Held for the first time this year, the 2007 Glyph Awards, honoring the best in black comic books and creators, have announced the judges for the 2007 competition and an industry-wide call for submissions.

Nine of the ten awards are selected by a panel of judges, led by Committee Chair and awards founder Rich Watson. The tenth is voted on by the fans in a special online ballot. The rest of the judges are:

– 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

Any comics publisher – small, large, corporate, independent, self-published – as well as online comic creators and cartoonists for newspapers and other periodicals are invited to submit black-themed material released from January 1 to December 31, 2006 for consideration for award recognition. The Committee defines black-themed work as any comic with any combination of the following: a black protagonist(s), or at least a black character(s) pivotal to the direction of the story; a setting(s) or a theme(s) that explores the black experience within the United States and/or abroad, past, present, and/or future; and/or a comic of any kind written, illustrated, and/or published by a black creator(s).

Anyone wishing to submit their comic book or comic strip for consideration in the 2007 competition should e-mail Rich Watson at [email protected] for further information. Only completed works will be considered, not works in progress. Hard copies are preferred, though submissions of e-files will also be accepted. Online comics creators and newspaper/periodical cartoonists with websites should send a direct URL link to their site or page. Daily cartoonists must have a minimum of one month’s work archived and available for viewing; weekly cartoonists a minimum of two months. The deadline for submissions is January 15, 2007.

The 2007 Glyph Comics Awards ceremony will be held at ECBACC, May 18-19, 2007.