December 23, 2009
Zuda
Available 06/02/09
The first title from the original webcomics imprint of DC Comics!
South of the Mason-Dixon Line lies a strange land of gods and monsters; a world parallel to our own, born from centuries of slavery, civil war, and hate. Lee Wagstaff is the daughter of a black sharecropper in the depression-era town of Charon, Mississippi. When Lily Westmoreland, her white playmate, is snatched by agents of an evil creature known as Bog, Lee’s father is accused of kidnapping. Lee’s only hope is to follow Lily’s trail into this fantastic and frightening alternate world. Along the way she enlists the help of a benevolent, blues singing, swamp monster called Bayou. Together, Lee and Bayou trek across a hauntingly familiar Southern Neverland, confronting creatures both benign and malevolent, in an effort to rescue Lily and save Lee’s father from being lynched.
BAYOU VOL. 1 collects the first four chapters of the critically acclaimed webcomic series by Glyph Award nominee Jeremy Love.
March 13, 2009
Vaneta Rogers
newsarama.com
– Thu Feb 26, 5:30 pm ET
As booksellers look toward electronic reading devices as a wave of the future, the new technology could make paper comics a thing of the past.
With the release this month of the Kindle 2, the second generation of Amazon’s electronic reading device, the ever-changing face of the publishing industry is bracing for yet another makeover. But the rumor that Apple will enter the market soon is seen by some comic book publishers as a threat to the future of paper comics.
“[Comic books are] a business that is very low margin and very low print run, so if 10 percent of the readers migrate to an e-device, that is going to throw off the economics for 60 percent of the books that are published in this country, and that’s probably a low guess,” said John Cunningham, DC Comics VP, Advertising. “So it doesn’t have to become everybody in the room raising their hands having one to have that have a long-term impact on how the business goes.”
Yahoo News
March 6, 2009
Black Panther: Secret Invasion
by Jason Aaron (Author), Jefte Palo (Illustrator)
When the Skrulls come to town, it’s all-out war in Wakanda! The alien invaders have war ships, advanced technology, super-powered soldiers, and an army that outnumbers the Wakandans ten-to-one. Cake walk, right? Think again! There’s a reason Wakanda had never been conquered, and the Skrulls are about to find out why – the hard way! Collects Black Panther #39-41, reprints and extras.
February 20, 2009
Title: 2009 East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention
Location: Philadelphia, PA
Link: http://ecbacc.com/wordpress/
Description: The East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention 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.
Start Time: 10:00am
Date: May 16, 2009
End Time: 7:00pm
February 19, 2009
Honoring the best in African-American comics (both as contributors and thematically), the nominees for this year’s 2009 Glyph Awards have been announced:
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, 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
Café con Leche; Charlos Gary, writer and artist
Fungus Grotto, Shatia Hamilton, writer and artist
“Jefferson Jacks” from Crankshaft; Tom Batiuk & Tony Isa bella, 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.
August 24, 2008
Publishers are taking a close look at a variety of models—from the Web and mobile phones to iTunes and the Sony Reader—for the digital delivery of comics.
by Laura Hudson — Publishers Weekly, 8/18/2008
Although comic books have always been a creature of print and paper and ink, the idea of converting them to computer screens is nothing new. Examples of digital comics date back to as early as 1985, and pirated comics have long been available to savvy Web users on underground torrent sites. But publishers, for the most part, have ignored the whole issue of digital comics for years. But no longer.
With initiatives either launching or under way at nearly every major comic book, manga house and traditional book publisher, digital comics are on the verge of becoming an important part of how the medium is marketed and sold, and suddenly nobody wants to get left behind.
“It’s changed from people saying someday we need to do this to saying we need to do this now,” says Jeff Webber, v-p of product development at uclick, a mobile entertainment company that distributes comics content on cell phones.
The diversity of initiatives is dizzying: Marvel Comics, Boom! Studios and Viz Media have made select back issues available in digital form; DC Comics and Top Shelf Productions now curate Web sites of comics developed specifically for the internet; Korean manhwa house Netcomics offers comics online for a small fee; and Tokyopop, Devil’s Due Productions, Papercutz and Virgin Comics have joined with mobile digital publishing services like uclick and GoComics, to distribute their content on mobile phones—not to mention e-books, animated comics on iTunes, or the smart phone-based reader from ClickWheel, which also offers a format for reading comics on the iPhone.
Read more….
July 11, 2008
Me and the Devil Blues
The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson
Written by Akira Hiramoto
Available July 2008
Legend has it that if you take your guitar and stand at a crossroads at the witching hour, the devil will appear. He’ll grab your instrument, play a song, and hand it back to you. You’ll walk away an expert bluesman, but you’ll have to pay the price: your immortal soul.
The year is 1929. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, a young man named R J dreams of becoming a bluesman. R J is a simple farmer who can barely play guitar, but when he takes a midnight stroll, his life is forever changed.
A phantasmagoric reimagining of the life of legendary blues great Robert Johnson, Me and the Devil Blues follows the journey of a man who really did sell his soul to the devil. Why not come along for the ride?
June 6, 2008
The third 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 this year’s nominees, as judged by the following:
- Rich Watson, GCA Committee Chair and writer for PopCultureShock.com
- Cheryl Lynn Eaton, comics journalist and founder of the Ormes Society
- Prof. William Foster, comics historian and lecturer
- Tony Isabella, comics writer and columnist
- Katherine Keller, editor-in-chief, Sequential Tart
The nominees for the 2008 Glyph Comics Awards are:
Story of the Year
Hunter’s Moon, James L. White, writer, Dalibor Talajic and Sebastian Cardoso, artists
Nat Turner: Revolution, Kyle Baker, writer and artist
Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow, James Sturm, writer, Rich Tommaso, artist
Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, Percy Carey, writer, Ronald Wimberly, artist
Welcome to Tranquility, Gail Simone, writer, Neil Googe, artist
Best Writer
Percy Carey, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm
Dwayne McDuffie, Fantastic Four
Gail Simone, Welcome to Tranquility
James Sturm, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
James L. White, Hunter’s Moon
Best Artist
Kyle Baker, Nat Turner: Revolution
Olivier Coipel, Thor
Georges Jeanty, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Jeremy Love, Bayou
Ronald Wimberly, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm
Best Male Character
Emmet Wilson, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow; James Sturm, writer, Rich Tommaso, artist
Luke Cage, New Avengers; Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Leinil Francis Yu, artist
MF Grimm, Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm; Percy Carey, writer, Ronald Wimberly, artist
Nat Turner, Nat Turner: Revolution; Kyle Baker, writer and artist
The Spectre, Tales of the Unexpected; David Lapham, writer, Eric Battle & Prentis Rollins, artists
Best Female Character
Amanda Waller, Checkmate; Greg Rucka, writer, Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson, artists
Lee Wagstaff, Bayou; Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Martha Washington, Martha Washington Dies; Frank Miller, writer, Dave Gibbons, artist
Saida Nri, Adrenaline; Tyler Chin-Tanner, writer, James Boyle & Fabio Redivo, artists
Thomasina Lindo, Welcome to Tranquility; Gail Simone, writer, Neil Googe, artist
Rising Star Award
Marguerite Abouet, Aya
Marc Bernardin & Adam Freeman, Monster Attack Network
Mark Haven Britt, Full Color
Klio, SPQR Blues
Korby Marks, Stormbringers
Best Reprint Publication
Aya, Drawn & Quarterly; Chris Oliveros, publisher, Helge Dascher, translator
Beyond Premiere HC, Marvel; Tom Brevoort, editor
It Rhymes With Lust, Dark Horse; Mike Richardson, publisher
Storm Premiere HC, Marvel; Axel Alonso, editor
Stormwatch: Post Human Division V1, DC/Wildstorm; Ben Abernathy, editor
Best Cover
Blade #5, Marko Djurdjevic, illustrator
Highwaymen #1, Brian Stelfreeze, illustrator
JSA Classified #28, Steve Uy, illustrator
Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, Ronald Wimberly, illustrator
Special Forces #2, Kyle Baker, illustrator
Best Comic Strip
Bayou, Jeremy Love, writer and artist
Candorville, Darrin Bell, writer and artist
Funny Cartoon of the Week, Kyle Baker, writer and artist
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
Watch Your Head, Cory Thomas, writer and artist
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:
Fantastic Four: The New Fantastic Four, Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar, artists
JSA Classified #28, Fabian Nicieza, writer, Steve Uy, artist
New Warriors #1-6, Kevin Grevioux, writer, Paco Medina & Juan Vlasco, artists
Squadron Supreme: Hyperion vs. Nighthawk, Marc Guggenheim, writer, Paul Gulacy, artist
Stormwatch: Post Human Division, Christos Gage, writer, Doug Mahnke and Andy Smith, aritsts
write-in choice
The poll is now up at the ECBACC website (http://ecbacc.com/wordpress/?page_id=76) and will remain open until March 31, 2008.
ECBACC 2008 will take place May 16-17 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.
