FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BAYOU DOMINATES 2009 GLYPH COMICS AWARDS, SETS NEW STANDARDS FOR EXCELLENCE

History was made at the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards (GCA) ceremony on May 15, 2009 as Jeremy Love’s webcomic Bayou swept all five categories it was nominated in, setting new records for wins by a single comic and wins by a single comic in a single year. The previous record for the former, Nat Turner, had four wins over two years (2006 and 2008), while the previous record for the latter, Stagger Lee, had four wins, all in 2007. Bayou’s five-for-five sweep is also a first in GCA history.

In addition, DC Comics also achieved a sweep, capturing all eight categories it was nominated in, including, for the first time, the Fan Award for Best Comic, the sole award voted on by the fans.

The complete list of winners:

Story of the Year

Bayou; Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Best Writer

Jeremy Love, Bayou

Best Artist

Jeremy Love, Bayou

Best Male Character

Black Lightning, Final Crisis: Submit; Grant Morrison, writer, Matthew Clark, Norm Rapmund, Rob Hunter & Don Ho, artists

Best Female Character

Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Rising Star Award

Damian Duffy & John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture

Best Reprint Publication

Me and the Devil Blues V1; Del Rey, David Ury, translator/adapter

Best Cover

Unknown Soldier #1; Igor Kordey, illustrator

Best Comic Strip

Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Fan Award for Best Comic

Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist

The GCA ceremony is part of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC), held in Philadelphia.

About the Glyph Comics Awards:

The Glyph Comics Awards recognize the best in comics made by, for, and about people of color from the preceding calendar year. While it is not exclusive to black creators, it does strive to honor those who have made the greatest contributions to the comics medium in terms of both critical and commercial impact. By doing so, the goal is to encourage more diverse and high quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.

The awards are named for the blog Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community (http://glyphs.popcultureshock.com), started in 2005 by comics journalist Rich Watson as a means to provide news and commentary of comics with black themes, as well as tangential topics in the fields of black science-fiction/fantasy and animation. For more information about the GCAs, contact Watson at rich.watson@gmail.com.

About ECBACC:

The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (www.ecbacc.com/wordpress) is an annual gathering of comic book creators and retailers who create and sell material that caters to black readers of all ages. In addition to selling their work, they also take part in panel discussions and self-publishing workshops for aspiring creators. The show is held in Philadelphia each May. There is also a pre-show reception held the night before the show. ECBACC is an outgrowth of the original Black Age of Comics Convention in Chicago, founded by Turtel Onli.

For more information about ECBACC, contact event coordinator Maurice Waters at maurice.waters@ecbacc.com.