We begin the profiles of the nominees in the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards with the Best Comic Strip category. All descriptions are taken from the creators’ respective websites.
Candorville, Darrin Bell
The Candorville website
“An educated underachiever, Lemont Brown is an aspiring writer. Socially conscious, he wants to work at changing the world and infusing it with wisdom and justice-if only he could pay his rent. Lemont’s childhood friend Susan Garcia is a book-smart and street savvy Mexican-American woman who won’t let bigotry or any glass ceiling keep her down. And Lemont’s friend Clyde (aka “C-Dog”) is a streetwise thug and undiscovered rapper who’d rather mooch off his mother than get a job. Together they try to make their dreams come true in a Big City that sometimes seems to have other plans for them — and in a country gone wild, where illegal wiretapping, secret prisons, rigged voting machines, and Tom Cruise are all considered normal, and the Declaration of Independence has become a ‘whiny Liberal conspiracy theory.’”
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight
2006 WINNER
Keith Knight’s comics website
“The K Chronicles is a weekly, semi-autobiographical comic strip based on the life of cartoonist/rapper/ne’er-do-well Keith Knight. Fresh, sharp, topical, and edgy, the strip offers a strange and hilariously twisted view of the world through the eyes and pen of a (not so) young, urban, African-American male. The K Chronicles threatens to bring the funny back to the funny pages.”
Templar, Arizona, Spike
“This is a story about a town, and the people who live there.Templar isn’t a Gotham or a Metropolis. It’s not a stand-in for a real town, and I’m pretty sure the spot on the map where I tend to place it is really a national park.It’s in Arizona, but not the Arizona you’re probably thinking of. This is a different Arizona. This is a slightly irregular Arizona that fell off the back of a truck somewhere, and now all the power outlets are a weird shape and a couple of wars never happened.This comic’s been around for a long time, in one form or another. When I was a little kid with crayons and a fistful of printer paper, the town wasn’t called Templar, but the main cast was pretty much already set. Most of my time in middle school was spent struggling to draw that cast in poses that weren’t three-quarter profile views from the waist-up. And in high school, the comic went through a ridiculous and utterly mandatory phase of angst-ridden pastiche that’s probably best left without elaboration.The people of Templar are the heart of the strip, but their home is just as important a character. So while you’re reading about Ben, Reagan, Eugene and Scipio, if anything strikes you as odd, try to remember: you’re just a tourist. If you didn’t feel at least a little out-of-place, you’d probably be disappointed.”
(th)Ink, Keith Knight
“(th)ink is the weekly single panel comic strip written and drawn by cartoonist Keith Knight (the K Chronicles). Tackling the political and social issues impacting communities of color, (th)ink makes readers do just that: THINK”
Watch Your Head, Cory Thomas
Cory Thomas’ website
“Watch your Head chronicles the lives of six teenagers as they awkwardly negotiate the unfamiliar terrain of adulthood. They come from different backgrounds and cultures, bringing their unique perspectives to the campus of Oliver Otis University, the purported Mecca for black intellectuals.The strip follows their development as they begin the process of growth and venture on their individual paths. They face their inexperience, insecurity and idiosyncrasies and gain enlightment about their world. Along the way, they teach each other valuable lessons about live, love and lasting friendship.”
