Thor #600

3-page preview plus cover by Olivier Coipel

Amazon link to buy Thor V1 TP

Olivier Coipel co-pencils this anniversary issue.

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Also this week:

Vixen: Return of the Lion #5 (of 5)

Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel #4 (of 5), New Warriors #20. Written by Grevioux.

Archie & Friends #128. Written by Simmons.

Beyond Wonderland #5 (of 6). Written by Gregory.

Fire & Brimstone #4 (of 5)

Gold Digger #102, GD Tech Manual #1, GD Sourcebook #23. By Perry.

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Also notable:

Batman #686. Written by Neil Gaiman.

Batman: RIP Deluxe Edition HC

The Darkness #75

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One final bit of news from the New York Comic-Con: From the Vertigo Crime panel: Gary Phillips will write a graphic novel called Cowboys (with the sublime Brian Hurtt drawing) inspired by the shooting of Sean Bell by New York City police officers in 2006: “A white FBI agent and a black LAPD cop each go undercover, with the black officer as a record exec, while the white guy ‘has a street thing.’ The opening has each pointing a gun at each other, a cut to the outdoors and a shot fired, and the story will explore how people can’t see past own preconceived notions. [Editor Will] Dennis added that it has a? ‘police drama show to it.’” (N’rama)

In other news: Tyler Perry talks Star Trek.

The film version of Kevin Grevioux’ comic ZMD has screenwriters.

Next Monday the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards nominees will be announced, and while I don’t know who they’ll be yet, I thought I’d share with you what the nominees for the Fan Award will be. This is the award that you get to vote on, and the ballot will be available at the website for the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, where the awards take place. A reminder: write-in candidates are ONLY for nominees not on the ballot! We’ve had a problem with this the past couple of years, and this year I want to make it crystal clear: write-in ballots that have one of the nominees already on the ballot will not be counted and will be discarded! Got that?

So anyway, these will be the nominees:

Iron Man: Director of SHIELD #33-35

Pilot Season: Genius

Presidential Material: Barack Obama

Vixen: Return of the Lion

Young Avengers Presents #1

Remember, the online ballot goes up next week.

In an effort to promote the Glyph Comics Awards outside the industry, I’ve written a piece on black comics at the blog of novelist Carleen Brice, White Readers Meet Black Authors, which I’ve mentioned here recently. Nothing new for regular readers here, but hopefully non-comics readers over there will get something useful out of it. And in a bit of quid pro quo indulgence, I highly recommend Brice’s book Orange Mint and Honey. I just finished reading it and it’s very good.

Press release:

ECBACC, Inc. pays tribute to Eartha Kitt and Brother Yahya Abul Karim

http://ecbacc.com/wordpress/2008/12/28/eartha-kitt-remembered/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SUBMISSIONS FOR THE 2009 GLYPH COMICS AWARDS ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED; JUDGES NAMED

This past May, in the closest race in the brief history of the Glyph Comics Awards (GCA), Sentences, the autobiography of underground rapper MF Grimm, a.k.a. Percy Carey, walked away with the grand prize of Story of the Year. This year promises just as competitive a race.

The GCA Committee has selected their panel of judges for the 2009 competition. They 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

· Elayne Riggs, comics reviewer and commentator

Any comics publisher – small, large, corporate, independent, self-published – as well as online comic creators and cartoonists for newspapers and other periodicals, are invited to submit black-themed material released from January 1-December 31, 2008 for consideration for award recognition. The Committee defines black-themed work as any comic with any combination of the following: a black protagonist(s), or at least a black character(s) pivotal to the direction of the story; a setting(s) or a theme(s) that explores the black experience within the United States and/or abroad, past, present, and/or future; and/or a comic of any kind written and/or illustrated by a black creator(s).

Anyone wishing to submit their comic book or comic strip for consideration in the 2009 competition should e-mail GCA Committee Chair Rich Watson at rich.watson@gmail.com for further information. Hard copies are preferred, though submissions of e-files will also be accepted. Online comics creators and newspaper/periodical cartoonists with websites should send a direct URL link to their site or page. Daily cartoonists must have a minimum of one month’s work archived and available for viewing; weekly cartoonists a minimum of two months. The deadline for submissions is January 31, 2009.

The 2009 Glyph Comics Awards ceremony will be held at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) in May 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 convention is held in Philadelphia each May. There is also a pre-show reception held at the African American Museum in Philadelphia. 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.

Cleburne GN

two-part interview with writer/artist Justin Murphy

The Patrick Cleburne Society

an overview on black soldiers in the Civil War (including links to books on the subject)

Xeric Award winner Justin Murphy presents this graphic novel about the Civil War Confederate general and the black soldiers who fought for him.

Sista Samurai #0

Writer Kevin Grevioux’ mini-series about a supermodel turned samurai.

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Also this week:

Buffy TVS #19. Pencils by Jeanty.

Push #2 (of 6). Co-written by Bernardin.

Adventures of Spawn #2. Art by Randolph.

New Warriors #18. Final issue. Written by Grevioux.

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Also notable:

Umbrella Academy: Dallas #1. The hit fantasy title spawns a sequel.

Batman #681. The conclusion of “Batman RIP.”

JSA: Kingdom Come Special – The Kingdom

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Next Monday, submissions for the 2009 Glyph Comics Awards will begin to be taken. I’m not gonna be on the panel this year for the first time, since I’ve gone back to creating comics again and I don’t want any conflict of interest to pop up. I’ll still run the proceedings, however, so if you’ve got a black comic from this year you want in the competition, be prepared to submit it beginning next Monday. This year’s panel will also be named at that time.

Here’s another interview with one of the stars of True Blood, Nelsan Ellis.

A nice George Herriman article that discusses the slightly ambiguous nature of his racial identity.

New Zoe Saldana as Uhura poster.

A look at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s new exhibit: Looking For A Face Like Mine, featuring work by and about African Americans. Then, the conclusion of our Tour of Mad Magazine, with editor John Ficarra.

Pulp Secret tours the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art’s new exhibit on comics editor Jim Salicrup, and even get to chat with the man himself about the birth of Venom! Also, a new spin on Betty and Veronica, and more.

Quick Draw of the Dark Knight by Countdown artist Jim Calafiore. Enter our free giveaway to win the drawing and Calafiore’s sketchbook! We go to headquarters of Mad Magazine and Pete gets an exclusive interview with the editor-in-chief, John Ficarra.