Comic Book Resources

11:00-25:00 on the audio linked here, C.B. Cebulski talking about the new submission policy at length, and why it’s necessary:

http://www.popcultureshock.com/cbclub/?p=454

I didn’t know Marvel still spend their time on the slush pile. As much as we all dream of breaking through that way, as much as we all know the Jim Shooter story, CB is right in that this just isn’t how things are done.

But it’s nice to know that some at Marvel really did try to keep the old tradition alive.

Marvel had an open submission policy?

For the average artist it seems to be more about who you know then your actual work.

> Marvel had an open submission policy?

Pretty much my exact reason too…

If you’re looking to break into Marvel Comics with zero experience…. you might as well walk up to Speilberg and ask him if you can be his 1st AD on his next picture. Both are never going to happen.

I understand their reasoning for ending their open submission policy, but it is unfortunate. It would be nice if they adopted a policy like the book publishers, in which an author submits an abstract and a sample chapter. That would definitely cut down in the amount of time it takes to go through the submissions. Or if there were more comic book magazines so that a team could prove their chops before going to the big guys. Mind you, there are a number of smaller publishers out there, but not nearly enough to fill that need.

Heck, it was this lack of open submissions to prompt me to start posting my own comic scripts for DC characters online. I stopped for awhile while my computer at home was broke, but I plan on starting again this weekend. If anyone is interested, please check it out, http://thedciwant.wordpress.com.

And if anyone wants to illustrate it, please let me know.

James (not Zano)

For many years I felt that the submission’s to Marvel was a false hope. How long had it been since some unknown got a assignment? Today, you have to be a writer/artist to crack into the comic book biz. Jonathan Hickman for example. The old days are really dead.

If nothing else you have to respect the guts Marvel has for no longer pretending they want to cultivate new talent in the first place.

I was about to say what Bill Reed said. I didn’t know they did. But I don’t mind they make the standards harder, I don’t think the art in comics (not just Marvel) is too good. We need to start thinking about the next Neil Adams, George Perez, etc. etc. etc.

Well, at least they have more control over the amount of quality that their artists suck now.

“Upon intense review, we discovered that almost all new talent hired by Marvel over the past five years has come through ‘word-of-mouth.’”

Or stolen out from under DC.

I’ve checked that webpage every few days for the last couple years and sent stuff in and never even got one of those official rejection letters I’ve always wanted to have. An Email once, but no letter. Disapointing.

I don’t know about anyone else but supposidly Marvel and DC are having people at the Emerald City Comic Con to do reviews this year (unlike LAST year), so that will be my big make or break event. I’m not giving up that easily.

“If you’re looking to break into Marvel Comics with zero experience…. you might as well walk up to Speilberg and ask him if you can be his 1st AD on his next picture. Both are never going to happen.”

Wow. Friday afternoon buzzkill. The adult part of me sees the logic behind this and the kid part of me thinks you’re a jerk for ruining my dream of writing the X-Men.

Big whoop.

Sorry for the artists but the aspiring writer never had a shot with the *cough* open submission anyway.

Wait, let me ask this question. Who has Marvel hired “off the street”? I mean someone who hasn’t worked directly with Marvel without working for DC, Dark Horse, Image or any of the other houses first? Or without recommendation (aka someone with a talent agent or manager, or Joe Q’s neighbor, Dan Slott’s friend, some kid who works at a comic book store Brian Bendis goes to, etc. etc.).

Seriously, I want to know!

I admit it, I’m getting depressed.

Marvel has hired a ton of Europeans with zero comic experience lately. I think all of the ‘Avengers Fairy Tales’ books were Europeans with no experience.

When CB was hired by Marvel he stated in several interviews that he wanted to bring more international talent into Marvel. At the American cons, it’s ‘leave your sample in the box’, but at overseas cons, everybody gets a portfolio review.

I think CB is getting his wish!

OH boy, that makes me feel even better….

I guess I’d better pin my hopes on whomever DC sent to review portfolios.

Yeah, great, reviews at Cons. So what if They decide not to go to any Cons in your area…What’s that Marvel? T.S….great, thanks…..

Wait, so there’s no way anyone can break directly into comics straight out of art school, no matter how talented they are?

That’s balls.

Sorry Alexrules, I feel your pain!

I think the fact is most comic fans want to work in the industry. This huge pool of talent allows the companies to be picky about who they hire and how. I think CB has decided that Marvel is going to have more of an international slant and he is skewing their talent search that way.

Before anybody anybody thinks I’m crazy, let me point out 3 things:

CB broke into comics by translating and importing manga. On his blog, he talks about spending summers in Europe and the comics he read there. As I write this, he is at an Italian con. His comics experience has been international and he has stated he wants to push Marvel that direction.

In Marvel’s talent search Chesterquest (ran by CB), of the 28 winners, 4 were from the US, 2 from Canada and rest from Europe. you could agrue, they were best, but I would argue Marvel is pushing for more international creators and since good art is subjective, they factored in the entrant’s nationality.

CB is a writer. Look at Marvel comics and notice how many new artists are from overseas, but not a whole lot of new writers. Marvel really isn’t pushing for foreign writers. I contend because the guy behind the push is a writer.

I’ve met CB a few times and he’s nice guy, but don’t think he’s honest.

And if you are an American artist trying to break into Marvel, i don’t think he’s your friend.

I’m planning on fighting back! I don’t know how, but the first step is I’m voting with my wallet!

say wha…?
Marvel Still had an open Submissions policy

arggg why didn’t I hear about it until they closed it?

>say wha…?
Marvel Still had an open Submissions policy

arggg why didn’t I hear about it until they closed it?

Sounds like it didn’t matter anyway, the real question is ‘did they actually look at my submission?’

Forget artists, it’s zero experience writers who get the shaft. Marvel hires HOllywood and nobody elseo.

Ths is a bunch of lies from Marvel and CRB. Get it correct a comic book artist is a expert in the art field more than a gruadate from college or university. A reason most astist never make comic books. To be one you have to pratice alot. Sure alot of artists that stink and barely pratice might be able to make 6 page story submission without alot of muscles and actions or have produced a comic book and been hired by marvel which is a reason most comic books have been crappy but not as crappy as they use to. This proves how blind marvel has been in the past. Know that there saying that they never hired anyone from submission than why did they review them. They act as if they couldn’t ignore those who stunk and block those who kept constantly sending submissions especially using e-mail or thru there website. For there excuse that they were overlooking real or better talent, there is alot of talent, people who can create characters and have immense drawing skills but don’t know to make a comic book or put action into there characters, out there its that they have to be trained which marvel could of done when hiring or thru a trial program on the internet. You definitly can not do it a convention or expect someone to read book and figure it out. If its some other talent there talking about they definitly have it wrong. If someone that didn’t stink in art, could make there own comic book why would they join Marvel since they would make more than those marvel artists. Yes its hard making a comic book to begin with without guidance and incentive besides having to find an inker, writer, colorist and letterer that would be in a office next to you. Marvel is not the last to close open submission but as i recall the first. If they have too much artist they need to say so. So this is against people making remarks who know nothing about comic book art or the submission. Against those who are against it. No looking at deviant or other websites i believe Marvel won’t do as it overcrowded with those who stink at comic book making. Deviant stinks. I would rather look somewhere else.

Against those who are against it. No, looking at deviant or other websites i believe Marvel won’t do as its overcrowded with those who stink at comic book making. Deviant stinks. I would rather look somewhere else. So stay out of this is if it doesn’t pertain to you. Most comic book artist join Marvel because they don’t have to create there own characters which is hard. Top cow is wortheless and Image only a logo stamper who only wants to stamp there logo on anothers comic and expect to get paid for it without aiding the comic book producers.

It seems so ridiculous to me. You’re right. It’s all about who you know these days. It doesn’t matter how good your art is. I’m talking all art. It doesn’t matter if it’s music, writing, drawing, painting, sculpting, photography, or anything else. If you don’t have any connections you better be prepared to submit thousands (yes I said THOUSANDS) of pieces of work before you even get one interview. You WILL starve and you WILL be miserable no matter how good you are. On the flip side, if you have a buddy in the industry, you’re basically a shoe in. You could wake up one day and decide you want to be a writer, go to your friend, and have an interview the next day. As long as you’re not mentally handicapped you’re pretty much guaranteed the job. it’s a sad sad world these days for artists. Once in a great while someone truly great will slip through, but not often. This is highly evident in the work that most companies are pushing on us these days. I’d say 70% of it is crap and I’d say I personally know someone who could do a better job at any given aspect of 50% of the current pickings but they’ll probably be poor and miserable until the day they die. If I have any advice for anyone aspiring to be an artist (the comic industry especially), it’s this **BE PERSISTENT**. You could very well be the next Stan Lee but you could also try thousands of submissions before anyone even gives you an interview. It’s hard for them to see with their biased blinders on. Just keep trying and trying and trying. Pretty soon everyone will have seen your name enough that it’ll almost be like they know you and then they’ll start to pay attention when they hear your name. “Hey, we have a submission from so-and-so.”… “So-and-so? I think I’ve heard that name before. Pass it here.” It WILL work eventually, it just might take years. Ask yourself how bad you want it. If you want it more than anything you CAN have it. Just be prepared and don’t give up. Best of luck. Signed (someone important in the industry)

well Dark Horse comics accepts submission and is probably the only one that does. Something fishy about what so called headhoncho said. In short so than how do they sell anything if what those people in the comic book industry give worthless input unless anything goes in this internet age of untalented unintellect drone zombies, which are the customers that buy comics, goofing off all the time on the internet doing nothing resourceful or meaniningful. Seriously its see no pay and I’ve seen such art work online that I don’t need to pay for it. What new talent is out there that is great, none in the comic book field.

I’m tired of people complaining about beinging comic book writers as if comic book writing were a career but a writers job position. You either are a writer or not a writer. You either have a degree in writing or you don’t. If you have a huge vocabulary and good grammar skills which one can learn or you don’t cause you’re to lazy to learn than you don’t need a degree. Their is no such thing as a comic book writer career though you can make a living off it. You either studied your words/vocabulary and english to become a good writer or slacked, loathed off so don’t try to come a exuse that Its hard to be a comic book write because its a position anyone with grammer skills can apply for. I wouldn’t waste my time trying to be a comic book writer would just go ahead and write novels because as in most competitive jobs you have to have connections and its hard to get in it =of course. Writing a novel would make you more money without writing to much material yet the novel doesn’t have to be hundreds of pages but like Goosebumps short. In short if you don’t pratice in life you won’t get anywhere.

When I was a younger (teenage to very early 20′s), I would send in submission samples to marvel every few years.

Each time I would get the rejection letter, but ONE time (1989) editor Carl Potts must have liked what he saw because he sent me a hand-written letter with notes and a HUGE freakin’ stack of photocopies from classic anatomy and film theory books.

He told me to find the original books if I could (as they were pretty hard to come by) and to study them.

I was torn between feeling the sting of rejection and the hope and pride that he had liked enough of what he saw to send me some “help”.

I am sorry to say that I never really followed up on it, instead opting to go to conventions, selling my own comic book character pin-up artwork in a booth and then soon (1990) being hired by a small-time comic publisher where I wrote and drew comics as a full-time job for a few years.

Sadly, within a couple of years of my going to conventions and whatnot, the entire industry started to collapse (the mid 1990′s), people weren’t frequenting the conventions as much, the comic publisher I worked for became unsteady and I got out.

I had always intended to get back in, but knew that submissions wouldn’t be the way.
I needed to hook up with a small press, but by the time the industry turned around, my contacts were long gone.

;-(

With the internet, it’s easier to get your stuff out there, but conventions are probably still the way to go.

BTW, I’ve started posting some of my old comic art on my blog (I haven’t yet got to the submissions that Carl Potts liked, but there’s other stuff up there now).

PTOR

sorry but you’re excuse Marvel and DC doesn’t work. Lets be honest. Both companies are kind of like a secret society to get in. It used to be in the 90’s and before it if you have the talent than you’re in but its not like that anymore. With so many corrupt managers, employees,CEO’s out in the business world hiring, talent doesn’t work anymore but connections. As to posting work on the internet better go submitting you’re work to firms cause there are millions of people doing this overcrowding websites and Marvel/DC won’t look on deviant, comicvine, paintbucket. Serving coffee. slogging it out, photocoying, won’t get you anywhere either since it just doesn’t work unless you knew someone in marvel and wanted to be trained by them because you didn’t have the talent.. Publishing how can you compete against to monoplies that will try to see it that you don’t get bigger than them. This is coming from in expert in comic book art though I’m unpublished. It all has to do with connections beging a relative, friend. The internet won’t help but since it more of a headache and amounts more problems to competition as a child can submit their work in diminshing number of art posting sites where professionals post. For some reason there a few of sites that keep on dimishing where you can post material. Lets be serious also the marvel of the 90′s isn’t what it used to after one of it mangers/CEO’s i think in 1997 stole money from Marvel and resigned and of course he was clever about it so he got away it and it was millions which almost took Marvel out of business but over expanding of mavel titles was blamed and overproducing. I think that guys name was robert or something. This in turn brought marvel down until 2006-7 when things started picking back up and old artists started coming back into the scene because they were ticked off and went to work for DC after this a reason many titles and art work went down around 1998-2005.

yeah i was right marvel went bankrupt and was brought by toy-biz in 1998 because of that corrupt marvel official.