If you've been reading Bakuman, you know that making manga takes a lot of work, and just a bit of luck. Now VIZ Media and Shonen Jump are giving aspiring manga artists a chance to get their comics creations a critique from a pro who knows the Japanese manga biz from the inside out, and maybe get their comics published in the pages of Shonen Jump magazine, with the Shonen Jump Storyboard Contest.
Hisashi Sasaki, Shueisha's Deputy Director of Shonen Manga Group and former Editor in Chief of Weekly Shonen Jump (the best-selling shonen manga magazine in the world) is coming to San Diego Comic-Con 2011. He's going to be holding a very special panel on Friday, July 22 from 3 - 4 pm in Room 9, where he'll be giving tips and tricks on how to create great shonen manga. As part of this panel, he'll be looking at storyboards created by aspiring comics creators -- and that's where you come in!
The Shonen Jump Storyboard contest is a challenge to you, to create a quick 4-page storyboard sketch on this theme:
"The summer adventures of a thirteen-year-old teenager who dreams of becoming a movie star in New York."
To enter, draw four (4) pages of storyboard with the following requirements:
- On plain letter-sized paper (8.5 x 11 inches, no lined paper please!)
- Right-to-left reading direction (Japanese-style)
- Execute a complete story in four pages
- Draw panels in rough sketch form with dark pencil lines (so it can be scanned for printing)
- Use legible handwriting for the speech bubbles
- Must be original work-- no parodies and no tracing
- If you're emailing your work, your scanned artwork must be at least 7.5" x 10.5" at 300 dpi resolution.
You'll also need to print and sign the consent form (PDF) and send it with your entry, either by postal mail or email by August 15, 2011. If you want to get your storyboard considered for discussion at the Comic-Con panel, your storyboard needs to arrive before July 15, 2011.
This contest is open to all comics creators, age 13 and older, and residents of the United States and Canada (except Quebec). Be sure to read the rules before entering!
So what are you waiting for? Get sketching, and maybe you'll be seeing your comics in the pages of Shonen Jump magazine!
Image credit: BAKUMAN. © 2008 by Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata / SHUEISHA Inc., © 2002 Masashi Kishimoto
Comments
Hi
Thanks for postig this article but, as you have noticed , people fom other countries cannot participate. So thats really sad that aspiring artists from other countries are being overlooked. I dont want to be critical about the entries that have been posted but i didnt find even a single artwork that appealed to me.
Anyways thanks once again.
Well, it is too bad that this contest is only open to N. American comics creators, but hopefully, if SJ gets a good response from this, maybe they’d do a similar contest for entrants from other countries too in the future!
Also — wanted to remind people that this contest is open to comics creators at all levels of experience, from amateurs to students, to pros and anything in between – storyboards can be very simple — telling a compelling story is the key here, not draftsmanship perfection!
Well, Mexico is also in north America.
It’d be amazing if we get to have the future SJ Hit from this contest.
Hi
Thanks for posthing this article but as you already know, people from other countries cannot participate. i dont know why they are so casually overlooking talents from other countries. I dont want to sound critical but none of the entries which i checked out came even near to an average artwork.
I think Viz is just patronizing us illustrators, ignoring the strong art made in Europe, Asia and South America. VIZ and the new manga/anime producers conglomerate just assumes that the low Q and hi margins market in the US is enough for them.
In a couple years the market will be 100% americanized meaning author rights fights and Cos evaporations (TokyoPop, an example?) , product sales hidden in stories, propaganda, etc.
We just came from Singapur, Korea and China, and I witness many japanese manga/anime being made there, also a growing number of studios creating Manhua, and a cosplay (kosupure) scene going quite healthy.
History will prove that the otaku/anime scene is becoming globalized while the short sighted Tokyo CEOs try to acomodate to US standards, so soon japanese studios and illustrators will be just acommodators of stories between product ads and their job will be measured only by sales and ratings.
Japan then will buy anime from Disney, Vanity Fair, Enquirer, and Chevy, and Tezuka + Miyazaki will be substituted by Gaga. We wont visit Comiket and Akihabara but Cocacolet and NoBrainsLand, and the newcomers from Brasil and China. I can live with that.
Expressing the same disappointment as Mihiru here. I understand that it is organized by Viz so the focus will be on North America, but since Viz products are available worldwide to plenty of other English-speaking countries, it would’ve been nice if we were qualified for the competition as well…
True, i know there’s probably lots of interest from comics creators in other countries, but as someone who has worked on sweepstakes promotions at some of my other jobs, the legal requirements / rules for sweepstakes are complicated enough to manage for the various US states. Once you open it up to other countries, you have to take into account the laws of EVERY OTHER COUNTRY that you make eligible for a contest, and that’s a lot of lawyers to deal with.
If you’re interested in entering a contest that’s open to artists from all countries, I suggest you look into the Morning International Comics Competition from Kodansha’s Morning Magazine — http://morningmanga.com/micc/.
Thanks for the link to the latest MICC! I didn’t realize that the results were out on the 4th installment of the competition.
I remember blogging about this back in 2009, and kept checking back at the MICC site for the contest results until March 2010. However, there were no updates so I thought the competition was canceled altogether.
I wonder what happened with the long delay. Has the competition been switched over to a biennial instead of an annual thing? And will there be a 5th MICC?
Thanks!
Ummm, I don’t think i have time to send it by mail by now… are we allowed to send it by email?
Yes! They’re accepting email entries at letters@shonenjump.com. Just visit the Shonen Jump Storyboard Contest page for more details on how to prep your files.
OMG! this is really happening! i know i’m late but..when does this end??