Graphic novels by Jaime Hernandez and Trung Le Nguyen each took home an L.A. Times Book Prize this year.
Life Drawing: A Love and Rockets Collection by Hernandez won in the Graphic Novel category, while Nguyen’s Angelica and the Bear Prince won in the Young Adult Literature category.
Life Drawing primarily focuses on the characters Tonta and Maggie, as Tonta develops a crush on Ray, Maggie’s husband — all rendered in Hernandez’s signature elegant line work and character-driven storytelling. Published by Fantagraphics, the book was named a New York Times Best Graphic Novel of 2025. It was up against four other graphic novels.
In Angelica and the Bear Prince, Nguyen draws inspiration from the Norwegian folktale “East of the Sun and West of the Moon” and Cyrano de Bergerac for a contemporary story about burnout, grief and romance. The follow-up to Nguyen’s acclaimed The Magic Fish earned starred reviews across the board, with critics praising it as a romance with a beautifully representative cast that balances whimsy with thoughtful explorations of grief.
The Los Angeles Times has given an award in the graphic novel category since 2009, when Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli won the award. Other winners include The Love Bunglers by Jaime Hernandez, Duncan the Wonder Dog by Adam Hines, Beverly by Nick Drnaso, Tillie Walden’s On a Sunbeam, The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis, R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else, and Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith’s Wash Day Diaries. Tokyo These Days by Taiyō Matsumoto won the award last year.
You can find a complete list of all winners here.