Platinum Studios Inc. today announced the top 50 contestants in The Comic Book Challenge, the company’s international competition to find the next great comic-book creator. In addition to a shot at the grand prize of a publishing deal with Platinum, the aspiring writers and artists will compete for prizes from Fandango, Genius Products Inc., Planetwide Media’s MashOn.com, Corel and Wacom. The complete list of finalists can be found at www.comicbookchallenge.com.
The top 50 entrants, who include people from as far away as India, Singapore and Argentina, will now submit video pitches to be judged by a celebrity panel of industry and Hollywood insiders at a secret location in early August. Platinum Studios will sign the winner to a publishing deal, which will include print, online and mobile. In addition, the company will seek opportunities to develop the property for film and television.
‘Moving the contest completely online this year opened it up to many more people, truly making this a worldwide event in which anyone can participate,’ notes Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, chairman and CEO of Platinum Studios. ‘And the wide geographic diversity of the Top 50 is a testament to that.’
DJ Coffman, who won the inaugural 2006 competition, saw his Hero By Night comic sell out through Diamond Comics Distributors during its first printing. The property is now an ongoing series with a second volume currently unfolding. Jorge Vega’s 2007 winning entry, Gunplay, debuted in stores as a graphic novel this past April and has received critical acclaim.
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. Learn more about the company and its properties at www.platinumstudios.com.
