The 2015 Glyph Black Comics Award Winners Are…

This weekend saw the annual Glyph Awards Ceremony take place in Philadelphia, at the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. The awards champion and celebrate the best in comics made by, for, and about black people, although the nominations are not exclusively limited to black creators.

This year saw the 10^th anniversary of the ceremony, established by Rich Watson in 2005. The winners were:

Story of the Year: Shaft by David F. Walker and Bilquis Evely (Dynamite Entertainment)

Best Writer: Keef Cross, Day Black (Rosarium Publishing)

Best Artist: Nelson Blake II, Artifacts (Top Cow)

Best Cover: Tristan Roach, Offset – The Man Who Travels With A Piece Of Sugarcane (Beyond Publishing)

Best Male Character: Bass Reeves, Bass Reeves: Tales of the Talented Tenth by Joel Christian Gill

Best Female Character: Ajala Storm; Ajala: A Series of Adventures by Robert Garrett, N Steven Harris and Walt Msonza Barna (X Moore Studios)

Rising Star Award: Writers Alverne Ball and Jason Reeves and artists Lee Moyer and Ari Syahrazad for One Nation: Old Druids (133 Art)

Best Comic Strip or Web Comic: Kamikaze by Alan Tupper, Carrie Tupper, and Havana Nguyen

Best Reprint Publication: Techwatch (Chameleon Creations)

Fan Award For Best Work: One Nation: Safehouse by Jason Reeves, Samax Amen and Deon De Lange (133 Art)

So it was good year for 133 Art, which picked up the Fan Award and the Rising Star Award (for the second year running). Shaft was expected to pick up story of the year (not least from all of us, because we've loved it). A major takeaway of the awards is a lack of recognition for most of the biggest publishers in the Diamond Catalog, save for Image (via Top Cow) and Dynamite Entertainment.

The awards are about finding and showcasing new talent –- certainly, there are names and comics here that are completely new to me -– but it also showcases the absence of black storytelling from the major publishing houses.

That’s less immediately important, however, than celebrating the achievements of the comics listed above, each of which emerged out of a crowded and diverse field of nominees. These have been ten very successful years for the Glyph Awards, and hopefully everyone recognized by the awards will go on to further success within the industry.

The judging panel this year were Pamela Thomas (chair), William H. Foster III, Joseph R. Wheeler III, Rich Johnston, Regine Sawyer, and Jamal Igle.