MSSM: The Killing Stone Won the Inaugural Nebula Award for Comics
June 8, 2026 - Wicked Tree Press is so proud to announce that Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone has won the Nebula Award for Best Comic. We are thrilled to celebrate the work the entire team has done on the Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters series and this historic win.
Jessica Maison at the Nebula Awards Ceremony holding first comics Nebula
The Killing Stone is book two in the series, Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters, where Shel, a supernatural spellcaster inspired by the mother of science fiction, rescues other misunderstood and mistreated monsters. In this volume, Shel and her monster squad team-up with a new student, an onyrō, to confront the infamous nine-tailed fox of Japanese folklore to correct past wrongs and resolve deadly grudges.
We congratulate the whole team:
Jessica Maison whose words gave birth to the world, characters, and monster school. She also edited and nurtured the book from development through printing.
Anna Wieszczyk who brought those words to life with her illustrations and visual storytelling talents.
Matt Krotzer whose lettering and design adds that extra magic to every page.
Mike Judd whose skills as an editor keep the book on the right track.
Special thanks to the proofreader, Katrina Roets, and the crew over at MNS including Cristian Docolomansky and Joel Rodriguez as well as Blake Morgan who did behind-the-scenes work on this book.
Wicked Tree Press enthusiastically recognizes the incredible work of the fellow nominees in the comics category:
Carmilla: The Eternal
The Flipside
Fishflies
Second Shift
Helen of Wyndhorn
Strange Bedfelllows
The Stoneshore Register
They are all amazing books and need to be experienced. We also recognize that there can never really be a best comic, novel, film, T.V. show, poem, short story, video game, and so on. This last week at the Nebula Conference only affirms that point of view. There are too many amazing and diverse stories in the world for there to be a best, but recognition of good work is so important. Good work needs visibility, and visibility can nearly be impossible. SFWA and its volunteers are providing that type of visibility with this award, programming, and advocacy work.
Maison was able to share the night with the absolute legendary writer, N.K. Jemisin, recipient of The Damon Knight Memorial Grand Master Award, the talented Toastmaster, Tananarive Due (who won a Bram Stoker Award while doing her Nebula duties), the winner of the first poetry Nebula, Jennifer Hudak, and so many of the other talented Nebula nominees and winners. The room was not only full of thoughtful writers doing provocative work but also exceptional human beings trying to make this world better, encouraging each other to do the same, profoundly displayed by the winner of best novella, Amal El-Mohtar, in her acceptance speech that challenged the room to use their voices to stand up against genocide and war crimes.
N.K. Jemisin giving her speech at the 2026 Nebula Awards Ceremony
Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters: The Killing Stone was the comic nominee published by the smallest indie press. It was the underdog in this category. Each page was made with love for SFF, comics, and monsters. The series is completely independent and funded by readers who wanted to see the story brought to life, readers who believed in it when it was only a pitch and a few pages of art.
Currently, the same team is working on book three, When the Sirens Cry, which will be published in 2027. They are able to continue the series because of the amazing supporters and readers who believe in Mary Shelley’s School for Monsters. This Nebula also belongs to those backers and dreamers.
Media Contact:
Michael Judd
https://nebulas.sfwa.org/award-year/2025/
https://sfwa.org/nebula-finalists/
https://www.youtube.com/live/nmAxXj7-xxA
https://www.comicsbeat.com/first-nebula-comic-award-winner/
