Nominees announced for the 2023 L.A. Times Book Prize

Noah Van Sciver, Tommi Parrish, Jamila Rowser, Robyn Smith and more were nominated this year.

The nominees have been announced for this year’s L.A. Times Book Prize, which includes a category for Graphic Novels/Comics.

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 previous 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 and The Hard Tomorrow by Eleanor Davis. R. Kikuo Johnson’s No One Else won the prize last year.

The nominees for this year are:

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Smash Pages Q&A | Noah Van Sciver

The critically acclaimed cartoonist discusses his two latest projects, ‘Joseph Smith and the Mormons’ and ‘As a Cartoonist.’

Noah Van Sciver has always been a prolific cartoonist. This summer he released two new books, which represent the best work he’s done so far in his career.

Joseph Smith and the Mormons, which is out now from Abrams, is a project Van Sciver has been working on for more than a decade. To say that it’s Van Sciver’s best book, which I believe, is to sell it short, because the book is also the most ambitious project that Van Sciver has attempted. The book looks at the life of Smith and, without captions or word balloons, manages to convey so much information as it charts the early years of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It’s an incredible work of cartooning and of history.

His other book is As a Cartoonist, a collection of short comics published by Fantagraphics, which were made in the same period, and share a number of concerns and approaches. Both books are deeply personal in different ways. I’ve talked with Van Sciver a few times over the years, and I was thrilled to be able to talk with him about these two books.

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What Are You Reading? | A whole lotta Moon Knight

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, from Noah Van Sciver, Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Si Spurrier and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include a whole lot of Moon Knight, plus Amazing Spider-Man, Brubaker and Phillips’ Reckless and much more.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments or on social media.

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