“The number and velocity of votes completely exceeded our expectations, and this is the sort of high class problem you don’t mind solving,” Sablik explained. “All of us at Top Cow are eager to see which Pilot Season competitor emerges victorious.”

According to the press release, TopCow.com has been restored and moved over to a more substantial server with increased capacity for traffic. The first round of voting has been extended through Dec. 31 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific, with the top four vote-getters going on to a second round, and the top two from that to go to a final round. Stay tuned for more news on the contest as it develops.

Assuming the window for voting re-opens, people will have a chance to vote for one of seven books released this year in Top Cow’s unique event.This year’s line-up was its most diverse yet in terms of story and creators, spanning sci-fi to dramatic with even some comedic moments. The seven titles are The Test, The Beauty, City of Refuge, Fleshdigger, Theory of Everything, Misdirection, Anonymous and Seraph.

Robot 6 reached out to Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik for comment, but have not heard back at the time of publication.

UPDATE: On Monday, Top Cow Publisher Filip Sablik contacted Robot 6 to explain TopCow.com’s website crashing.

“Topcow.com did go down to due to our bandwidth being exceeded several times in the last week,” Sablik explains. “We’ve increased our bandwidth several times with our current host, but the intensity of voting activity exceeded even our increased bandwidth capabilities. We are currently in the process of migrating topcow.com to a new server which should provide a more stable solution to the problem. We should have an update on when the site will be back up shortly and once the site is live, we will be extending the first round of voting to compensate for the time the lost.”

Although Top Cow hasn’t revealed just how many votes it’s received yet, during the inaugural 2007 Pilot Season, they received 4.1 million votes.

“It’s just another example of how Pilot Season really engages comic fans and we’re thrilled at the passion fans are demonstrating trying to get their favorite Pilot Season title into the top 4 spots for the second round of voting. Even if it has caused some technical difficulties!”

Robot 6 will update you when TopCow.com comes back online and voting resumes.

Charles Christensen and Mark Brill

Creators | Out magazine has included writer Charles “Zan” Christensen and artist Mark Brill in its 17th annual “Out 100″ list highlighting the 100 gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of the year. Christensen and Brill are the creators of The Power Within, an anti-bullying comic book published by Northwest Press. “Inspired, or rather upset, by Tyler Clementi’s tragic death last year, the pair set out to create an empowering story of an eighth-grader picked on for being gay,” the magazine writes. Northwest Press has distributed over 700 free copies of the book to more than 50 gay-straight alliances, schools, churches, community centers and other youth organizations. [Out]

Creators | Uncanny X-Men writer Kieron Gillen considers the accessibility of the relaunched comic in light of reviews he’s read around the web, particularly the fact that some people were thrown by the X-Men living in San Francisco: “Of course, I can see the reason why it’s thrown the people … they know the X-Men live in a mansion in Westchester. That they’re not living in Westchester is the problem. It’s not about giving the information to read the story that’s there. It’s about correcting pre-existing assumptions. In other words, it’s not a problem about being accessible to new readers – because a genuinely new reader would accept the fact the X-Men live on Utopia in the same way that they except that Bilbo lives in the Shire – but rather a problem with the readers being old readers. They feel lost not because of the story on the page, but the gap between the old story in their heads and the story on the page, and wanting to know what connects the two.” [Kieron Gillen]

Charlaine Harris

Creators | Charlaine Harris discusses Cemetery Girl, her upcoming graphic novel with co-writer Christopher Golden. [FEARnet]

Creators | Writer Christos Gage and artist Rebekah Isaacs talk about their work on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer spinoff title Angel and Faith. [TFAW]

Creators | Chicago Bears linebacker-turned-comics writer Lance Briggs discusses Seraph, his entry, with co-writer Phil Hester, into this year’s Top Cow Pilot Season. [USA Today]

Commentary | David Uzumeri provides a “primer” on what he calls the “Geoff Johns Literalism Method”: “What is it that Geoff Johns does so well when it comes to revitalizing characters? It’s very simple: reduce the character or team into a single core idea and rebuild every aspect of the mythology around that idea. I’ve termed this “Johnsian Literalism,” and it’s an approach that’s becoming more widely used. A character’s location, family, friends and villains should all reflect or refract an aspect of that core idea — a crystalline, fractal concept that extends itself into every narrative tendril of every story. In order to see how Johnsian Literalism has been applied throughout the course of Johns’s work, let’s examine how it has functioned his most successful franchises and speculate about the formative influences that helped him develop this distinctive approach.” [ComicsAlliance]

Jay Kennedy

Education | Applications are now being accepted for the Jay Kennedy Scholarship, named for the deceased King Features editor. The scholarship offers $5,000 to students at a four-year college in the United States, Canada or Mexico who will be a junior or senior during the 2012-2013 academic year. Applicants do not have to be art majors to be eligible for this scholarship. [Cartoonist Foundation]

Education | Fiction Fix, the literary magazine of the University of Florida, is looking for comic submissions for its spring 2012 issue. [Fiction Fix]

Commentary | Don MacPherson reviews the first collection of Faith Erin Hick’s comic strip/webcomic The Adventures of Superhero Girl. [Eye on Comics]

Comics | Bully points out the similarities between the origins of the Rawhide Kid and Spider-Man. [Comics Oughta Be Fun]

Comics | Is Wolverine part of the 1 percent? [Ecocomics]

Comics | The French graphic novel Triangle Rose (“Pink Triangle”) may be the first to depict the gay experience before and during the Holocaust, telling the fictional tale of a Berliner who experiences increasing persecution and is finally sent to a concentration camp. [Care2, via Sean Kleefeld]

Point One

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d first get the third issue of my favorite New 52 title, Batwoman #3 (DC, $2.99). Seriously, J.H. Williams III is hitting a home run on every outing here when it comes to my tastes. Although the writing isn’t up to the level of Greg Rucka’s time on the book, it’s close and only bound to get better. Next up I’d get Point One #1 (Marvel, $5.99). I think this format–an extra-size preview book for what’s coming next–is an interesting experiment, and I’m intrigued most by the Nova story, but also interested to see what the others do. Third would be Uncanny X-Force #17 (Marvel, $3.99), to get the one-two punch of Rick Remender and Jerome Opena. Iceman as a bad guy? I dig this.

If I had $30, I’d get Wolverine #18 (Marvel, $3.99) because I love Jason Aaron and Ron Garney teaming up, and seeing them bring in Fat Cobra from Immortal Iron Fist is oddly perfect for the book. Next up would be my comics weak-spot, Top Cow’s Pilot Season book–Pilot Season: Anonymous #1 (Image/Top Cow, $3.99). After that I’d pick up Fear Itself #7.2 (Marvel, $3.99) despite the fact I wish Coipel was drawing this. Lastly would be Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 (Dynamite, $3.99) because I love this lesser-known Kirby creation and the artist on this, succinctly named Johnny D., looks worth watching.

If I had the time (and money) to splurge, I’d get the Simon & Kirby Library: Crime hardcover (Titan, $49.95). Lately I’ve had a keen interest on Jack Kirby’s lesser-known work during the 1950s and this seems to fill in a lot of the gaps for me. I’m excited to hold this in my hands and see what surprises it has in store for me.

Graeme McMillan

Silver Star

If I had $15 this week, I’d throw a bunch of it Marvel’s way, with the first issue of Battle Scars ($2.99) and the massive Point One ($5.99) filling up the majority of my budget quite nicely. Well done, House of Ideas. I’d also grab Dynamite’s Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #1 ($3.99), the first (of many, apparently) spin-offs from the enjoyable Busiek/Ross/Herbert series.

If I had $30, then I’d redress the balance a little by grabbing the third issues of some DC books: Demon Knights, Legion Lost, Green Lantern and Batwoman (All $2.99) would make my cut this week, with IDW’s Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #2 ($3.99) rounding out the haul.

For splurging, there’s really only one choice from my nostalgia’s point of view: Marvel’s Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus Vol. 1 oversized hardcover ($125) is kind of a must-have, what with it being my third-favorite FF run ever (Behind Lee/Kirby and Simonson). If only they’d offered it for $44.44 …

Chris Mautner

Princess Knight

If I had $15: No question, the first volume of Osamu Tezuka’s Princess Knight would be the first and only must-buy item on my list. This is one of those “Man, they’re never going to translate this series, are they?” books and I’m kind of awestruck that Vertical is taking a chance on it, even given the fact that they’ve become the Tezuka publisher of choice these days. It’s not that it’s such a controversial book as that it’s early Tezuka, which is sunnier, sweeter and less bizarre than the late period stuff they’ve been printing lately. At any rate, I’m excited to get this.

If I had $30: I’d find an extra $5 and pick up a copy of De Profundis by James Jarvis, an intriguing enigmatic comic about a pointy-nosed artist that wanders through an abandoned city before encountering a mysterious priest who gives him a commission job. I flipped through this at SPX, and while I didn’t have the extra cash to pick it up then, it did look like a worthwhile purchase.

Splurge: Again, an easy choice for me — the second volume of Jacques Tardi’s Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec from Fantagraphics. I’m on a big Tardi kick right now, having just recently read the first Adele collection, and am eager to experience more.

Michael May

Frankenstein

If I had $15, I’d spend most of it on my usual series: Demon Knights #3 ($2.99), Frankenstein: Agent of SHADE #3 ($2.99), and X-Men Legacy #258 ($2.99). I was lukewarm about the first issue of Huntress, but I liked it enough to check out the second one ($2.99). And though I’m not familiar with PC and Kristin Cast’s Harry Potter/Twilight mash-up House of Night, I like the art previews I’ve seen from Dark Horse’s adaptation ($1) and certainly wouldn’t mind paying a buck to learn more.

If I had $30, I’d add Reed Gunther, Volume 1 ($14.99) to read about my favorite bear-riding cowboy.

There are a few splurge items that caught my interest this week, but near the top of the list are The Zombies That Ate the World, Volume 1: Bring Me Back My Head! ($24.95) for the Guy Davis art and The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec, Volume 2 ($24.99). If I had to pick one thing though, I’d get the Fantastic Four by John Byrne Omnibus, Volume 1 ($125.00) because I’ve been wanting to read those stories for decades.

Wolverine and the X-Men #1

Welcome to Food or Comics?, where every week we talk about what comics we’d buy at our local comic shop based on certain spending limits — $15 and $30 — as well as what we’d get if we had extra money or a gift card to spend on a “Splurge” item.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d be a judicious comics buyer and pick the top four out of over 20 titles I’d want this week. DC/Vertigo makes it slightly easier by making the new Brian Azzarello/Eduardo Risso joint Spaceman #1 only $1. This dollar price point for first issues combined with the $9.99 price point they sometimes do for the first volume of comic trade paperbacks surely gets a lot of traction. Next up I’d get Jason Aaron’s new era of the X-Men in Wolverine & X-Men #1 (Marvel, $3.99) with Chris Bachalo. I’d also get my regular pulls of DMZ #70 (DC/Vertigo, $2.99) and The Walking Dead #90 (Image, $2.99) and last–but first in my stack to read-–would be Secret Avengers #18 (Marvel, $3.99). I hear some Ellis guy is writing it, but the big draw for me is artist David Aja. His Iron Fist run is one of my top favs in comics in the past ten years, and he’s a titan in my book.

If I had $30, I’d first grab this week’s Pilot Season: The Beauty (Image/Top Cow, $3.99) despite not knowing what it’s about because I love the Pilot Season concept. Next up would be the finale of Red Wing #4 (Image, $3.50), Butcher Baker, Righteous Maker #7 (Image, $2.99) and Daredevil #5 (Marvel, $2.99). Looking back at my picks so far, it’s an art-heavy week for me with lots of favorites from Risso to Bachalo, Aja, Burchelli, Huddleston and Martin. That means extra-long reading, as I normally do a second and third read just to soak up the artwork page by page, panel by panel.

If I were to splurge, I would gladly plunk down money for The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, $59.99). I applaud Dark Horse for doing the massive undertaking of collecting all of Manara’s work in seven volume. This first volume collects The Paper Man as well as Indian Summer with Hugo Pratt. It’s going to be a good weekend for me, work be damned.

Graeme McMillan

Kirby: Genesis

For a Kirby fan like myself, this is a pretty great week to have $15: More than half of it would immediately go toward the lengthily titled DC Comics Presents: The Jack Kirby Omnibus Sampler #1 (DC, $7.99), which collects 96 pages of 1950s Kirby from the pages of Adventure Comics, House of Secrets, House of Mystery and other anthology titles. Then I’d throw some coin in the direction of Kirby: Genesis #4 (Dynamite, $3.99), the continuation of Kurt Busiek, Alex Ross and the unsung Jack Herbert’s evocation of Kirbyesque scale and imagination, using some of his lesser-known creations. I’ve really been digging this series, and even if I hadn’t already been planning to pick up this issue, that lovely Ross cover probably would’ve convinced me. Look at the Captain Victory pose! Look at the giant egg-headed character at the back! Not-so-Kirby-esque, but a definite must: The Flash #2 (DC, $2.99), which had a surprisingly lovely first issue last month and earned back all the goodwill lost with the previous series.

If I had $30, there’d be even more Kirby-influence going on, because I’d pick up the first issue of two relaunches of Kirby properties: Jason Aaron and Marc Silvestri’s The Incredible Hulk and Aaron (again!) and Chris Bachalo’s Wolverine and the X-Men (Both Marvel, $3.99). The prelude to the Hulk book at the end of Fear Itself #7 was the very definition of underwhelming, and I didn’t think much of Schism, but I’m holding out hope for these two books nonetheless. Also on the to-buy list: DC’s Legion: Secret Origin (The second retelling of the team’s roots in the last two years, both of them written by Paul Levitz; DC, $2.99) and the second issue of Justice League Dark (DC, $2.99), which was fun if not essential in its debut.

Like Chris, if I had the possibility of splurging this week, it’s be The Manara Library Vol. 1 (Dark Hourse, $59.99). The man’s art is just stunning, and I can’t wait to see it in this deluxe presentation.

Brigid Alverson

The Drops of God

If I had $15, I would have just enough for the first volume of Drops of God, the manga about wine tasting that features two willowy men competing for an inheritance based on how well they can identify 12 different wines. It’s a winning manga formula that has not only won the book several awards but also boosted the popularity of the wines involved, and I can’t wait to read it.

If I had $30, I would add Power Lunch, a new all-ages graphic novel from Oni Press. I like the wacky premise‹a kid gains superpowers from the different foods he eats‹and the creative team of Dean Trippe and J. Torres closes the sale for me.

Splurge: The second volume of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s beautifully drawn tale of life on the Silk Road in the 19th century. The first volume didn’t have a lot of story–it was more a series of beautifully drawn moments with occasional bursts of action–which puts it in the splurge rather than must-buy category as far as I’m concerned. And since that only sets me back $16.99, expensive for a weekly buy but cheap for a splurge, I’ll toss in Gladstone’s School for World Conquerors #6, which I believe wraps up a story arc, and The Sixth Gun #16, and call it a very good week indeed.

Chris Mautner

Milo Manara Library

If I had $15:It would be a toss-up between The Smurf Apprentice, the eighth (that many already) volume in Papercutz’s ongoing reprint project, because you can never have too many Smurf comics, or the latest volume (that’s No. 10 if you’re counting) of Yotsuba! the cheery little manga about a effervescent green-haried girl. I’d probably end up going with Yotsuba, only because it’s one of my daughter’s favorite comics, and she’d kill me if I didn’t buy it.

If I had $30:I’d probably take a chance on Drops of God, that manga series about wine that seems to be insanely popular in its home country, if only to see what all the fuss was about.

Splurge:A couple people have mentioned the first volume of the Manara Library, and that’s definitely on my Amazon Wish List, but before that I think I’d pick up the second volume of Floyd Gottfredson’s Mickey Mouse. The first volume was a real treat, not just in terms of reintroducing myself to Gottfredson’s stellar work, but also in the sheer amount of incisive historical information about the strip, Gottfredson and his various Disney helpers. I’m sure Vol. 2 will be more of the same.

Michael May

From All-Star Western #2

If I had $15, I’d continue picking up some New 52 series I’m enjoying along with some talking apes. It hurts–oh it hurts–to pay four bucks for All-Star Western #2 ($3.99), but I’ll do it. I loved the detective story in the first issue with Arkham’s trying to figure out Hex in the voice over, and the art was even better. I don’t think I can keep buying it at that price, but I seem to be hooked for the first story anyway. More affordable are Justice League Dark #2 ($2.99) and Superman #2 ($2.99). JLD is starting with a slow build, but I’m attracted by the concept enough to keep checking it out. I was especially pleased by the attention the first issue of Superman gave to Lois Lane, so I’m hoping there’s more of that as the series continues. Finally, I’d grab Planet of the Apes #7 ($3.99), because that’s a fantastic series that I’ve run out of ways to say I love.

If I had $30, I’d get Aquaman #2 ($2.99). I enjoyed the stronger, tougher Aquaman in the first issue; I just hope the tone becomes less defensive, and quickly. I’m a big fan of the character, but (or maybe because of that) I’m already tired of his constantly explaining how cool he is. Next, I’d add some more expensive comics to the stack, like John Martz’ Heaven All Day ($4) about a lonely man who’s building a mysterious contraption and the abandoned robot he encounters in the process. Then there’s Ape’s Western/Kung Fu/Monster mash-up, Helldorado #1 ($3.99) and Warren Ellis’ Secret Avengers #18 ($3.99).

My splurge item would be Flesh: The Dino Files ($25.99) from Rebellion/2000 AD, because it’s a badass version of Terra Nova. Instead of going back in time to live, the future citizens of our depleted planet go back in time to capture dinosaurs for food. That’s a horribly irresponsible plan, but I’m curious to see if that’s addressed too. I hope it is, but even if not, I’m okay with shutting off the environmentalist part of my brain long enough to enjoy some dino-roping cowboys.

JK Parkin

If you buy one comic this week, it’s gotta be Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #19.

Check out Diamond’s release list or ComicList, and tell us what you’re getting in our comments field.

Hark! A Vagrant

Chris Arrant

If I had $15, I’d spend several musty dollars on Fear Agent #31 (Dark Horse, $3.50). This penultimate issue has been a long time coming, and I’m excited to see Remender and Moore enlist Mike Hawthorne to help get these final issues done – big fan of all three of them! Next up would be two of DC’s New 52; Action Comics #2 (DC, $3.99) and Swamp Thing (DC, $2.99); I admit that I feel weird not being more excited about Morrison’s run than I am, but somehow the first Action Comics wasn’t as gripping as the first All-Star Superman … and it’s not the art. For the last pick, I’d get X-Men: Schism #5 (Marvel, $3.99). It got off to a slow start, but Jason Aaron’s an expert at nailing his landings, and I’m intrigued to see how it all goes down.

If I had $30, I’d start off with a pair of number ones – Pilot Season: Test #1 (Image/Top Cow, $3.99) and Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 (BOOM! Studios, $3.99). Pilot Season has always been a must-buy for me; sometimes the concepts don’t live up to the promise, but they still have a good track record. I just wish more ended up as ongoing series. Next up I’d get the long-running Invincible #83 (Image, $2.99); seriously, this hits all my itches harkening back to my younger comic-reading days. Last up I would get Animal Man #2 (DC, $2.99); I love what Lemire and Foreman started here; I just wish there were more of it!

If I found some extra cash, I would double-back for Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant (D+Q, $19.95). This reads like a literary nut’s comic strip, and I love every bit of it. For some reason it reminds me of Gary Larson’s The Far Side but in a very modern way.

Snarked #1

Graeme McMillan

If I had $15, I’d make a beeline for Roger Langridge’s Snarked #1 (BOOM! Studios, $3.99) first of all, having loved the #0 preview and being curious as all get-out to see where things are about to go next. For the same, “But what happens now?” reasons, I’d grab Action Comics #2 and OMAC #2, my favorites from the first week of DC’s New 52 books (Both DC Comics, Action: $3.99, OMAC: $2.99), and also Marvel’s wonderful and underrated Mystic #3 ($2.99).

If I had $30 this week, I’d put Mystic and OMAC back on the shelves, and pick up Drawn & Quarterly’s Hark! A Vagrant HC ($19.95), the print collection of Kate Beaton’s spectacular webcomic that may have been released last week, but shows up on the Diamond list for this week. There’s no way this won’t be awesome.

When it comes to splurging, I’m going to go for the seventh volume of Bakuman (Viz, $9.99), a manga I’m a latecomer to, but have finally been won over by. Yes, it’s ridiculous and over the top, but that’s grown on me to the point where I can’t quite imagine anyone doing a story about the inside workings of the manga industry that wasn’t approaching operatic levels of emotion and intensity.

Bakuman, Volume 7

Chris Mautner

If I had $15:

The new Casanova and Boys are the obvious picks for me. And probably that first issue of Snarked as well. I might consider getting Action #2, although, to be honest, like Chris I wasn’t that enthralled with it.

If I had $30:

Hello, new volume of Bakuman! How nice to see you again! (Oh, and welcome to the club, Graeme.)

Splurge:

Everyone’s already mentioned that swell Kate Beaton book, and NBM has its first foray into manga, Stargazing Dog, but I can’t think of a more significant release this week than Vertical’s latest entry from the Osamu Tezuka library, The Book of Human Insects. This is one of Tezuka’s dark, later works from the ’70s and hopefully will be as gonzo insane as Ode to Kihrito and MW were.

Action Comics #2

Michael May

If I had $15, I’d return for a couple of DC series I enjoyed last month. My reaction to Action Comics was more in line with Graeme’s than the Chris’; possibly because my expectations for it were so mixed. I expected it to be interesting, but I didn’t predict how pleased I’d be with the less-powered Superman whose passion for social justice (as well as criminal) reminded me of the character’s earliest appearances. I’m eager for #2 ($3.99), though disappointed that the price is still not holding the line at $2.99; more pages or no. I’m a little less interested in Static Shock #2 ($2.99) knowing that John Rozum is leaving the series, but my fondness for the Milestone characters will keep me around long enough to see how it does without him. Next, I’d add the new Huntress #1 (2.99) because I like that character and – switching over to Marvel – grab Avengers 1959 #1 ($2.99) because Namora and Killraven on a team together sounds like a lot of fun.

If I had $30, I’d add Josh Fialkov’s Last of the Greats #1 ($3.99) to see him tackle a creator-owned superhero story. I also enjoyed the zero-issue of Snarked enough to come back for #1 ($3.99), so that goes on the pile too. I can’t pass up the price on Moonstone’s pulp crossover, Phases of the Moon, so I’d also grab the second issue ($2.50) featuring Honey West and Kolchak. And finally, with six bucks left in my pocket, I’d check in on Moriarty #5 ($2.99) and Reed Gunther #5 ($2.99), though in truth I’m trade-waiting both those series.

My splurge item this week is a no-brainer. Everyone’s already singing the praises of Kate Beaton’s Hark! A Vagrant ($19.95) and I’ll gladly add my voice to that choir.

The inaugural Pilot Season grouping saw a-list talent putting new spins on Top Cow heroes, from Jason Aaron on Ripclaw to Joe Casey on Velocity and more. After a competitive voting process that tallied over 4.1 million votes, Velocity (by Casey & Kevin Maguire) and Cyblade (by Joshua Hale Fialkov & Rick Mays) won out over three other contenders. The Cyblade team did a four-issue series in the fall of 2008, but shake-ups on the Velocity side led its original creators to bow out over disagreements with the publisher. Top Cow exclusive creators Ron Marz and Kenneth Rocafort took over, and the finished product came out over two years later.

In 2008, Top Cow switched up the contest to allow both company-owned characters as well as creator-owned affairs. This year’s contest had two clear winners in Twilight Guardian (by Troy Hickman and Reza) and Genius (by Marc Bernardin, Adam Freeman & Afua Richardson), who each claimed over a quarter of the total votes, beating out the likes of Jonathan Hickman, Jeremy Haun and others. Twilight Guardian got its own series beginning last year, with Genius still in a holding pattern for a full series debut. Despite not winning the contest, Fialkov & Haun’s Alibi received considerable Hollywood attention and Top Cow said at the time that even some of the losers in the Pilot Season contest could see life again in comics.

In 2009, Top Cow shook up the contest big-time when Robert Kirkman and Marc Silvestri came together to pioneer five unique one-shots that would vie for a shot at a full miniseries commitment. Four one-shots came out at a steady clip over the end of 2009 and beginning of 2010, with one-stand out — Hardcore — being delayed indefinitely with still no word some 16 months after its original solicited release date. This delay has delayed the voting for the entire batch of Pilot Season books, leaving readers with a big question mark on if they’ll ever read Hardcore and ever get to vote on the 2009 Pilot Season books.

Learning a lesson from its previous year, Top Cow’s 2010 Pilot Season titles were released over five consecutive weeks in the fall of 2010, featuring a host of Top Cow regulars and even a few staffers. In the end, the heist comic 39 Minutes (by William Harms and Jerry Lando) won the contest, with plans for a full-length series announced for 2011.

Despite some hiccups and snafus, Top Cow’s Pilot Season remains an invigorating concept allowing creators to throw a story at the wall and see what readers decide will stick. I’m looking forward to the 2011 titles and what comes next in the 2012 iteration!

No word on when the third Pilot Season competition starts. Last year’s winners were Twilight Guardian by writer Troy Hickman and artist Reza, and Genius by writers Marc Bernardin and Adam Freeman and artist Afua Richardson.