Platinum Studios Inc. has announced the launch of The Comic Book Challenge 2008, a competition for aspiring comic book creators and artists. Submissions will officially will open at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, May 1, and close at 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, May 31. The official website, www.ComicBookChallenge.com, went live today as 2007 winning entry, Jorge Vega’s Gunplay, debuts at Wizard World LA this weekend.
We have seen The Comic Book Challenge grow significantly in just a few short years,’ says Platinum Studios chairman and CEO Scott Mitchell Rosenberg. ‘With last year’s entrants representing nearly two dozen countries’triple the number of countries from our inaugural contest’we look forward to continuing to build on the success of The Comic Book Challenge.’
Once the contest begins, hopefuls will have one month to submit their original comic book concepts with three pages of artwork. An internal Platinum Studios committee will select the top 50 submissions, and those creators will move on to pitch their ideas to a panel of celebrity and entertainment industry judges on July 24 during the 2008 Comic-Con Int’l in San Diego, Calif. The general public around the world will then get a chance to vote for their favorites online.
The winner will receive a multitude of prizes including the coveted publishing deal with Platinum, which will include print, online and mobile distribution. In addition, the company will help develop the property for film and television. DJ Coffman, who won the inaugural 2006 competition, saw his Hero By Night comic sell out through Diamond Comics Distributors during its first print. The is now an ongoing series with second volume currently unfolding.
Platinum Studios is an entertainment company that controls an international library of more than 3,800 comic book characters which it adapts, produces and licenses for all forms of media. Responsible for bringing the blockbuster Men in Black franchise to Sony Pictures, the company has a number of other properties set up at major studios, including Cowboys and Aliens at DreamWorks. Platinum became a publicly traded entity in September of 2007.
