“I am deeply honored and humbled by the recognition Bayou has received from the fine people at the ECBACC. I’d like to thank my indispensable collaborator Patrick Morgan and Kwanza and Ron at Zuda for helping me get my vision to the masses. This award gives me the inspiration I need as I begin the final half of this story. My sincere thanks!”

Related: Pictures from ECBACC.

Five for five.

Final Crisis Aftermath: Dance #1 (of 6)

Comic Book Database entry on Chriscross

Chriscross pencils this Final Crisis spin-off mini.

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Supergirl #41. Pencils by Igle.

Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther TP. Written by Hudlin.

Thor V2 Premiere HC. Pencils by Coipel.

Timestorm 2009-2099 #2 (of 4). Pencils by Battle.

Gold Digger: Maidens of Twilight #4 (of 4), GD Sketchcard Album. By Perry.

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Also notable:

Batman: Battle for the Cowl #3 (of 3)

Captain America #50

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen #1. The adaptation of the forthcoming movie.

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ECBACC 2009 was good. This was our first year in the new location, the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Philadelphia, and after a slow start the crowd picked up pretty well. A few highlights: You already know about Carol Burrell doing the Kindred adaptation… Reggie Byers screened the animated version of his long-running Christian comic Kidz of the King (Legion of Super-Heroes if TD Jakes wrote it). It’s quite well done – the characters look very much like they do in the comic, the voices are distinctive, and it doesn’t talk down to its target audience. I am most assuredly not part of this target audience, but I appreciate the care that went into making this cartoon… I moderated a panel discussion on comics writing which featured Tony Isabella, Jamar Nicholas, and horror novelist LA Banks (I never got the chance to speak to her last year, so I was glad to finally meet her; very nice lady). Seeing as how I didn’t find out I was moderating until the day of the show, I think I pulled it off well. The audience had a rapport with the panelists, which I liked a lot – I hate it when I moderate a panel and the audience just sits there like sheep.

Gregory “Brother G” Walker previewed Zulu Mech 1 at the show. It’s basically an African Voltron: set in the far future, when the world is about to unite in peace, but that peace is threatened by the rise of an ancient evil. To combat it, a family of scientists create a giant mecha-Zulu warrior. There’s more to it – Walker spoke of artist Mshindo Kuumba I‘s design for the character and the “cinema-graphic novel,” as they’re pitching it, and of the African-inspired motifs inherent throughout it. Wesley Snipes is providing the funding and appears in a live-action prologue in the preview, narrating the future history of ZM1. Walker said that the motion comic will be made available for the iPod and on iTunes and, as reported here, will also be screened at the upcoming Book Expo America.

Walker said that there’s a wealth of backstory that will be explored as part of ZM1, to show how this future came about. He said he wants the character and the series to have worldwide appeal, for black kids who can identify with it culturally, and with non-black kids who will (presumably) find it cool. Mshindo, who has been quietly producing a stunning body of work for various self-published titles over the past few years (just bring up his name over at the Black Superhero message boards and see what kind of reaction you get), has gone above and beyond to create the images in this series. Brotherman creator Dawud Anyabwile is also involved in the art; I forget in what capacity, but I remember seeing his name in the credits.

The preview itself began with, as I said, a live-action prologue by Snipes (with a cameo by his kids) recounting the future history of the ZM1 world, followed by the motion comic itself. Visually it is comparable to what we’ve seen with the Watchmen motion comic, with a bit more in the way of computer-generated special effects. In the story, a giant monster claiming to be the Christian devil ravages the land, and ZM1 is brought in to stop him. Piloted by the children of the scientist parents, they challenge his identity as Satan before laying the smack down, so it looks like there’ll be a bit of theology and mythology in the mix. There are word balloons that pop up on screen for the dialogue, and also an original soundtrack.

I’m gonna get flamed for this, but I’m gonna say it anyway: having read the first book in Walker’s historical adventure series Shades of Memnon, I’ve not been a huge fan of his writing style, which borders on purple prose at times. While his attention to African mythological and historical detail is commendable, he’s not exactly subtle when it comes to storytelling, and unfortunately, I see that same tendency here in ZM1. While the visual aspect is certainly exciting, the preview I saw doesn’t have the versatility and range as another recent animated feature, Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues (which I highly recommend). The latter, like ZM1, is all-ages, but it takes more storytelling chances, has livelier dialogue, and a wider variety of visuals – all of which serve the story, which is also built upon a cultural mythology and theology. Walker, for all his skill at world-building, isn’t as strong a writer to me as say, Christopher Priest, who also draws on black culture in his best work but who has a more engaging and entertaining style.

That said, however, Walker and Mshindo are thinking big and thinking outside the box with ZM1 and are creating something truly unique, and I wish them well in bringing their vision to the world.

As for the Glyphs, well, I won’t lie – I really wish Jeremy Love had been in person to collect his five awards. Indeed, the only one who accepted an award Friday night was Tony Isabella, who took the Best Male Character prize on behalf of Grant Morrison (and stated that he’d deliver it to Morrison himself so that DC never gets their hands on it!). Still, the crowd, which slowly became a SRO as the evening progressed, enjoyed the show. Bill Foster did a nice tribute to the late Eartha Kitt and football star-turned-fine artist Ernie Barnes (he painted the Good Times mural, among other things). Alex Simmons presented a pair of Kids Comic Con awards to ECBACC head honchos Maurice Waters and Yumy Odom for their involvement in helping shape the KCC. And for the first time we had slides for the entire program, which projected the nominees and winners and other events that evening (thanks, Stephanie!). And of course Jamar Nicholas was a great emcee as usual. The Free Library of Philadelphia made for a good new venue.

My thanks to everyone on the ECBACC committee, as well as the GCA judges for this year – Valerie D’Orazio, Mathan Erhardt, Ed Mathews, Tim O’Shea and Elayne Riggs – for another great show.

In other news: Jamal Igle talks Supergirl with writer Sterling Gates.

The official press release for Tyrese Gibson’s Mayhem.

The First Fan gives Star Trek a thumbs up.

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.

Dwayne McDuffie

Ed Benes

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Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, Pilot Season, Genius
Mat Johnson, Incognegro
Jeremy Love, Bayou
Jeff Mariotte, Presidential Material: Barack Obama
Dwayne McDuffie, Justice League of America

Black Panther, Black Panther Annual #1; Reginald Hudlin, writer, Larry Stroman & Ken Lashley, artists; created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby
“T’Challa is a brilliant tactician, strategist, scientist, tracker and a master of all forms of unarmed combat whose unique hybrid fighting style incorporates acrobatics and aspects of animal mimicry. T’Challa being a royal descendent of a warrior race is also a master of armed combat, able to use a variety of weapons but prefers unarmed combat. He is a master planner who always thinks several steps ahead and will go to extreme measures to achieve his goals and protect the kingdom of Wakanda.” – from the Marvel website

Lwanga Moses, Unknown Soldier; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert
“His family fled Uganda in 1979, so Moses grew up in the American immigrant experience and went to medical school… While growing up in the States, his home country slipped into ethnic, civil war. By 1985, rebels had overthrown the Ugandan government. The new regime brought a massive shift towards stability in the South. But in the underdeveloped north, the rise of extremist Christian spiritual military leaders began, culminating in the formation of the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by a very complex and cruel person named Joseph Kony who claimed to be possessed by spirits… By the time Moses is involved, 15,000 children have been kidnapped by rebel forces and forced to fight… Over one million displaced Acholis, the tribe in the north most affected by the conflict, have been pushed onto some 200 camps throughout Northern Uganda’s ‘Acholiland.’ They have no running water and no electricity. There is no more an unknown war than the real-life struggle between the Ugandan Peoples Defense Force and the Lord’s Resistance Army. This has gone on record as being the single longest running, most under-reported humanitarian conflict of our generation. Moses is an Unknown Soldier for an unknown war.” – writer Joshua Dysart @ Comic Book Resources

The Spectre, Final Crisis: Revelations; Greg Rucka, writer, Philip Tan, Jeff de los Santos & Jonathan Glapion, artists; inspired by the character created by Jerry Siegel & Bernard Bailey
“While [Detective Crispus Allen]‘s body was in the morgue, the Presence bound the Spectre to Cris, making him the latest host for the Spirit of Vengeance. Some while later, the magic users of Earth assembled at Stonehenge to call forth the Spectre to help defend the realms of magic during the Infinite Crisis. Cris materialized in a ghostly version of his own form, before making his first official transformation into the Spectre, killing Star Sapphire for her past crimes. He then vanished, leaving the assembled magic users confused and fearful. Later, at Cris’s funeral, the Spectre appeared before Cris’s ghost. The Spectre informed Cris of his role and purpose, and told Cris he had come to realize that he needed a host to humanize him, in order to know what his mission really meant. He asked Cris to be his host, to join with him. Cris refused, the first in a long time to do so. The Spectre left Cris for a year, to reconsider his offer. Cris discovered that no-one could see or hear him, and that he was unable to touch anything around him. He was unable to help or communicate with his family, still shattered because Corrigan would not be called to account for Cris’s murder. Cris was still able to watch and observe the world around him, which he put to use solving crimes and uncovering the culprits, even discovering Batman’s secret identity as Bruce Wayne. He was frustrated, however, at being unable to bring the criminals to justice. After a year of being unseen and powerless, Cris received another visit from the Spectre. This time he finally accepted the Spectre’s offer, becoming his human host. However, their bond was not permanent – Cris was concerned what full acceptance would do to him, what he would become. In their missions together, the Spectre attempted to help Cris understand what they did and why they did it. Over time, Cris came to accept the necessity of what the Spectre did, involving himself more and more in the Spectre’s punishments. Before the bond between Cris and the Spectre could be permanent, however, Cris found he had to face his greatest trial. Cris’s son Mal, frustrated, angry, and grieving over his father’s death, shot and killed Jim Corrigan – and Cris had to punish Mal for his crime. Cris ended Mal’s life peacefully. Afterwards, Cris asked the Spectre if Mal had just been damned to Hell. The Spectre, taken aback, explained a point established during Hal Jordan’s tenure as its host – the Spectre does not ‘judge’ sinners, does not decide who is saved or damned. The Spectre ‘sends’ sinners to judgment. With this knowledge, Cris took on his role as the Spectre’s mortal anchor.” – from the DC Database

Zane Pinchback, Incognegro; created by Mat Johnson, writer, and Warren Pleece, artist
“He’s a reporter in Harlem during the Harlem Renaissance, and he’s kind of a minor celebrity, but he’s only famous on paper. Nobody can know what he looks like because of what he does. So he’s somewhat frustrated by that, being famous but not being famous. He?s dealing with his past, and part of what happens in the story is he’s pulled back into his personal past, his own story… He has a twin brother who looks much like himself but is dark-skinned. His brother has had none of the breaks that Zane had, largely because of his difference in appearance, even though they’re of the same mother and father. When he goes back, Zane has to confront this other life that he was able to escape, but that his brother instead had to dive deeper into. And that’s really the emotional heart of the book, the two of them and their lives, the convergence of them coming together.” – writer Mat Johnson @ Newsarama

Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; created by Jeremy Love, writer and artist
“Lee is the embodiment of the resilient spirit of southern blacks in the face of terror. Growing up as a poor sharecropper has made her body strong and durable. The big thing about Lee is her optimism and determination. Her struggle is to retain these qualities while she navigates the dangerous parallel world… Lee enters this world in order to save her best friend, a white girl, from the clutches of an evil force that rules the parallel world. The bond she has with her friend has far-reaching effects on our world and the parallel world.” – creator Jeremy Love @ Newsarama

Storm, X-Men: Worlds Apart; Christopher Yost, writer, Diogenes Neves, artist; created by Len Wein & Dave Cockrum
“She went from worshippers to people who’d see her burn. That in an of itself is compelling enough, but then we got to see her journey from that Goddess, to a woman who found a family in the X-Men, and then became the leader… She’s fiercely passionate – quite literally a force of nature. If she’s got any flaw, it’s forgetting that she’s human, too. For so long she played the Goddess, or the leader – rarely do we see her softer side. Rarely does she allow any weakness to show. Although she did have that garden in the attic of the old X-Mansion. Storm’s a softie… With T’Challa, she is truly open. She lets him in… With the X-Men, especially recently, she’s on the job. Mutantkind is in a crisis situation, and she’s acting accordingly. She’s always up for a little thrill seeking ala Yukio, and enjoys daring all, and the big win – but she’s does have a very aloof persona that we see.” – writer Christopher Yost @ Comic Book Resources

Vielle, Fungus Grotto; created by Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist
“Vielle is like any normal 17 year old girl with dreams, goals, and aspirations. On the eve of leaving home to step into her future she finds she’s not quite ready to go. Torn between ‘out there’ and ‘comfort’ Vielle takes a moment to daydream… Just dream… And she thought going out into the real world would be hard.” – from the FG website

Vixen, Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist; created by Gerry Conway & Bob Oksner
“In ancient Africa, there was a legend that the warrior Tantu asked Anansi the Spider to create a totem that would give the wearer all of the powers of the animal kingdom, if they would use the power to protect the innocent. As shown in the pages of Animal Man, it is possible that the “Anansi” who Tantu met, may have been a member of the alien race who gave Buddy Baker the ability to “tap the morphogenetic field” – or, as shown in the pages of Justice League, the aliens may have been Anansi in disguise. This field allows Buddy to imitate the abilities of nearby animals. According to the Animal Man series, Mari’s Tantu totem may tap into that same field. Tantu used the totem to become Africa’s first legendary hero. The totem was later passed down to Tantu’s descendants until it reached the McCabes. Growing up in a small African village in the fictional nation of M’Changa, Mari Jiwe McCabe hears the legend of the “Tantu Totem” from her mother. Sometime later, Mari’s mother is killed by poachers and she is raised by her father Reverend Richard Jiwe, the village priest. Reverend Jiwe himself is killed by his half-brother (Mari’s uncle) General Maksai. Maksai wants the Tantu Totem, which Jiwe had possessed. Mari moves to America, where she establishes an identity as Mari McCabe and gets a job as a model in New York City. She uses her newfound wealth to travel the world. On a trip back to Africa, she comes across her uncle and takes back the Tantu Totem, using its power to become the costumed superhero Vixen.” – from Wikipedia

Cafe con Leche; Charlos Gary, writer and artist
“Gary launched his newly syndicated comic strip, called Cafe Con Leche, in April 2007. Cafe Con Leche is about an interracial couple getting to know each other’s cultural background.” – from Wikipedia

Fungus Grotto; Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist
“Vielle is like any normal 17 year old girl with dreams, goals, and aspirations. On the eve of leaving home to step into her future she finds she’s not quite ready to go. Torn between ‘out there’ and ‘comfort’ Vielle takes a moment to daydream… Just dream… And she thought going out into the real world would be hard.” – from the website

“Jefferson Jacks” from Crankshaft; Tom Batiuk & Tony Isabella, writers, Chuck Ayers, artist
A bit of explanation is needed for this one. Crankshaft is not normally a black-themed comic strip, but for about a month last year, veteran comics writer Tony Isabella was the guest writer for a story arc involving the tale of a Negro League baseball player. You can read the arc here, beginning with the September 15, 2008 entry.

The K Chronicles; Keith Knight, writer and artist
“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 threaten to bring the funny back to the funny pages.” – from the website

Damian Duffy & John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture
“Artist/Illustrator John Jennings and writer/letterer Damian Duffy created a visually luscious and poignant graphic novel. The Hole: Consumer Culture is a science fiction horror story about the buying of selling of race in America, the simultaneous worship and degradation of African Americans in popular culture, and the bloody terror of boundaries being torn down. The Hole is spiked with a healthy dose of Voodoo and modern sardonic wit. Illustrative flair aside, The Hole is also an educational aid intended for academic use and comes with a teaching/lesson plan.” – from the Front 40 Press website

Charlie Goubile, Blackbird
“Taking place in fictional city of Grimsburg aka Grim City, Blackbird tells the story of young Antwon Jenkins, who after loosing the only family member he has ever known to the streets, is moved to bring justice to the city by becoming the crime fighting hero Blackbird. With the support of his new family and friends Antwon struggles to rid the streets of crime and corruption as well as deal with trials of being a young adult.” – from the description at IndyPlanet

Starline X. Hodge, Candi
“Candi lives in a scholarship house with 5 other roommates. It’s cheap rent and they feed you, but there’s a lot of rules and regulations to follow as well. She’s pretty laid back about all of this though.Candi mostly has an optimistic personality, even though she does have her down times. She likes to see everyone happy, and hates conflict. Although she tries her best to be friendly to everyone, she has a tenedancy to not let people get really close to her. The only people that really ever get to see her when she’s sad and that trusts completely are Alex and Jon. Alex because she’s madly in love with the guy, and Jon because she’s known him since middle school. Her roommate is Laura, whom she gets along with. She hangs out with Linda a lot, Jess scares her a little, and she wants to get to know Trevor better.” – from the website

Ashley Woods, Millennia War
“In the past, the Great War ripped the world apart and caused all its races and species to fall into oblivion ? all but the human race. Now, a thousand years later, a second Great War fueled by revenge is coming – only the humans of this day and age are no where near prepared for what they thought was only myth and legend.” – from the website

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Final Crisis: Submit
Matthew Clark & Norm Rapmund, artists; Richard & Tonya Horie, colorists

The Hole: Consumer Culture
John Jennings, illustrator

Pilot Season: Genius
Afua Richardson, illustrator

Unknown Soldier #1
Igor Kordey, illustrator

Vixen: Return of the Lion #1
Josh Middleton, illustrator

Aya of Yop City

Me and the Devil Blues V1
Del Rey

“…Me and the Devil Blues not only thoughtfully details the historical underpinnings of its subject matter, but it also evokes the blues itself so effectively that you can practically hear the music reverberating off the plank boards of the 1930s juke joints… exciting, often thought-provoking, and full of surprising and sometimes innovative visuals.” – Graphic Novel Reporter

Nat Turner HC
Abrams

“[Kyle] Baker’s intricately expressive faces and trenchant dramatic pacing evoke the diabolic slave trade’s real horrors.” – Washington Post

Iron Man: Director of SHIELD

“To me, [War Machine]‘s a man who has always stood up for what he believes and never shied away from the tough battles.? From his childhood, surviving the streets of Philadelphia, to his service as a Marine, to his tenure as Iron Man and then War Machine, he’s the guy you want at your back when everything goes to hell. What he hasn’t been is the general; the guy who gives the orders that cause others to live or die. He’s always been the one on the front lines. Sure, he’s led others into combat, but he’s been right there with them. Now Rhodey is going to have to make the kinds of decisions Tony usually makes, when there is no positive outcome, just one in which fewer people die. He’s not happy about it… and whoever has the misfortune to take him on is going to find that out.” – writer Christos Gage @ Newsarama

Pilot Season: Genius; Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist

“I am most proud of the fact that we delivered a quality book. No matter what line of work you do, people always want to tell you what you CAN’T do. ‘You make “widgets,” you couldn’t possible make “thing-a-ma-bobs.”‘ You have written books about monsters and explosions, not this. We took Genius to a lot of places and were told numerous times, ‘This is an amazing story. We just don’t think YOU can pull it off.’ Well, thanks for that. So I guess what I am most proud of is that we delivered a product that lived up to the great concept we sold.” – co-writer Adam Freeman @ Comic Mix

Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Marriotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist

“These stories had to be told in a balanced fashion, and everything Jeff [Marriotte] and Andy [Helfer] wrote needed to be credible and verifiable – we weren’t doing a Mad magazine parody of the two candidates, but actual graphic biographies – they would have to hold up under scrutiny or there’d be no hope to be taken seriously… We tried to show some of the key scenes that helped shape both candidates’ lives, but there’s only so much you can fit in – but I think readers will appreciate the amount of detail we have beeen able to present.” – editor Scott Dunbier @ Newsarama

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

“I had a lot of room to flesh out the world Vixen comes from and create a great story… She has so many interesting elements. Yes, she’s got these hardcore physical powers, but she’s not a cavewoman – she’s opinionated, she gets scared, she gets angry, she has doubts. For a superhero, she felt very approachable to me as a writer. She’s not a goddess. She’s a person.” – writer G. Willow Wilson @ Comic Book Resources

Young Avengers Presents #1; Ed Brubaker, writer, Paco Medina, artist

“[I] decided to explore Eli’s character a bit, and get to the question of how it might feel to be a black kid with his history, with his family’s history, calling himself Patriot in the post-Civil War Marvel Universe. Might that be a difficult and conflicting thing in many ways? And how does he feel about the death of Captain America, who he’d actually come to respect recently?… the idea that the Super Soldier Serum was tested on black soldiers first seems fairly honest with the times it was set in, even if it is controversial.” – writer Ed Brubaker @ Newsarama

THE 2009 GLYPH COMICS AWARDS NOMINEES ARE NAMED; THE FAN AWARD POLL IS OPEN

Now in its fourth successful year, the Glyph Comics Awards (GCA) continue to honor the best in black comics and creators. Many new faces are among this year’s nominees, as well as some old familiar ones.

The nominees for 2009 are:

Story of the Year

Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Incognegro; Mat Johnson, writer, Warren Pleece, artist

Justice League of America: The Second Coming; Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Ed Benes, artist

Pilot Season: Genius, Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist

Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist

Best Writer

Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, Pilot Season: Genius

Mat Johnson, Incognegro

Jeremy Love, Bayou

Jeff Mariotte, Presidential Material: Barack Obama

Dwayne McDuffie, Justice League of America

Best Artist

Jamal Igle, Supergirl

Jeremy Love, Bayou

Warren Pleece, Incognegro

Afua Richardson, Pilot Season: Genius

Larry Stroman, Black Panther Annual #1

Best Male Character

Black Lightning, Final Crisis: Submit; Grant Morrison, writer, Matthew Clark, Norm Rapmund, Rob Hunter & Don Ho, artists; created by Tony Isabella & Trevor von Eeden

Black Panther, Black Panther Annual #1; Reginald Hudlin, writer, Larry Stroman & Ken Lashley, artists; created by Stan Lee & Jack Kirby

Lwanga Moses, Unknown Soldier; Joshua Dysart, writer, Alberto Ponticelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert

The Spectre, Final Crisis: Revelations; Greg Rucka, writer, Philip Tan, Jeff de los Santos & Jonathan Glapion, artists; inspired by the character created by Jerry Siegel & Bernard Bailey

Zane Pinchback, Incognegro; created by Mat Johnson, writer, and Warren Pleece, artist

Best Female Character

Destiny Ajaye, Pilot Season: Genius; created by Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist

Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; created by Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Storm, X-Men: Worlds Apart; Christopher Yost, writer, Diogenes Neves, artist; created by Len Wein & Dave Cockrum

Vielle, Fungus Grotto; created by Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist

Vixen, Vixen: Return of the Lion; G. Willow Wilson, writer, Cafu, artist; created by Gerry Conway & Bob Oksner

Rising Star Award

Jennifer Crute, Jennifer’s Journal

Damian Duffy & John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture

Charlie Goubile, Blackbird

Starline X. Hodge, Candi

Ashley Woods, Millennia War

Best Reprint Collection

Aya of Yop City, Drawn & Quarterly

Me and the Devil Blues V1, Del Rey

Nat Turner HC, Abrams

Best Cover

Final Crisis: Submit, Matthew Clark & Norm Rapmund, artists; Richard & Tonya Horie, colors

The Hole: Consumer Culture; John Jennings, illustrator

Pilot Season: Genius, Afua Richardson, illustrator

Unknown Soldier #1, Igor Kordey, illustrator

Vixen: Return of the Lion #1; Josh Middleton, illustrator

Best Comic Strip

Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist

Cafe con Leche; Charlos Gary, writer and artist

Fungus Grotto, Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist

“Jefferson Jacks” from Crankshaft; Tom Batiuk & Tony Isabella, writers, Chuck Ayers, artist

The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist

Fan Award for Best Comic

Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-35; Christos Gage, writer, Sean Chen & Sandu Florea, artists

Pilot Season: Genius; Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, writers, Afua Richardson, artist

Presidential Material: Barack Obama; Jeff Mariotte, writer, Tom Morgan, artist

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

Young Avengers Presents #1; Ed Brubaker, writer, Paco Medina, artist

The judges for the 2009 competition are: Valerie D’Orazio, president, Friends of Lulu; Mathan Erhardt, writer, Comics Nexus; Ed Mathews, columnist, Pop Image; Tim O’Shea, writer/interviewer, TalkingWithTim.com; and Elayne Riggs, comics reviewer and commentator.

The ballot for the Fan Award for Best Comic is now open at the website for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC), www.ecbacc.com/wordpress, and will remain open through March 31, 2009. Write-in selections can be e-mailed to GCA Committee Chair Rich Watson at rich.watson@gmail.com. IMPORTANT: Write-in selections are ONLY for choices not on the online ballot. ANY WRITE-IN SELECTIONS FOR CHOICES ALREADY ON THE ONLINE BALLOT WILL NOT BE COUNTED AND WILL BE DISCARDED.

The 2009 GCA ceremony will be held May 15, 2009, in the Skyline Room of the Free Library of Philadelphia, Park Central branch, as part of ECBACC, which will take place at the Crown Plaza Philadelphia Center City, May 16, 2009.

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.

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.