Hi, folks. Dan Forcey here from Platinum Studios. I wanted to post some info here about our yearly contest, The Comic Book Challenge. If you haven't heard of the Challenge (and there's really no reason to assume you have, as we've only been doing it for two years now, but you might recognize the first winner, Hero By Night), it's a contest we do where you can submit a story idea and three pages of art over at http://www.comicbookchallenge.com. We choose 50 Top Entries to come to San Diego Comicon and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges. The top ten chosen by the judges are then posted online and the public votes for the winner. The winner gets a publishing contract from Platinum and is paid to produce their book and, last year, the runners-up got some pretty cool stuff, too (we haven't announced this year's prize package yet, but I can assure you, it's some pretty cool stuff). The 2006 winner was DJ Coffman's Hero By Night (http://www.herobynight.com) and the 2007 winner was Jorge Vega's Gunplay (http://www.whodiestoday.com) which just came out in bookstores a few weeks ago. The only requirement for entries is that it hasn't appeared in print before, so it's a great venue for webcomic artists that might want to work in the print medium, too. I'll be around here if anybody has questions (I'm a pretty consistant lurket on these forums anyway), so check it out and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Submissions opened on May 1 and run through May 31. Thanks, everybody, for even considering it.

Platinum Dan
http://www.comicbookchallenge.com

Dang. That a W I D E layout. Not everyone owns a widescreen monitor you know. :/

*jawdrops at the prizes*
Wow I'd kill to get into the top 7-

Questions:
Could you provide a good example of those ‘3 illustrated sequential art pages’? The site definition is so hazy- is it asample random page of art or do we have to draw the entire synopsis?

Since it is okay to pitch an idea that's already a webcomic- you'd want us to ‘re-hash’ it into a more refined plot and art right? (i.e. start all over)

If a comic was rehashed would moving away from a manga style be preferred?

And out of curiosity- Why is your submission/end time only 1 month? that's crazy short for something like this. -_-

Any three pages, just like you would envision them appearing in the book. And, no, you definitely don't have to start over, but you might want to think of a storyline that would fit into a contained graphic novel or mini-series. Some of you who have 300+ pages of work would want to look for a particular story that is a) accessible to new readers and b) can be told in 88-100 pages. And we've got NO problems with anything being manga style. We love Manga! As to the submission time, we actually like to limit it to one month intentionally. If you can't produce 3 pages in a month, 88-100 pages would take several years just to complete!

I guess I could give it a try. I have to choose between two ideas for comics that could work in 3 pages…

Sounds like a fantastic contest! Good luck to everyone entering!

Platinum Dan
We choose 50 Top Entries to come to San Diego Comicon and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges.

Guys, I am emphasizing this for clarity. Just an FYI, you need to get to CA on your own dime. Not that I want to take away anything from the contest, but that's a big thing that you may have missed. ;)

Thanks for highlighting that for folks. I really should have made that clearer. My apologies, everyone. Last year, we provided a travel stipend to folks and we're in talks with a couple of companies to provide airfare this year, but as of right now, yes, you are responsible for getting to San Diego at your own expense.

What restrictions is there on content? Would a comic with nudity be a no-no?

Not at all. We might ask you to “PG” it for the pitch, just so we don't have to restrict the airing of the pitch anywhere, but for the actual content, it's fine. If you look at last year's winner, Gunplay, there is profanity, violence and nudity in the book. We have to keep the pitch pretty “all-ages” though so that as many people can see it (and vote for you) as possible.

San Diego

I wanna emphasise this too. The top 50 entrants are told on pretty short notice that they need to come to San Diego- on SD's busiest week of the year. Airfares and hotels are at their highest rates (and sometimes hard to come by) and can be a big financial committment for someone who is only casually interested in winning. So keep that in mind :)

I was gonna enter this year but…

Employees, officers, directors, representatives and agents of Platinum Studios, Inc. … are not eligible to participate in the Contest

:(

That's ok though, there's no way I'd be able to fly out of England on short notice to go to San Diego to pitch a comic I would never have time to work on fast enough for print, what with full time work and a doctorate going on and all :) But I was still gonna enter jus ‘cos for fun. :|

I think you guys should look at some non-SDCC options though. There’s gotta be video conferencing and stuff you could do, making everyone come to San Diego on short notice and mostly at their expense must turn a lot of people away. Then again if you guys end up with a comic you make money from I guess it doesn't matter much whether some people get stopped because of that.

One of these years I'm definitely going to have to jump into this mix. But I'm holding off until things have been going on a little longer and I've really nailed down my ideas and art. If I turn anything in, I want it to be the best possible stuff I can create. So maybe next year.

I honestly had no clue that the comic book challenge was more geared towards short stories. I thought you guys wanted more stuff like dj's that could be serialized. Knowing that it wouldn't have to be something the length of Bone definitely gets me a little more interested in the competition and I'm going to be working towards it for next year definitely.

Platinum Dan
Thanks for highlighting that for folks. I really should have made that clearer. My apologies, everyone. Last year, we provided a travel stipend to folks and we're in talks with a couple of companies to provide airfare this year, but as of right now, yes, you are responsible for getting to San Diego at your own expense.

Damn, I was going to go for it this year because I was expecting the allowance you guys were offering last (About $600 wasn't it?) because without it, I'm not going to have enough.

Oh well, there's always next year. And it gives me time to work on my writing and such

Well, it might be expensive but worth a shot if you're really looking to break into the business with some published work.

Don't skip out on the contest just because you don't think you could make it out. For one thing, you never know what might happen; they could get a sponsor with an allowance, you could stumble across a windfall, Godzilla could invade the San Diego Comicon and they're forced to relocate in your hometown!

And even if you can't go – the confidence boost from being one of the 50 selected will do you a world of good. Unless you have an inflated ego. Then your head will probably just explode instead.

While I don't know if I could give up the creative control for some of my projects (and if you're in the business, you will have to give some up sometime) it sounds like a worthwhile effort to me.

Does the Grand prize winner retain any rights to their comic?
If not, How well does the publishing deal take care of them financially?
If their concept goes to film, tv and toys, are they included in the process, or given bonuses
for each media venture?

I would love to enter but I'm uncertain about what the publishing deal entails.
~Brad

Here's some info about the Comic Challenge:

–FAQ's

–rules

–lists of last years prizes

“Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained.”

I think they tell you in JUNE now if you're picked to go out at the end of July. That's plenty of time to book a decent spot, and there will always be rooms available and airfare within that time no problem.

The very first year, it was pretty tight notice (7 days!)but I spent the last of my money to get out there and give it a shot, and I'm glad I did. Hey, not to mention, the runner up, Megan, did the same thing and it worked out pretty well for her too.

Beyond winning and losing though, it's a really great time to be had, with lots of opportunities flowing around. Good luck everybody!

One thing I would not have to worry about is a hotel room. My brother and his wife live in San Diego. Mooching off family FTW XD

If one was able to make it into the top 50 how long will they need to be in San Diego?

I would LOVE to attempt this but i don't think i'm ready just yet ^^;
i need to practice, a ton XD
maybe someday i will~

Katch
I would LOVE to attempt this but i don't think i'm ready just yet ^^;
i need to practice, a ton XD
maybe someday i will~

Me too. I don't even have my comic up yet, though I'm working pretty hard on getting it to the point when I think it's ready to be posted. I have a few and I think I'll be putting them up soon.

I live really close to San Diego. It would be awesome to go just to meet the winners/DD users in person.

If I could enter I would enter this comic I've been doing not on internet

This…this promises to be fun!

For some reason I thought this was later in the year. D'oh! I'd love to enter, but I'd need a writer, none of my stories ever have endings!

Speaking of that, I wasn't quite clear on the partnership thing - I know only one person can enter, but where would that leave their writer or artist?

You never know until you try…really I don't know if I even have a chance of making it into the top 50 but I think it will be a great learning experience.

BAH~!!
you know what, i'm gonna try anyway >: O
it IS a good learning experience~ gives me a lot of ideas and i can push myself ^w^
good luck to the other competetorz and moi TwT

I think I broke my jaw looking just at the second runners up! Holy shit man!

Okay, I hope this doesn't make me sound like a moron but I'm a little confused about the synopsis part of the contest…

How much info about the story should be in it? Should one do a basic layout of all the stuff that happens in the story, including the ending? Or just something like you'd find on the back of a book describing the story?

I have at least one entry going on this year with an artist buddy of mine…sadly, I think I lack the time right now to submit the second idea, which would all be done by me.

kiandranishan
Okay, I hope this doesn't make me sound like a moron but I'm a little confused about the synopsis part of the contest…

How much info about the story should be in it? Should one do a basic layout of all the stuff that happens in the story, including the ending? Or just something like you'd find on the back of a book describing the story?

from the CBC site under rules:

With respect to your Synopsis, in addition to the other requirements noted herein, you must:

* Prepare your Synopsis so that you can cut and paste the contents into the online entry form for the Contest when you submit your entry. (You may also type in your Synopsis on the online entry form but this could be time consuming.)

* Limit your Synopsis' length so that it will not exceed one full page (8.5 in x 11 in) in a font no less than 10 points in size.

* Make sure your Synopsis is written in English.

* Make sure the Synopsis adequately describes both the concept and theme of your proposed comic book, as well as the storyline and characters.

to my best of my understanding the synopsis should give the reader a basic understanding of the book like you said like something you would read on the back of the book. Remember you want to catch there attention but not bog it down with little details. Plus you have to keep it in the length parameters listed above.

@ Trevor… sweet. I can't wait. :) should freakin' awesome!

Hey, folks. Sorry for the lag in response. I was at the Emerald City Comicon this weekend with last year's winner, Jorge Vega, promoting his book and the CBC. In answer to what you get, we email all Top 50 copies of the contracts that the winner has to sign so that you can review them and decide whether to proceed before we even announce the Top 50, so you go into it all with eyes wide open and can back out if you so choose. Secondly, PLEASE don't let the travel part of things dissuade you. We're making some announcements later this week that will make that part of it a lot easier, but that's all I can say right now.