|
Reviews and commentary by Tony Isabella
"America's Most Beloved Comic-Book Writer & Columnist"
Current TOT >>
TOT Archives |
About Tony |
Message Board
TONY'S ONLINE TIPS
for Thursday, July 19, 2007
"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...
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."
The above is from the website of the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention. I attended ECBACC in 2006 and I'm planning to return in 2008. It's an amazing event.
This year's Glyph Comics Awards were presented at this year's ECBACC in May. Prior to that, I asked Tony Polls voters to pick their favorites from the nominees. Here's how you voted and how your choices compared with the winners...
Of these nominees, you would you vote for in the category of STORY OF THE YEAR?
The American Way, John Ridley, Georges Jeanty & Karl Story.....42.03%
Bluesman Vol. 3, Rob Vollmar & Pablo Callejo.....21.74%
Stagger Lee, Derek McCulloch & Shepherd Hendrix.....17.39%
Earthlight Vol. 1, Stuart Moore & Christopher Schons.....15.94%
Day 8, Damian Duffy, Deborah D. Grison & John Jennings.....2.90%
The actual winner was Stagger Lee, which was my choice as well. I'm one-for-one.
BEST WRITER?
John Ridley, The American Way.....38.98%
Stuart Moore, Earthlight Vol. 1.....30.51%
Rob Vollmar, Bluesman Vol. 3.....16.95%
Derek McCulloch, Stagger Lee.....11.86%
Damian Duffy & Deborah D. Grison, Day 8.....1.69%
The award went to Derek McCulloch, also my choice. I'm two-for-two...and you're zero-for-two.
BEST ARTIST?
Kyle Baker, The Bakers.....46.77%
Jamal Igle, Firestorm.....38.71%
Georges Jeanty, The American Way.....11.29%
Shepherd Hendrix, Stagger Lee.....3.23%
Christopher Schons, Earthlight Vol. 1.....0%
The actual winner was Kyle Baker. I voted for Baker as well, but it was a tough call. I'm not familiar with Schons, but the other nominees all did outstanding work on their respective projects. Oh, yeah, and I'm three-for-three.
BEST MALE CHARACTER?
Infidel, Astro City: Samaritan.....43.40%
New American, The American Way.....28.30%
Lem Taylor, Bluesman Vol. 3.....15%
Stagger Lee, Stagger Lee.....13.21%
Mr. Jenkins, Day 8.....0%
The Glyph went to Stagger Lee, inspired by the life of Lee Shelton. I went back-and-forth on this one before voting for Infidel. I'm three-for-four.
BEST FEMALE CHARACTER?
Ororo, Storm.....50%
Thomasina Lindo, Welcome to Tranquility.....27.59%
Sahara, Elephantmen.....8.62%
Amo Tanzer, Lucifer's Garden of Verses: Between the Devil and Miles Davis.....6.90%
Evelyn Prescott, Stagger Lee.....6.90%
The actual winner was Thomasina Lindo. After seriously considering every nominee, I voted for Evelyn Prescott. I'm down to three-for-five.
RISING STAR AWARD?
Darryl Hughes & Monique MacNaughton, GAAK.....33.33%
Masheka Wood, What Masheka Did.....30.30%
Spike, Templar, Arizona.....24.24%
Mark Page, Kana's Island.....6.06%
Felipe Smith, MBQ.....6.06%
The Rising Star Award went to Spike. I cast my ballot for Masheka Wood. I'm three-for-six and far less cocky than I was at the start of this column.
BEST REPRINT PUBLICATION?
Krazy & Ignatz 1937-38, Fantagraphics.....57.78%
Nat Turner Encore Edition Vol. 1, Kyle Baker Publishing.....37.78%
Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda, First Second.....2.22%
Tokyo Tribes Vol. 5, TokyoPop.....2.22%
Never Made to Last: Stories of Suburban Folklore, Ourobor Books.....0%
The actual winner was Deogratias: A Tale of Rwanda. I voted for the Nat Turner Encore Edition. I'm three-for-seven and you're one-for-seven.
BEST COVER?
52 Week 14, J.G. Jones.....66.67%
Storm #1, Mike Mayhew.....15%
Firestorm #23, Brian Stelfreeze.....11.67%
The American Way #2, Georges Jeanty, Karl Story & Randy Mayor.....3.33%
Stagger Lee, Shepherd Hendrix.....3.33%
The Glyph went to Stagger Lee. I voted for 52 Week 14 because I thought J.G. Jones deserved recognition for doing so many outstanding covers on the title. I'm now a pathetic three-for-eight on these awards.
BEST COMIC STRIP?
Candorville, Darrin Bell.....40%
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight.....20%
Watch Your Head, Cory Thomas.....17.50%
(Th)Ink, Keith Knight.....15%
Templar, Arizona, Spike.....7.50%
The winner was Keith Knight for The K Chronicles and that's how I voted as well. But I came *this* close to voting for Candorville instead. I'm four-for-nine and you're not.
FAN AWARD FOR BEST COMIC?
New Avengers #22, Brian Michael Bendis & Leinil Francis Yu.....28.36%
Firestorm #28-32, Stuart Moore, Jamal Igle & Keith Champagne.....26.87%
Black Panther: The Bride, Reginald Hudlin, Scot Eaton & Klaus Janson.....25.37%
Crisis Aftermath: The Spectre, Will Pfeifer & Cliff Chiang.....17.91%
Storm, Eric Jerome Dickey, David Yardin, Lan Medina, Jay Leisten & Sean Parsons.....1.49%
The Glyph Fan Award for Best Comic went to Storm, but my unwavering choice from the start was New Avengers, which is simply the best Luke Cage story ever written.
My final score was four-for-ten, yours was one-for-ten. That didn't surprise me; my readership tends to prefer super-hero comics over other genres and DC super-hero comics over Marvel's. Nothing wrong with that per se. There's room for everyone in the wild and wonderful world of comics art.
Our current Tony Polls questions concern what you like and don't like about TOT. Your ballots will be an enormous help in determining the future of this column.
You can cast your votes at:
www.worldfamouscomics.com/tony/poll
Thanks for your participation and look for more poll results later this week.
Thanks also for spending a part of your day with me. I'll be back tomorrow with more stuff.
Tony Isabella
<< 07/17/2007 | 07/19/2007 | 07/20/2007 >>
Discuss this column with me at my Message Board. Also, read Heroes and Villains: Real and Imagined.
Recent Columns:
NEWEST | Finale (06/22/2010) |
06/17/2010 | I review Siege |
06/16/2010 | Linda Gold 1949-2010 |
06/15/2010 | Everett True Tuesday! |
06/14/2010 | I review The Amazing Adventures of Nate Banks #1: Secret Identity Crisis, Secret Identity Crisis: Comic Books and the Unmasking of Cold War America and The Walking Dead Volume 2: Miles Behind Us. |
Archives >> |
Current TOT >>
TOT Archives |
About Tony |
Message Board
|
|
THE "TONY" SCALE
ZERO: Burn your money before buying any comic receiving this rating. It doesn't *necessarily* mean there's absolutely nothing of value here - though it *could* - but whatever value it might possess shrinks into insignificance before its overall awfulness.
ONE: Buy something else. Maybe I found something which wasn't completely dreadful in the item, but not enough for me to recommend it when there are better comics available. I only want what's best for you, my children.
TWO: Basic judgment call. I found some value, but not enough to recommend it. My review should give you enough info to decide if you want to take a chance on it. Are you feeling lucky today, punk? Well, are you?
THREE: This denotes something I find perfectly respectable. There are better books out there, but I wouldn't regret buying this item. Based on my review, you should be able to determine if it's of interest to you. Let the Force guide you.
FOUR: I recommend anything earning this rating. Unless you don't like the genre, subject matter, or past work of the creators, I believe you'll enjoy this item. Isn't it uncanny how I can look right into your soul that way?
FIVE: Anything getting this rating is among the best comicdom has to offer. You should buy/read this, even if the genre/subject matter doesn't appeal to you. It's for your own good. Me, I live for comics and books this good...but not in a pathetic "Comic-Book Guy" sort of way.
Please send material you would like me to review to:
Tony's Online Tips
840 Damon Drive
Medina, OH 44256
|
|