Climax of Small Press Idol round 3

Well, sad news. The people I was pushing to win Small Press Idol round 3 did not win. The cure came close though. In light of this, I have decided instead to attempt to continue to manipulate the poll results in the little way I can, despite not knowing any of the people running. I will now take the same stance as the judges and push titles based solely on how much I think they would sell if they were in a comic book shoppe.

Curse of the Vessel, The People that melt in the Rain, and Clown town were both featured in my previous small press idol post HERE

Personally, I’d prefer Curse of the Vessel or The People that melt in the rain to win, for I feel they have the most potential for a good plot in comparison to the other plots. However, reading on the Small Press idol forums, Clown Town may or may not have some good potential. Alas, to decrease Bias, I will discuss a new contender, Monkey quest:

Monkey Quest: This project managed to steal third place from The People that Melt in the Rain at the last minute, putting it in a weakly held spot. The story follows a group of thieves who have achieved a map that leads to a relic that will spell the undoing of some empire. While this premise has been done to death, this project has a respectable spot in the competition, probably due to character designs being very clean, and everything being very easy on the eyes.

Overall, while the original projects that I was pushing for did not achieve a position in this contest that would assure victory, since I have done all this research, I feel compelled to see the contest through to the end, and possibly have an effect on the results. Hence, I may attempt to get a look at the material released for round four, and at that point, I will report my opinions on who I think should win. MAY THE BEST COMIC WIN!

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Related Posts:
Overview of Small Press Idol Round 3
Project Profile: The Cure
Project Profile: Egg Finger
Egg Finger Comic Preview

Overview of Small Press Idol round 3

Go on down there and vote for Egg Finger, he needs it!

Go vote for the cure, he's almost there!

Alright, while I have said that Japanese comics are usually better because of competition, this does not mean that American comics cannot apply the same principal and become successful. Hence bringing us to the Small Press Idol competition, where a bunch of small time artists duke it out for a publishing deal. This amuses me, due to the simple fact that it forces new talent to show their best work for the slim chance that they MAY get their dreams fulfilled.

Now then, this contest works a lot like the American Idol system, except only for comic book artists, and a better fanbase. There are three judges that talk about the persons work, although we are deprived of Simon’s jackassery, and then the readers go and vote for the project on a daily basis. This helps show fanbase loyalty and a projects staying power. Plus its lots of fun.

While I have talked to a few of the artists and found that their work appears to have potential, it does show a bit of bias. Because of this, I will talk about the top three projects, along with my current faves.

Clown Town: Currently number 1 one in the contest, holding a strong lead. This is the story about a town being harassed by a large assortment of clowns that like to torture and maim those who victimize the children they were meant to entertain. It certainly looks sadistic, and will most likely appeal to fans of shows like Death Note, at least when the clowns are around. On the other hand, the plot will be featuring am unlikely group of heroes trying to fight back against the psychotic clown invasion, including a retired rodeo clown. Looks like it has potential to be an interesting psychological horrors that plays on every child’s worst fear….

Curse of the Vessel: Currently the only story to be competing with Clown Town on a serious level (and by serious I mean votes.) This project is based around the story of a man who has been cursed to be possessed by the spirits of the deceased. This causes him to take on missions of vengeance given to him by the recently deceased. Unfortunately, our lead cannot actually control when or what the dead do when they possess him, getting him into severe legal trouble. The book appears to be based both around the spirits possessing our lead, and the journey to release him from the curse he has fallen under.

The People that melt in the Rain: While this project is holding third place, Curse of the Vessel has a significant lead on it. This project is about a town cursed to melt in the rain, along with irregular types of rain such as dogs, cats, and sausages. The story revolves around some of the townsfolk’s journey to figure out the mysteries of WHY this occurs, how to predict it, and how to stop it. Although it has the most simple concept, I feel that it pushed out one the strongest first few pages in the competition, along with possibly the best art.

Now then, you’ve also seen me write about a couple other competitors in this contest such as:

The Cure: One of the few major superhero stories in this contest, complete with the main character getting his superpowers from radiation. This project is currently at 6^th place, although its votes are starting to catch up with the project immediately above it. It should be noted that the art in this story is some of the best in this contest. This is the story of a post apocalyptic world filled with filth and corruption, where one man wants to stand up to the tyranny that rules the people. This man is… THE CURE!  Read more here

Egg Finger: This comic is about a cartoon mascot’s dissent into darkness, and his quest for vengeance against the mascot that replaced him. Unfortunately, he’s a bit behind on the votes, and needs a lot of help in order to catch up. Fear not, for that is what we’re here for, right? Anyways, this is a dark comedy about corporate greed and the things that people do in desperate situations. Read more here.

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Find some people YOU want to win.

Related posts:
Project Profile: The Cure
Project Profile: Egg Finger
Egg Finger Comic Preview

Egg Finger comic preview

Egg Finger is still looking for your votes HERE (sign up to vote now, and vote daily)

Complete project

Well readers, I have some good news. Egg finger was able to make it to round three of the Small press idol competitions, and the article on this site boosted votes greatly. Unfortunately, Eggy was a bit late on submitting his comic for round three, and needs more votes to make it on to the final round. So here I am bringing more attention, featuring a preview of the official Egg Finger comic, if it were to win the contest.

Basic Premise: Well, Egg finger is the mascot for a soft drink corporation who has been down on his luck ever since his rival Awesome Aid man has been taking his business as the world’s largest soft drink icon. I elaborated further on the characters in my last post on Egg Finger, so you can check that out over there…

Here’s the first three pages (click to enlarge):

As predicted, it is most likely going to be a dark comedy featuring cartoon characters, which will most likely be fun to read. We’ll be seeing Eggy’s descent into darkness and him learning the various ways of the world in future installments, and hopefully get to see Awesome Aid man act like a total idiot later on. Strangely though, I’ve only seen two named humans with normal skin colors in the series, which greatly sets the tone of the series. I personally hope the project maintains the hilarity of Eggy’s facebook posts. However, for the time being, Eggy needs YOU to help him win this contest!

Vote here, and please comment and subscribe!

Related stuff:
Artist profile: Egg Finger
Project Profile: The cure
Overview of Small Press Idol Round 3

Project Profile: The Cure

Vote for The Cure in the Small Press Idol competition

Complete Project 

Previous Artist: SabreTooth Fox

I know I’m a bit late on this week’s artist profile, had final exams and a minor Pokemon addiction. Alas, I did manage to locate a pretty good pair of artists for this week’s segment. This week’s feature is on The Cure, a comic being created by Eric Lebow and R.G. Rubens, sent to me by Egg Finger.

This is the story of a post apocalyptic world, where people are forced to live in domed cities where everything they eat or drink needs to be purified. One particular dome known as Salvation canyon, is being run by Reverand John Stone, leader of a church telling people that this is the only place left in the world, while running a criminal organization. Now, one man emerges in attempt to bring this people to life. In this festering pit of disease and wretched filth, people need…. THE CURE!

Here’s a black and white cover shot, featuring The Cure and Reverand Stone.

(click to enlarge)

On another note, we have a profile of our main,

Now then, while I like the concept, (particularly the three dimensional logo on his chest)

I’m not too fond of the font used in the bio thingies. Radiation is a common source of superpowers, however, I like how the radiation has been incorporated into the actual powerset, rather than say, giving him spider powers.

And on the flipside, We have a bio of Reverend Stone, our local totalitarian dictator/ fascist priest

I particularly like the fact that his sword is all broken up. I hope they’ll explain that if the book gets released, because that has the potential to be cool. 

Now then, this project has released its first three pages, which look very nice: (probably need to click them to read)

These sort of set up the premise, and most importantly show how it will look in action if it gets done. Furthermore, it shows that the author has the potential to go through with their premise, and isn’t all talk.

Third page is available on the small press idol page. While you’re there, why not stop by and give it a vote? We must support small artists, and prevent America’s comic industry from becoming stagnant and run by two or three large companies who rarely produce new characters!

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Next Artist: Tsuranga

Related Stuff:
Clean Livin' (A series made by the same Artist)

Artist Profile: Egg Finger
Overview of Small Press Idol Round 3