The winners of the 2026 Glyph Comics Awards, presented by the East Coast Black Age of Comics Convention (ECBACC) to the best comics by people of color, have been announced. Afrofuturistic fantasy book Rise of the Mafu, by writer Gerald Vreden and artist Hakim Rafai, led with four awards, namely Best Cover, Best Writer, Best Artist, and Best Comic Strip or Webcomic.
Gerald and his brother Steven Vreden are the co-founders of the First Noble Institute for Afro-Caribbean arts and culture in Europe, and they created the series with their late sister Wanda Vreden. They crowdfunded the book via Kickstarter.
Oludare Oredipe, a Yoruba illustrator based in Philadelphia, won Story of the Year, and the Rising Star Award for his self-published fantasy graphic novel Orí: Holder of the Heads – The Yam and the White Cloth. The Fan Award for Best Work went to The Amazing Adventures of Captain Cold, by young Leo J. Neal and his dad/co-writer Chris Neal.
George Gant, creator of the syndicated newspaper strip Beware of Toddler, won Best Male Character for his long-suffering hero Dwayne “Dady” Glover, while Best Female Character went to Nigel Lynch and Juan Carlos Francisco for their sci-fi heroine Shani Belcourt, from the Wise Acre Comics release The Diary of the Stray Dogs: The Wounded.
Congratulations to all the winners! For a full list of this year’s nominees, head to the official ECBACC website, and for a look back on previous years’ winners, head here. This year’s convention will be held at the Temple University Student Faculty Center on Saturday, May 16, and admission is free: for more on what to expect, click here.
