The Nebula Awards has announced the nominations for the 61st annual event which honors the best sci-fi and fantasy writing. This year’s awards expanded with “Best Poem” and “Best Comic” with the latter causing some issues.

The awards are organized by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association and in their announcement, they only listed the “writers” and publishers in the “Best Comic” category.

The announcement was met with negativity with numerous individuals pointing out the “writing” of comics is far more than the script and can be a team that involves pencillers, colorists, letterers, editors, and more, all of whom work together to tell the story.

In their announcement the organization states:

Like the Ray Bradbury Nebula Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation and the Nebula Award for Best Game Writing, these new awards celebrate the writers at the heart of productions that also involve editors, artists, publishers, producers, and a wealth of other team members who make the magic happen.

Some pointed out the award is for “Best Comic” which would indicate the entire comic, not just the script. The organization did engage with individuals, though the response was more “speak up for next year’s awards” and that further promotion would include all of those involved in the comic.

The finalists for Best Comic as listed by the SWFA are:

• Second Shift, by Kit Anderson (Avery Hill)
• Carmilla Volume 3: The Eternal, by Amy Chu (Berger Books)
• Helen of Wyndhorn, by Tom King (Dark Horse)
• Fishflies, by Jeff Lemire (Image)
• Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone, by Jessica Maison (Wicked Tree)
• Strange Bedfellows, by Ariel Slamet Ries (HarperAlley)
• The Flip Side, by Jason Walz (Rocky Pond)
• The Stoneshore Register, by G. Willow Wilson (Berger)

The Nebula Award winners will be announced the first week of June.