Excelsior Award 2024: Shortlists Announced!

14 December, 2023

The shortlists for this year’s Excelsior Award have been announced. Celebrating the best graphic novels and manga for young people aged 9-18, the Excelsior Award is the UK’s biggest award for this often under-rated genre.

Graphic novels can be a great way into reading. One of the main aims of the Excelsior Award is to promote reading for pleasure by involving young people in the judging process.

A panel of librarians, comic creators and booksellers has selected the shortlists for each of the four age categories, but it is now up to groups of young judges from around the country to choose the winners. The deadline for voting is Friday 5th April 2024 so there is still plenty of time for schools to register and let their pupils have their say. Find out more about how to get involved in this year’s Excelsior Award here.

Congratulations to all of this year’s shortlisted writers and artists!

Cover images of the 5 shortlisted titles for the Excelsior Book Awards 2024, 9+ category

Excelsior Award White (9+) Shortlist 2024

Star Cat: A Turnip in Time written by James Turner and illustrated by Yasmin Sheikh (David Fickling Books)

Hades: The Horn of Plenty written by Manlio Castagna & Harriet Webster and illlustrated by Lorenzo Colangeli & Francesca Dell’Omodarme  (Autumn)

Superman vs Meshi written by Satoshi Miyagawa and illustrated by Kai Kitago (DC Comics and Kodansha)

Magical History Tour written by Fabrice Erre and illustrated by Sylvain Savoia (Papercutz)

Groot: Uprooted written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Damian Couceiro (Marvel Comics)

 

Cover shots of the 5 shortlisted titles for the Excelsior Book Awards, 11+ category

Excelsior Award Blue (11+) Shortlist 2024

Joe Fixit written by Peter David and illustrated by Yildiray Cinar (Marvel Comics)

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale original story by Miri Mikawa and art by Yozorano Udon (Yen Press)

Danger and Other Unknown Risks written by Ryan North and illustrated by Erica Henderson (Penguin Workshop)

Batman Beyond: Neo-Year written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing and illustrated by Max Dunbar (DC Comics)

Vern: Custodian of the Universe by Tyrell Waiters (Nobrow)

 

Cover shots of the 5 shortlisted titles for the Excelsior Book Awards, 14+ category

Excelsior Award Red (14+) Shortlist 2024

Batman: One Bad Day – Mr Freeze written by Gerry Duggan and illustrated by Matteo Scalera (DC Comics)

Cold Iron written by Andy Diggle and Nick Brokenshire (Dark Horse Books)

Asterios the Minotaur written by Serge Le Tendre and illustrated by Frédéric Peynet (Cinebook)

Grim written by Stephanie Phillips and illustrated by Flaviano (Boom! Studios)

Dark Knights of Steel written by Tom Taylor and illustrated by Yasmine Putri (DC Comics)

 

Cover shots of the 5 shortlisted titles for the Excelsior Book Awards, 16+ category

Excelsior Award Black (16+) Shortlist 2024

War Birds written by Geoffrey D. Wessel and illustrated by Steve Parkhouse (Dark Horse Books)

Briar written by Christopher Cantwell and illustrated by Germán García (Boom! Studios)

Redbeard: A Short Drop and a Sudden Stop written by Jean-Charles Kraehn and illustrated by Stefano Carloni (Cinebook)

Yokohama Station SF original story by Yuba Isukari and art by Gonbe Shinkawa (Yen Press)

Batman: One Bad Day – Two-Face written by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Javier Fernandez (DC Comics)

The winners of this year’s Excelsior Award will be revealed in June 2024 – look out for our winner announcement!

Logo for Excelsior Award