between the Devil & Miles Davis

Currently working round the clock on 'Lucifer's Garden of Verses, Book 4: Between the Devil & Miles Davis'.
More words about this & the other 3 volumes in the NBM graphic novel series soon.
Or, a peek here: http://www.nbmpub.com/comicslit/tooks/tookshome.html

Haven't had a decent nights sleep in sixteen years.

Convention sketches, 2004

Congratulations to Turtel Onli for a successful Black Age of Comics convention in Chicago last weekend. A massive undertaking that turned out very well. I was there in spirit.
By some strange jerk of fate, I now live closer to Granada, Spain than to Chicago... so that's where I'll be in two weeks, signing the Spanish language edition of 'Narcissa' at the Salon de Comics, Granada. March 9th - 12th... hasta la vista!

NARCISSA by Gwendolyn Brooks

Some of the girls are playing jacks.

Some are playing ball.

But small Narcissa is not playing

Anything at all.



Small Narcissa sits upon

A brick in her back yard

And looks at tiger-lilies,

And shakes her pigtails hard.

First she is an ancient queen

In pomp and purple veil.

Soon she is a singing wind.

And, next, a nightingale.

How fine to be Narcissa

A-changing like all that!

While sitting still, as still, as still,

As anyone ever sat!

The poetry of Chicagoan Gwendolyn Brooks, I've admired since I was a kid... but I only became aware of her short & sweet 'Narcissa' (written before I was born, probably) about a year after completion of my graphic novel. Her description of the child, blissfully alone, is a comfortable match with how I see Narcissa. And now she's gone home for a visit.

Love for Niki

the following from http://glyphsonline.blogspot.com/

ECBACC presents the 2006 Glyph Awards
EAST COAST BLACK AGE OF COMICS CONVENTION PRESENTS THE INAUGURAL GLYPH AWARDS HONORING THE BEST IN BLACK COMICS AND BLACK CREATORS

Since 2002, the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) has been an annual gathering for black creators and fans from all walks of life to meet and learn from each other. This year, ECBACC reaches further out into the comics industry at large in presenting the first Glyph Awards, for outstanding achievement in black comics. The awards ceremony will take place May 19, 2006, at the African American Museum in Philadelphia, with the convention to be held the following day, May 20, 2006, at Temple University’s Ritter Hall.

The Glyph Awards recognizes 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, we hope to encourage more diverse and high quality work across the board and to inspire new creators to add their voices to the field.

The Glyph Awards are named for the web log Glyphs: The Language of the Black Comics Community (http://glyphsonline.blogspot.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 and animation. Watson is on the Awards Committee along with the following:

- Omar Bilal, creator of the Museum of Black Superheroes website (http://www.blacksuperhero.com).
- Guy LeCharles Gonzalez, senior comics editor at Pop Culture Shock (http://www.popcultureshock.com).
- Stephanie Brandford, moderator of the Dwayne McDuffie forum at VHive (http://dwaynemcduffie.thevhive.com).
- Eliot Johnson, co-founder of the fan club STEEL (Stop Trying to Eliminate Ethnic Legends) and former columnist with Broken Frontier.



The nominees for the 2006 Glyph Awards are:

Story of the Year
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?, Reginald Hudlin, John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson
Lucifer’s Garden of Verses: Darlin’ Niki, Lance Tooks
Moped Army, Paul Sizer
Nat Turner, Kyle Baker
Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian, Grant Morrison & Cameron Stewart

Best Writer
Reginald Hudlin, Black Panther
Aaron McGruder, Boondocks
Grant Morrison, Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian
Paul Sizer, Moped Army
Lance Tooks, Lucifer’s Garden of Verses: Darlin’ Niki

Best Artist
Ho Che Anderson, Scream Queen
Kyle Baker, Nat Turner
Dougie Braithwaite, Justice
Jamal Igle, Firestorm
Lance Tooks, Lucifer’s Garden of Verses: Darlin’ Niki

Best Male Character
Black Panther, Black Panther
Guardian, Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian
Huey Freeman, Boondocks
Nat Turner, Nat Turner
Papa Midnite, Hellblazer: Papa Midnite

Best Female Character
Agent 355, Y: The Last Man
Arisa, Perhapanauts
Niki, Lucifer’s Garden of Verses: Darlin’ Niki
Ororo, Ororo: Before the Storm
Simone Coleman, Moped Army

Rising Star Award for Best Self-Publisher
Glenn Brewer, Askari Hodari
Mark & Mike Davis, Blokhedz
Danny Kimanyen, The Adventures of EboNYC
Johane Matte, Horus
Robert Roach, The Roach

Best Reprint Publication
Birth of a Nation (softcover), Crown
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther? (hardcover), Marvel
Fierce (trade paperback), Dark Horse
King: A Comics History of Martin Luther King Jr. (trade paperback), Fantagraphics
The Lone and Level Sands (hardcover), Archaia Studios Press

Best Cover
Astro City: The Dark Age Book One #1, Alex Ross
Black Panther #1, John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson and Dean White
JSA #76, Alex Ross
Nat Turner #1, Kyle Baker
Seven Soldiers: Manhattan Guardian #2, Cameron Stewart and Moose Bauman

Best Comic Strip
The Boondocks, Aaron McGruder
Candorville, Darrin Bell
The K Chronicles, Keith Knight
Mama’s Boyz, Jerry Craft
(th)Ink, Keith Knight

In addition, there is a tenth award in which the fans will have an opportunity to vote for their choice for favorite black comic. The nominees for the Fan Award for Best Story are:

Astro City: The Dark Age Book One, Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson
Black Panther: Who is the Black Panther?, Reginald Hudlin, John Romita Jr. and Klaus Janson
Firestorm #10-13, Dan Jolley, Jamal Igle & Rob Stull and Dale Eaglesham & Wade von Grawbadger
Seven Soldiers: Guardian, Grant Morrison and Cameron Stewart
Seven Soldiers: Mister Miracle, Grant Morrison, Pasqual Ferry and Billy Dallas Patton
write-in choice

Fans wishing to vote should go to the ECBACC website (http://www.ecbacc.com) for more information. The deadline for fan voting is March 31, 2006.

The Glyph Awards ceremony will also include the annual ECBACC Pioneer Award, given to a trailblazing black creator from the past who contributed significantly to the growth of black comics.

It is the Awards Committee’s hope that the Glyph Awards will be the beginning of a new tradition, in which black comics and black creators help expand the overall comics market and bring in new readers and new talent from across the spectrum. For further information about the awards, please contact committee chairman Rich Watson at cptsisko318@aol.com.

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. There is also a pre-show reception held at the African American Museum in Philadelphia (http://www.aampmuseum.org). 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

NARCISSA in Chicago & Granada, Spain

The Southside Community Art Center at 3831 South Michigan Ave. in the Bronzeville section of Chicago will be the location of the 9th Annual Black Age of Comics Convention. There will be what's billed as 'an all-female' panel discussion on NARCISSA on February 17th from 7pm until 8pm. Started by creative force Turtel Onli, you can find out more about the convention here at his official site:
http://dablackage.blogspot.com/

Here's a preview of the Spanish edition of NARCISSA, premiering March 9th at the 2006 Salon de Comics in Granada, Spain.





And just below, the full-color cover to the Spanish edition of NARCISSA, for the Salon de Comics Granada 2006.

The Southside Community Art Center at 3831 South Michigan Ave. in the Bronzeville section of Chicago will be the location of the 9th Annual Black Age of Comics Convention. Started by creative force Turtel Onli, you can find out more here:
http://dablackage.blogspot.com/

This event will be as follows:
A gallery exhibition opens to the public on Feb.10th. The Convention's opening reception will be on Feb. 17th and is free to the public from 4pm until 9pm. There will be what's billed as 'an all-female' panel discussion on NARCISSA from 7pm until 8pm. The Convention with vendors,artists, writers, seminars, raffles,displays, and screenings will be on the 18th & 19th of Feb. with it's hours being 11am until 4pm. The admission on those days is $2.00 per student and $5.00 per adult.