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, 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.

Beginning in 2007, the Glyph Comics Awards are presented at ECBACC, the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention, in Philadelphia.

2009 Glyph Comics Awards winners
The judges for the 2008 Glyph Comics Awards were Valerie D'Orazio, president of the Friends of Lulu; Nathan Erhardt, writer, Comics Nexus; Ed Mathews, columnist, Pop Image; Tim O'Shea, writer/interviewer, TalkingWithTim.com; and Elayne Riggs, comics reviewer and commentator.


 * 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, and Don Ho, artists
 * Best Female Character:  Lee Wagstaff, Bayou,, Jeremy Love, writer and artist
 * Rising Star Award:  Damian Duffy and John Jennings, The Hole: Consumer Culture, 
 * Best Reprint Publication:  Me and the Devil Blues V1, , Del Rey Manga; 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

2008 Glyph Comics Awards winners
The judges for the 2008 Glyph Comics Awards were 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; and awards founder Rich Watson.


 * Story of the Year:  Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm, Percy Carey, writer, Ronald Wimberly, artist
 * Best Writer:  James Sturm, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow
 * Best Artist:  Kyle Baker, Nat Turner: Revolution
 * Best Male Character:  Emmet Wilson, Satchel Paige: Striking Out Jim Crow''; co-created by James Sturm, writer, and Rich Tommaso, artist
 * Best Female Character:  Amanda Waller, Checkmate; Greg Rucka, writer, Joe Bennett & Jack Jadson, artists
 * Rising Star Award for Best Self-Publisher:  Marguerite Abouet, Aya
 * Best Reprint Publication:  Aya, Drawn & Quarterly; Chris Oliveros, publisher, Helge Dascher, translator
 * Best Cover:  Sentences: The Life of MF Grimm; Ronald Wimberly, illustrator
 * Best Comic Strip:  The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
 * Fan Award for Best Comic:  Fantastic Four: The New Fantastic Four; Dwayne McDuffie, writer, Paul Pelletier & Rick Magyar, artists

2007 Glyph Comics Awards winners
The judges for the 2007 Glyph Comics Awards were 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; and awards founder Rich Watson.


 * Story of the Year:  Stagger Lee, Derek McCulloch, writer, Shepherd Hendrix, artist
 * Best Writer:  Derek McCulloch, Stagger Lee
 * Best Artist:  Kyle Baker, The Bakers
 * Best Male Character:  Stagger Lee, Stagger Lee; Derek McCulloch, writer, Shepherd Hendrix, artist; inspired by the life of Lee Shelton
 * Best Female Character:  Thomasina Lindo, Welcome to Tranquility; co-created by Gail Simone, writer, Neil Googe, artist
 * Rising Star Award:  Spike, Templar, Arizona
 * Best Reprint Publication:  Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda, First Second; Mark Siegel, editor, Alexis Siegel, translator
 * Best Cover:  Stagger Lee, Shepherd Hendrix, artist
 * Best Comic Strip:  The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
 * Fan Award for Best Comic:  Storm, Eric Jerome Dickey, David Yardin & Lan Medina and Jay Leisten & Sean Parsons
 *  Pioneer Award: Larry Fuller, underground comics artist and publisher

2006 Glyph Comics Awards winners
The judges for the 2006 Glyph Comics Awards were: Omar Bilal, creator of the Museum of Black Superheroes website; Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, senior comics editor at Pop Culture Shock; Stephanie Brandford, moderator of the Dwayne McDuffie forum at VHive; Eliot Johnson, co-founder of the fan club STEEL (Stop Trying to Eliminate Ethnic Legends) and former columnist with Broken Frontier; and awards founder Rich Watson.


 * Story of the Year:  Nat Turner, Kyle Baker, writer and artist
 * Best Writer:  Lance Tooks, Lucifer's Garden of Verses: Darlin' Niki
 * Best Artist:  Kyle Baker, Nat Turner
 * Best Male Character:  Huey Freeman, The Boondocks
 * Best Female Character:  Darlin' Niki, Lucifer's Garden of Verses: Darlin' Niki
 * Fan Award for Best Comic:  Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?, Reginald Hudlin, John Romita, Jr., Klaus Janson, Axel Alonso
 * Rising Star Award for Best Self-Publisher:  Robert Roach, The Roach
 * Best Reprint Publication:  Birth of a Nation: a Comic Novel softcover, Crown
 * Best Cover:  Nat Turner #1, Kyle Baker, illustrator
 * Best Comic Strip:  The K Chronicles, Keith Knight, writer and artist
 * Pioneer Award: Turtel Onli, creative artist and educator

2005 Glyph Comics Awards winners

 * Pioneer Award: Bertram Fitzgerald, editor and publisher, Golden Legacy Comics

2004 Glyph Comics Awards winners

 * Pioneer Award: Samuel Joyner, cartoonist