Presented to: Michael and Laura Allred
For: The Golden Plates
Over the years, comic books have been derided as cheap, escapist entertainment, vilified as corrupters of youth, and finally recognized as what they are today: a vibrant, flexible medium for telling stories of all genres.
Authors and artists use the graphic novel format to tell stories in which text is wedded to artwork to create a very different kind of literature. Using the text of the Book of Mormon for almost all the dialogue, and working directly from scriptural accounts, the husband and wife team of Michael and Laura Allred have begun retelling this uniquely Mormon epic in the uniquely beautiful medium of the graphic novel.
Michael Allred's artwork is spare of line and detail, evoking the work of comic book legends such as Jack Kirby and Alex Toth without at any time seeming derivative of either. Laura Allred's astonishing colors complete this collaboration, resulting in art that almost springs off the page. The overall style suits the larger-than-life subject matter of this grand scriptural epic, and one can only wonder that no one ever thought to do this before.
The Association for Mormon Letters is proud to present a Special Award to this unusual and beautiful adaptation of the Book of Mormon.