Ooh, that sounds cool ^^ i'm already inking my three pages~
i'm not THAT far from San Diego but i would like to hear about travel issues =O
i'm going to Comic Con for the first time this year anyway solely because my grandma said if i entered this contest she'd take me XD

Top 50 out of so many people, this is so intimidating XP

Ok, now I'm in. Gonna' put in a story I've been letting percolate for a while now. Can't wait to see how the top 50 turns out though.

Platinum Dan
The only requirement for entries is that it hasn't appeared in print before

Sorry if this is an obvious question but what about printing your project during the Comic Book Challenge? For instance, there that show coming up in Chicago next month. Can we print up some copies of our book and sell it there and still be in the contest?

Albone,
That would be fine. We exclude books that have appeared in print so that the rights aren't complicated and we can have a truly NEW idea out in the market.

-PD

Clock is ticking and I'm still having artist issues, but I'm planning on entering again this year. Was already planning on being in SD anyway.

And for those not sure about how they'll get out to San Diego, check out the airports in cities between LA and SD. San Diego airfares are jacked up in part because it's the peak time of the year there, but smaller airports like Santa Ana and Burbank will have major carrier service, some deals on flights since they aren't major destinations and are only a couple of Amtrak hours from downtown San Diego.

Okay, I caved and I entered. Hope that I can get into the top 50, but there'll probably be stuff so much better than I've ever been involved with. Oh well, you've got to be in it to win it. And I want to win it. Mostly just so I can go into a comicbook store and see my stuff on the shelf. That'd be great.

One question though, I remember back in the 2006 contest you guys included the page rates at about $50 per page for the entire project team (Be they one or five). This still the same, or do you guys not make the page rates public?

Aussie_kid
Okay, I caved and I entered. Hope that I can get into the top 50, but there'll probably be stuff so much better than I've ever been involved with. Oh well, you've got to be in it to win it. And I want to win it. Mostly just so I can go into a comicbook store and see my stuff on the shelf. That'd be great.

One question though, I remember back in the 2006 contest you guys included the page rates at about $50 per page for the entire project team (Be they one or five). This still the same, or do you guys not make the page rates public?

The rates posted publicly in 2006 were 200 per page for writing, 200 per page for art. – So overall I think it was 400 per page for the entire art team. Not sure if it's the same this time or last time or not. (check the contracts when you get them!)

I don't think we've ever made the page rates public, Aussie Kid, although DJ makes a good point that it has been out there before, but everyone will be able to see the contracts before they have to commit to being part of the Top 50, so you can always evaluate then.

Not to correct the boss man ;) , but page rates were on the old FAQ of the original comic book challenge originally, but the full contracts were never made public with all the really GOOD stuff in it :)
– http://web.archive.org/web/20061015205037/www.comicbookchallenge.com/faq.php

I stand corrected, sir! Always happy to be corrected.

djcoffman

Aussie_kid
Okay, I caved and I entered. Hope that I can get into the top 50, but there'll probably be stuff so much better than I've ever been involved with. Oh well, you've got to be in it to win it. And I want to win it. Mostly just so I can go into a comicbook store and see my stuff on the shelf. That'd be great.

One question though, I remember back in the 2006 contest you guys included the page rates at about $50 per page for the entire project team (Be they one or five). This still the same, or do you guys not make the page rates public?

The rates posted publicly in 2006 were 200 per page for writing, 200 per page for art. – So overall I think it was 400 per page for the entire art team. Not sure if it's the same this time or last time or not. (check the contracts when you get them!)

Sweet. Now I want to win even more, just so one day I can retire and make comic books for the rest of my life. Of course I'm probably just dreaming, but hey, you never know, now do you?

I'm sure someone's been over this already but by “published” do you mean actually like in comic book form and sold or can you not enter things that are already on DD?
i'm slowly making my three pages and i already put one of them up, should i take it down? o____o;;;

No Katch, you're fine. It says on the FAQ that online is a-ok.

OK good, i wasn't QUITE sure but i wanted to double check =}
Thanks Albone ^^

I have a question! Do the judges have any particular preference for theme? The last two winners both appear to have won with action/adventure boys comics, and I'm wondering if that's the preferred style of comic you're looking for. Does anything a bit more unusual stand a chance? For example, something that's simply a people story set in the real world, or historical drama, or romance, or… anything without a lot of guns, violence, or… people running around in spandex? :)

I guess what I'm really asking is - who is your target audience for this end product, or your general target audience as a publisher? Any particular stats on this target audience - age range, sex, anything similar - that you might offer us? (Or is this going to be a part of our pitch as creators - who we think it may sell it to?)

Pixie
I have a question! Do the judges have any particular preference for theme? The last two winners both appear to have won with action/adventure boys comics

That cause girl comics are icky >.<

Lesbian Space Pirates went through the process…

ozoneocean
That cause girl comics are icky >.<

LOL! Boys are icky! :P

I'm not necessarily asking about incredibly girly comics; I wasn't thinking of offering some sort of soppy girly regency era romance or anything! ;)

Rather, wanting to understand the target demographic of the publisher. Does Platinum Studios consider themselves a more mainstream publisher, or a more indie one? If the creator of Maus had pitched, for example, would they have published or passed…?

And besides, Lesbian Space Pirates (aside from being hilarious) is definitely a boys comic. It's got lesbians, space, comedy and pirates! Duh! XD

Pixie
And besides, Lesbian Space Pirates (aside from being hilarious) is definitely a boys comic. It's got lesbians, space, comedy and pirates! Duh! XD

Oh my dear god please tell me you were joking. -_-
Megan Rose probly just knocked herself out facepalming at that comment- assuming you were serious! :)

Skullbie

Pixie
And besides, Lesbian Space Pirates (aside from being hilarious) is definitely a boys comic. It's got lesbians, space, comedy and pirates! Duh! XD

Oh my dear god please tell me you were joking. -_-
Megan Rose probly just knocked herself out facepalming at that comment- assuming you were serious! :)

;) What do you think…? XD

I should have learned by now that sarcasm does not work well on teh interwebs. XD My bad.

Having sat through about 100 pitches now, I can tell you that I've definitely seen some slice of life stories, and just about every genre. Romance stories, coming of age stories, etc. I also think that's what's most fun about Comic Book Challenge– any genre could win or do well really, I think it's all about the hook.

Last year there was a comic all taking place in a High School I do believe, but the hook was that it was based on King Arthur's court with the story that was going on… I thought that was pretty friggin awesome.

djcoffman
Having sat through about 100 pitches now, I can tell you that I've definitely seen some slice of life stories, and just about every genre. Romance stories, coming of age stories, etc. I also think that's what's most fun about Comic Book Challenge– any genre could win or do well really, I think it's all about the hook.

Last year there was a comic all taking place in a High School I do believe, but the hook was that it was based on King Arthur's court with the story that was going on… I thought that was pretty friggin awesome.

Cool, but what if someone submitted somethign with a loose plot that had a punchline every page and was more like a newspaper comic? Or do you guys only stick with story comics?

Sorry for the late response, AK. We're happy with strips, too. Many of the Top 50 from both years were strip format. Bird and Worm, a strip right here on DD was a Top 50 from the first year.

Sorry for the double post, everybody, but I thought you mind find THIS interesting:

"Platinum Studios, Inc. announced today exciting changes to its annual contest, The Comic Book Challenge, which will transform it into a fully digital competition. In previous years, the Top 50 entrants had to make their way to San Diego, CA during one of the busiest and most expensive times of the year in order to pitch their concept live to a panel of judges. Now, from the convenience of their own home, each Top 50 entrant will be able to create a four-minute video pitch which he/she will submit online for judging. The panel of celebrity judges will then review the video pitch and original entry of each Top 50 entrant and choose the Top 10 entrants based on these submissions. The Top 50 entrants will be given one full month to create their own, unique video pitch.

“Even with the travel stipend we offered last year, a lot of the Top 50 had to pay out of pocket just to make it to the pitch, including some contestants coming from as far way as India and Australia, and I believe that may have discouraged some folks from entering,” said Dan Forcey, VP of Content Development at Platinum Studios. “We wanted to include as many aspiring comic book creators from as many places as possible so we decided to make participation even easier in order to continue growing The Comic Book Challenge into the international sensation we believe it is becoming.”

As part of these changes, Platinum has decided to extend its May 31st deadline to June 14th and public voting on the Top 10 will be similarly adjusted.

Visit www.comicbookchallenge.com for further details on the contest."

That's pretty cool.
But given the case i want to make it to SD, can i still go?

You certainly can go, but there won't be anything of the CBC there. :-) As of now, it's 100% digital, entries, pitches, judges and everything.

Platinum Dan
You certainly can go, but there won't be anything of the CBC there. :-) As of now, it's 100% digital, entries, pitches, judges and everything.

Thanks, I've been worrying for a few weeks about if I won, would I be able to make it because of costs and getting a passport and catching the right plane and such. Now all I have to worry about is making a video. This makes everything so much better

So when will this years prizes be announced?

THANK GOD for the extention. I was worried I wouldn't get done on time. Aww but I was really looking forward to going to the SDCC if I got into the top 50…oh well.

The prizes should be announced very soon. We actually intentionally hold off on the prize announcement until later. We want people who want to make comics, not folks who are in it to grab a free cintiq. I'm not saying YOU are that person, either, just trying to explain why we usually wait so long to announce the prize package.

The extension is a very excellent development. Thank you, Platinum!