MIRANDA MERCURY GARNERS FOUR GLYPH AWARD NOMINATIONS!

The nominees for the 2012 Glyph Awards — honoring the best comics by and about African Americans, have been announced, and I’m excited to share the news that Miranda Mercury scored four mentions in the following categories- Story of the Year, Best Writer, Best Artist, and Best Female Character.

Congrats to our fellow nominees and my creative team as Miranda continues to build momentum months after the book’s release. More to come and our girl is in great company this year. Full list of nominations is below.

 

Story of the Year

The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury, Brandon Thomas, writer, Lee Ferguson, artist

“On Being Crazy” from African-American Classics: Graphic Classics Vol. 22, Tom Pumplun, writer, Kyle Baker, artist

Princeless, Jeremy Whitley, writer, Mia Goodwin, artist

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man Volume 1, Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Sara Pichelli, artist

 

Best Writer

Brian Michael Bendis, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

Jeff Parker, Thunderbolts

Brandon Thomas, The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury

Jeremy Whitley, Princeless

 

Best Artist

Kyle Baker, “On Being Crazy” from African-American Classics: Graphic Classics Vol. 22

Lee Ferguson, The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury

Mia Goodwin, Princeless

Rob Guillory, Chew

Sara Pichelli, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man

 

Best Male Character

Luke Cage, Thunderbolts, Jeff Parker, writer, Declan Shalvey & Kev Walker, artists; created by Archie Goodwin & John Romita Sr.

Miles Morales, Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man, Brian Michael Bendis, writer, Sara Pichelli, artist; inspired by the character created by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko

Moses, Radio Free Amerika; created by B. Robert Bell, writer and penciller, Robert Jeffrey II, co-writer

Mr. Terrific, Mr. Terrific, Eric Wallace, writer, Gianluca Gugliotta & Wayne Faucher, artists; inspired by the character created by Charles Reizenstein and Everett E. Hibbard

 

Best Female Character

Adrienne, Princeless; created by Jeremy Whitley, writer, and Mia Goodwin, artist

Afroella, Afroella, created by Gemma Bedeau, writer, and Lee Fenton Wilkinson, artist

Miranda Mercury, The Many Adventures of Miranda Mercury; created by Brandon Thomas, writer, and Lee Ferguson, artist

Vielle, Fungus Grotto, created by Ms. Shatia Hamilton, story and art

 

Rising Star Award

B. Robert Bell & Robert Jeffrey II, Radio Free Amerika

Ms. Shatia Hamilton, Fungus Grotto

Whit Taylor, Watermelon

 

Best Cover

Chew #27, Rob Guillory, illustrator

Deadpool Max #7, Kyle Baker, story and art

Mr. Terrific #1, JG Jones, artist, Lovern Kindzierski, colorist

Princeless #1, Mia Goodwin, illustrator

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man #4, Kaare Andrews, illustrator

 

Best Comic Strip or Webcomic

Fungus Grotto, Ms. Shatia Hamilton, story and art

Marty’s Diner, Dmitri Jackson, story and art

Café Con Leche, Charlos Gary, story and art

Ambidextrous 330- The Infinite Chill

I held it back as long as I could but that first twinge of genuine anxiousness hit me while I was standing at the luggage belt in the airport. Correction—while I was looking up at the little screen that was taking forever to actually tell me which belt the bags would be showing up at. A tiny piece of that anxiety was due to it being 3:30 already and my first signing scheduled for two hours later. With cabbing it to the hotel, checking in, and then heading over to the convention center to pick up badges, I had a bad feeling that I wouldn’t make it in time. Because that right there would be typical given our history working on this book. The larger piece, of course, was the realization that I was officially in San Diego now and a printed copy of Miranda Mercury was closer to me than it had ever been ever. And I couldn’t deny it…I was starting to flip out a little bit. Thinking of all the little things that could go wrong in the next two hours and somehow diminish the moment.

I told people (only somewhat jokingly) that once I got the book in my hands, I’d likely pass out from a combination of crushing exhaustion and overwhelming excitement, but I’m happy to report that no consciousness was lost at any time. What did follow though was a sense of euphoria and contentment that I later described to someone else as “the infinite chill,” a sense that really nothing else that happened after that was even remotely important. No perceived slights or minor mishaps were going to prevent me from feeling fucking good about the simple fact that the first volume of Miranda Mercury was here and it looked absolutely gorgeous.

The book’s cover (which I’d had some reservations about initially) came out fantastic with a cool spot varnish that was put on both Miranda herself and the logo, in addition to the nice wingtips on the inside dust jacket flaps. Archaia has a well deserved rep for publishing beautifully designed books and this one was no different. I’d seen several proofs of the book while it was being prepped for publication, but that was nothing compared to this.

Most importantly, there’s a particular sequence that I’ve been having nightmares about (and I’m dead serious) that printed exactly as planned. To say any more would ruin the surprise but seeing that everything came out right was an absolute relief and the precursor to the Kool-Aid grin I’m still wearing now a couple days later. The book is out now and exists in some semi-permanent form and nothing can change that. I instantly felt like I’d won some long fought battle and was ready for more. Seeing this first book put me at ease and sparked me at the same time cause this is only the first real step.

Knowing that my partner in crime Lee Ferguson was chomping at the bit to find out if everything was in fact official and awesome, I snapped off a few photos of the book and sent them to him immediately. Couple of them are attached to this very posting.

So obviously, after this whole convoluted journey that led to me standing at the Archaia booth at SDCC ’11 with fresh copies of Miranda Mercury to stare at in disbelief, the natural question is…well, what in the hell happened next…?

We’ll talk about that sooner rather than later, so stay tuned…

#areyou1ofthe200

So the Miranda Mercury hardcover makes its grand debut this Wednesday at San Diego Comic-Con and I’ll be at the Archaia booth(s) signing all weekend long. We’ll have an extremely limited number of advance copies (200) and my goal is to blow through them as quickly and as decisively as possible. To facilitate and publicize this occasion, which would undoubtably be a huge personal and professional moment for me even if I didn’t move a single copy, I’ll be using the Miranda twitter feed and my personal Facebook page to provide as many real time updates as I can. Hopefully not too many, cause I have books to sign and people to meet, but be warned that my status updates will likely be coming fast and furious all weekend. Presumably counting off the first 200 copies of the Miranda hardcover to get into people’s hands.

Full signing schedule is posted below and let’s come out the gate strong! All signings are at booth #2635 unless otherwise indicated. Thanks again to everyone for your continued support, but special shout out to the rest of my creative team–Lee Ferguson, Marc Deering, Matty Ryan, Felix Serrano, Jordan Boyd, Craig Cermak, and James Brown.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 20-

5:30 PM -7:30 PM (TABLE 4-)

THURSDAY, JULY 21-

11:00 AM-12:30 PM (ARCHAIA SATELLITE TABLE #4401/4500)

2:00 PM- 3:30 PM (TABLE 4)

FRIDAY, JULY 22-

9:30 AM- 11:00 AM (TABLE 3)

12:00 PM- 1:30 PM (ARCHAIA SATELLITE TABLE #4401/4500)

SATURDAY, JULY 23-

3:30 PM- 5:00 PM (ARCHAIA SATELLITE TABLE #4401/4500)

6:00 PM- 7:00 PM (TABLE 4)

SUNDAY, JULY 24-

12:00 PM- 1:00 PM (TABLE 3)

1:00 PM- 2:00 PM (TABLE 4)

4:00 PM- 5:00 PM (TABLE 4)