewolf is so cute and charming. I loved the art. And the witch's family is so lovely she lives with her grandmas who are married to each other and run a bookshop. One of them is Jewish and the other is Chinese-American. They celebrate Sukkot and the mid-autumn festival together with their whole family and that gave me so many feels!

Our Dreams at Dusk by Yuhki Kamatani This a lovely four volume manga with fablist elements about a gay teen finding a queer community. I like how identity is portrayed as complex here. The manga also makes really good use of built environment elements including building restoration and some really pretty cityscapes.

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Ostertag-- This is the third and final volume in a middle grade graphic novel series about a boy who wants to do girls magic. I love the whole series to bits but this volume especially dives into the themes of family and acceptance which I especially loved.

The Tea Dragon Festival by Katie O'Neill This the second Tea Dragon graphic novel but it can be read as a stand alone. I’ve referred to these books as cosybright -- they are small scale, low stakes, have bright artwork and happy stories.

What 2019 graphic novels did you love?