I had a great time at ECBACC this year, but you already expected me to say that. Let me talk instead about the details. Starting with Friday night and the Glyph Comics Awards. Jamar Nicholas was such a funny host that I lost all track of time, which was important because we only had the auditorium at the African American Museum in Philadelphia until 9 PM. There were the usual on-the-fly changes: a presenter arrived late, someone wanted to perform at the last minute, we had no slides of the Story of the Year nominees.

Despite the many problems, some of which were due to my own procrastination (I admit it), the show was an improvement over last year. Two of the winners were there in person - Kyle Baker and Keith Knight - and a third, Derek McCulloch, actually phoned in to accept both Best Writer and Story of the Year. Professor Foster actually held his cellphone up to the mike so the audience could hear Derek speak!

We ended at nine on the dot, which turned out to be not a big deal with the museum after all. Afterwards it was drinks on South Street with Kyle, Keith and a bunch of other nominees and friends. If you’re ever in Philly, make sure you go to South Street; that’s where it’s at.

BTW, I wanna send a big thank you out to my GCA judges this year - Pam Noles, Johanna Draper Carlson, Calvin Reid and Hannibal Tabu. I greatly appreciate them taking part in the Awards this year. Thanks, guys.

On Saturday I did volunteer work here and there. This year we had a “kids corner,” where the younguns could relax, have lunch and assorted snacks, sample free comics, and watch movies and cartoons, and I took a shift in there. Yeah, it was basically a babysitting job, but it was cool because I had all the chips and popcorn I could want and I got to watch Spider-Man for a couple of hours! And the kids, thankfully, were no problem at all.

A little after midday I made the rounds, doing the odd errand here and there and getting brief interviews for UVC. One thing I realized as I talked to people about the GCAs on Saturday (and I’m continuing to realize it even now) is how few people were familiar with the winners. Stagger Lee is an Image book, but since it’s not Spawn, Savage Dragon, or anything written by Robert Kirkman, it’s off most people’s radar. Indeed, I was told by a few Philly natives that they’d never even seen Stagger Lee in their stores. Maybe next year we should partner with the local shops and get them to sell the nominees.

Big personal highlight: this one mini-comic dude who came to the show without a table came up to me and thanked me for reviewing his book a few years ago. It was a negative review, but he said it helped him tremendously, and he wanted to see me so he could tell me that. He even had his picture taken with me like I’m some kinda big shot. I tell ya, it’s things like that that make doing what I do worth all the trouble.

ECBACC was the most crowded I’d ever seen it, to the point where the aisles were packed at one point. (Granted, they were small aisles, but still.) There was at least one handicapped fan (maybe two, don’t recall). and while the other fans were accomodating, still, movement was greatly inhibited. Unless a way can be found to widen the aisles, a new venue should be seriously considered, in my opinion.

Still, ECBACC was a whole lotta fun and I can’t wait till next year.

photos from ECBACC
photos from the GCAs (courtesy of Mikhaela Reid)

The Glyph Comics Awards were announced at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention yesterday and my pick for Best Graphic Novel of 2006, Stagger Lee, led the pack with four awards, including Story of the Year and Best Writer.

Congratulations to Derek McCulloch and Shepherd Hendrix (check them out at the Stagger Lee blog), as well as to the all of this year’s winners and nominees.

(Continued)

It’s been sooooooooooo long since I saw The Last Dragon that I barely remember anything about it. The impression I retain of the film is of cheesy 80’s fun, not unlike, say, House Party and Krush Groove. Anyway, if you remember The Last Dragon, you’ll remember Taimak - a serious martial artist in addition to being a thespian. He’ll be at the show on Saturday - I know he’s gonna be on a panel (a solo one, I believe - not sure) and I’m sure he’ll show off some of his moves as well, so that should be fun.

This is a brand new thing we’re doing this year. ECBACC Stars is a kids’ program designed to promote literacy through comics. You can read all about it here. I think it’s a wonderful idea and I hope it goes off well.

This year’s Pioneer Award, which will be given out Friday night during the GCAs, goes to underground comics creator Larry Fuller. Unfortunately, there’s not a great deal on the web about him. The following is from the ECBACC press release:

“This year’s Pioneer Award recipient is Larry Fuller, an artist and creator who is credited with producing ‘underground’ comics, books that celebrate racial and sexual independence and are often political in nature. Past recipients include creative artist and educator Turtel Onli (2006), Bertram Fitzgerald of Golden Legacy Comics (2005) and cartoonist Samuel Joyner (2004).” Here’s a bit more about him from the ECBACC site.

I expect to learn more about him Friday night, but as of now this is the most I can tell you about him. Sorry.

We begin our celebration of ECBACC with a spotlight on the host of this year’s Glyph Comics Awards, none other than my friend Jamar Nicholas. He is a cartoonist by trade, best known for both his old autobio comic The Jamar Chronicles from the 90’s and his online strip Detective Boogaloo (which now appears in UVC, by the way). Perhaps you remember the interview I did with him last fall. He’s a very talented and funny man and I couldn’t be happier that he agreed to host the Awards show for me. Come visit him at his MySpace page or his ComicSpace page.

One more time: this is the ONLY GCA award that the fans vote on - and you can still vote on it by going here.

Black Panther: The Bride
2006 WINNER for Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?
Writer Reggie Hudlin: “I think one of the reasons it’s shocking to people is because we’ve never seen to characters from two different ‘camps’ …Storm as a long time leader of the X Men and The Black Panther, a long time Avenger…getting hitched. Which means the most incredible guest list of a wedding EVAH… Why did it move quickly? Why not? They love each other. They’ve loved each other for a long time, as you can see in Eric Jerome Dickey’s great STORM mini-series. They had ‘issues’ to work out, like most couples, but it makes sense. Why else would two sexy, amazing people NOT be in successful relationships? Something was holding them back. They were waiting on each other. Once they moved the old emotional baggage out of the way, they wanted to commit to a lifetime together.”

Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre
Artist Cliff Chiang: “I think that, historically, the Spectre has been drawn with a more rendered style, but I find that for me, the less rendering on the Spectre the better. He’s an agent of God, the Spirit of Vengeance. I want people to feel that religious connection, as opposed to the more ghoulish interpretations I’ve seen. I don’t want people to see him as a half-naked man in a cloak. He should be like a moving marble statue, that kind of power and stillness. I’m trying to evoke something epic and biblical. I want a slight glow around the Spectre — the idea is that he’s always illuminated by a light from above. It’s a constant reminder that as powerful as the Spectre may be, he still reports to a higher, otherwordly authority. It reinforces the fact that he’s on a mission. And I like the notion that he’s being watched.”

Firestorm the Nuclear Man #28-32
Writer Stuart Moore: “When I took over Firestorm, we decided to take a two-pronged approach to the book: Create a compelling narrative with long-range plot threads and great, steady art AND take full advantage of the big DC crossover action that was happening. Everyone from Steve Wacker to Dan Didio to Geoff Johns was fantastic about letting me know what was planned for Firestorm in Infinite Crisis, so I had plenty of leeway to work my own stories into and around that event. The worst thing you can do with a book is tie it wholly to crossovers; if it doesn’t have its own integrity as a story, then its sales will drop like a rock the month the crossover is over. On the other hand, tie-ins really are the best tool we have to get people to try a book out… To me, the whole Infinite Crisis business — the OMACs, the Society, Donna Troy’s mission into space — was all a big metaphor for the adult world that hits you when you graduate from high school. In all those issues, Jason’s just barely hanging on, figuring out as much as he can on the fly. Post-One Year Later, he’s a little older, more experienced, and more in control.”

New Avengers #22
Writer Brian Michael Bendis: “[Luke Cage] almost had a …hmmm, let’s says a ‘King Arthur’ heaviness in him in New Avengers #22, where he made decisions to fight for what he believes in no matter what the cost to himself or his family. And now here he is having survived the war and kind of being put in position to lead the team to where it needs to go. He is, of all of them, the biggest believer in that what happened to the New Avengers in the first arcs – in the Savage Land, discovering there is something rotten in S.H.I.E.L.D. – is all connected, all the way from House of M, to the Secret Wars, to Civil War … that there has been something pulling at them this whole time, and they’re going to get right back to trying to figure out what it all is and putting it all together. There is something so interesting about an unbreakable man who now has such a weakness in having a wife and child that he cares so much for. Jessica can take care of herself, but that little baby… that poor little baby.”

Storm
Writer Eric Jerome Dickey: “The first thing that worried me was not the characters, but it was about writing about Africa itself. All of a sudden it’s like, ‘Well, I don’t know anything about Africa.’ A lot of places I write about in my novels, I would drive there and do research so I can get the five senses of places… I was reading about [Marvel’s African] reality and I just didn’t… a lot of times, they showed Ororo growing up as a thief and it looked like she was always dressed nicely and her clothing didn’t really look tattered… I thought, ‘this is what they really look like,’ and that was the feel I wanted to go for. I know that she’s a very beautiful woman as an adult, but I wanted the 13-year-old whose body is going through changes and does not think she’s attractive; who hasn’t come into her beauty yet; where every other girl for some reason looks better to her… I think Ororo is 5’11” so, make her too tall for her age, make her lanky; make her… not quite comfortable with her own body yet. That’s the girl I wanted. I wanted the one who was very determined and tried really hard, but everybody else could run faster than her. They could do this, they could do that. But she was damn good at picking locks. I wanted someone who couldn’t jump off of a building, do a triple flip and land on their feet yet; someone who was a little bit afraid of heights. I wanted her to feel human. I wanted her to feel like, ‘Heeeey, I can break my leg. I can break my arm.’”

If I were a judge for this year’s Glyph Comics Awards, these would be my picks:

Story of the Year
Stagger Lee, Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix
Honorable Mention: The American Way, John Ridley, Georges Jeanty & Karl Story

Best Writer
Derek McCulloch, Stagger Lee
Honorable Mention: Rob Vollmar, Bluesman Vol. 3

Best Artist
Shepherd Hendrix, Stagger Lee
Honorable Mention: Georges Jeanty, The American Way

(Continued)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE EAST COAST BLACK AGE OF COMICS CONVENTION PRESENTS THE 2007 GLYPH COMICS AWARDS

The second annual Glyph Comics Awards (GCAs), honoring the best in black comics and creators, will once again take place at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) in Philadelphia. The Awards Committee is pleased to announce the nominees for the 2007 awards, as judged by the following:

- Rich Watson, GCA Committee Chair and writer for PopCultureShock.com
- Johanna Draper Carlson, founder of the review website ComicsWorthReading.com
- Pam Noles, professional writer and former Eisner Awards judge
- Calvin Reid, senior editor for Publishers Weekly and former Eisner Awards judge
- Hannibal Tabu, online comics reviewer and professional fiction writer

The nominees for the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards are:

Story of the Year
The American Way, John Ridley, Georges Jeanty & Karl Story
Bluesman Vol. 3, Rob Vollmar & Pablo Callejo
Day 8, Damian Duffy, Deborah D. Grison & John Jennings
Earthlight Vol. 1, Stuart Moore & Christopher Schons
Stagger Lee, Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix

Best Writer
Damian Duffy & Deborah D. Grison, Day 8
Derek McCulloch, Stagger Lee
Stuart Moore, Earthlight Vol. 1
John Ridley, The American Way
Rob Vollmar, Bluesman Vol. 3

Best Artist
Kyle Baker, The Bakers
Shepherd Hendrix, Stagger Lee
Jamal Igle, Firestorm
Georges Jeanty, The American Way
Christopher Schons, Earthlight Vol. 1

Best Male Character
Infidel, Astro City: Samaritan
Lem Taylor, Bluesman Vol. 3
Mr. Jenkins, Day 8
New American, The American Way
Stagger Lee, Stagger Lee

Best Female Character
Amo Tanzer, Lucifer’s Garden of Verses: Between the Devil and Miles Davis
Evelyn Prescott, Stagger Lee
Ororo, Storm
Sahara, Elephantmen
Thomasina Lindo, Welcome to Tranquility

Rising Star Award
Darryl Hughes & Monique MacNaughton, GAAK
Mark Page, Kana’s Island
Felipe Smith, MBQ
Spike, Templar, Arizona
Masheka Wood, What Masheka Did

Best Reprint Publication
Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda, First Second
Krazy & Ignatz 1937-38, Fantagraphics
Nat Turner Encore Edition Vol. 1, Kyle Baker Publishing
Never Made to Last: Stories of Suburban Folklore, Ourobor Books
Tokyo Tribes Vol. 5, TokyoPop

Best Cover
52 Week 14, J.G. Jones
The American Way #2, Georges Jeanty, Karl Story & Randy Mayor
Firestorm #23, Brian Stelfreeze
Stagger Lee, Shepherd Hendrix
Storm #1, Mike Mayhew

Best Comic Strip
Candorville, Darrin Bell
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight
Templar, Arizona, Spike
(th)Ink, Keith Knight
Watch Your Head, Cory Thomas

Once again, fans will be able to vote for their favorite black comic in the poll for the Fan Award for Best Comic. This year’s nominees are:

Black Panther: The Bride, Reginald Hudlin, Scot Eaton & Klaus Janson
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre, Will Pfeifer & Cliff Chiang
Firestorm #28-32, Stuart Moore, Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne
New Avengers #22, Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Francis Yu
Storm, Eric Jerome Dickey, David Yardin & Lan Medina and Jay Leisten & Sean Parsons
write-in choice

The poll will go up at the ECBACC website (www.ecbacc.com) for the month of March.

ECBACC 2007 will take place May 18-19 at Temple University’s Anderson Hall in Philadelphia. For more information about the GCAs, e-mail Rich Watson at cptsisko318@aol.com.

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 at Pop Culture Shock (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 (ECBACC), in association with the Temple University Pan-African Studies Community Education Program, 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 on the Temple University campus in Philadelphia each May. 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.

UPDATE 8:13 PM: The credits for Day 8 say that the webcomic is “Based on a poem by Deborah D. Grison,” which we interpreted as meaning it was the inspiration for the comic. After talking with Damian Duffy and doing a little research, I’ve confirmed that Grison’s poem is incorporated verbatim into the story and that she worked with Duffy and John Jennings on creating the comic. Therefore, her name has been added to the credits for Day 8. Apologies all around for any confusion.