From press release posted at Graphic Policy:

April 26, 2011 –Northwest Press, a publisher of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender graphic novels and comics, is raising funds on the website Kickstarter to produce an anti-bullying comic book for youth and teachers’ groups. The Power Within tells the story of a junior high schooler who imagines himself as a superhero to deal with his constant harassment at school. The project is written by Charles “Zan” Christensen and drawn by Mark Brill, and features bonus material by Dan Parent (creator of Archie Comics’ first openly gay character, Kevin Keller), Phil Jimenez (Wonder Woman, New X-Men), Gail Simone (Secret Six, Wonder Woman), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Andy Mangels (Gay Comics), Donna Barr (The Desert Peach), and others.

The project was conceived in October 2010 for 24 Hour Comics Day, an international event where comics creators attempt to produce a complete comic book in a single day. The previous month, there were numerous, high-profile news reports of gay teen suicides all over the U.S., prompting a public outcry and the creation of the It Gets Better Project to combat LGBT teen isolation and bullying. Christensen and Brill decided to tackle the topic in their book and by the end of the event, they had completed a rough version of the story.

Brill continued to polish the artwork, and the book was completed and published in a limited run in March 2011, selling at comic book conventions in Seattle and Chicago. In order to mass-produce the book and provide free copies to gay-straight alliances and other youth groups, Christensen sought the participation of some high profile artists and writers for bonus features and began a fundraising effort to cover printing and shipping costs. In six days, the project reached a third of its funding goal; The Power Within must receive a minimum of $3000 in pledges on Kickstarter by March 20th in order to be funded.

(More information about the book, donation incentives, and contact information at Graphic Policy.)

A note from the Comic Book Collecting Association:

Sharpen your pencils!

It’s time for the Second Annual CBCA Amateur Art Competition.

The Comic Book Collecting Association (CBCA) is pleased to announce the Second Annual CBCA Amateur Art Competition. The competition allows amateur artists to showcase their finest work, with the winning submissions determined by voting by the comic collecting community.

There will be two categories of competition: adults and minors (under age 14). For the adults, a $100 grand prize will be awarded to the winner with $25 awards to two runner ups. For the minors, a $25 grand prize will be awarded to the winner with $10 awards to two runner ups.

Entries will be accepted now though May 20. Entries will be posted online for voting the week of May 23. The format and length of the voting is contingent upon the number of entries received, and will be announced at the commencement of voting.

Who is eligible?

The spirit of the contest is to host a competition among those generally considered to be amateur illustrators. Anyone may enter with the exception of: individuals who regularly receive income from illustration, and/or individuals who are widely recognized as a professional illustrator, past or present. (Aspiring artists who occasionally receive income for illustration are eligible to compete.) CBCA membership is not required to enter.

CBCA Directors and Officers may enter the competition, however they are not eligible for the cash award. If a CBCA Director or Officer is a finalist, the cash award will go to the entrant with the next highest amount of votes.

The CBCA reserves the right to deny eligibility to any participant at their discretion.

Who can vote?

Anyone can vote one time in the online poll. The link to the poll will be posted when voting commences.

Submission guidelines

Submissions must be an original piece of artwork. There are no limitations on the type of format – entries may be a single character, group, splash style page, a paneled page, pinup style pose, strip art, color, black and white… whatever format you think best showcases your work.

Reproductions of artwork originally created by other persons are not permitted. For example, an illustration that is an homage to the cover of Fantastic Four #1 is acceptable, however a nearly identical reproduction of the cover of Fantastic Four #1 is not. Submissions should be tasteful and suitable for all ages. The CBCA reserves the right to deny any submission at their discretion.

Because submissions will be posted anonymously, be sure your signature is not an integral part of the artwork – it will be digitally obscured.

Submissions should be sent as a .jpg, .png or .gif file to art@comiccollecting.org no later than May 20, 2011. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number with your submission. Please send in a size large enough to showcase the detail of your work, but very large images may be resized by the CBCA to an appropriate screen size.

Questions?

Contact the Comic Book Collecting Association at info@comiccollecting.org or visit the CBCA forum at www.comiccollecting.org/forum/index.php.

Mini-Comics Day is not administered by ComicsPRO, but the organizers of that day have been participants in 24-Hour Comics Day since the very first year, and they sent us this a link to this new event!

Brought to you by the International Cartoonist Conspiracy:

MINI-COMICS DAY, April 9, 2011

Making a mini-comic is a great exercise and can help you prepare for the next 24-Hour Comics Day challenge!

Good luck with your mini-comics!

The date for the next annual 24-Hour Comics Day was announced at the ComicsPRO Annual Memebership Meeting, during the session on Friday, February 11th.

Add it to your calendar: the date for 24HCD 2011 is October 1st!

The 24-Hour Comics website will be updated in the next few months and sign-ups for host locations will begin in June. We’ll keep you posted!

As hosts plan their 24HCD event for the upcoming year, this is the first question they ask us! Here’s how it works:

ComicsPRO is a trade association for comic book retailers. The organization focuses on providing member benefits which help lower the operating costs of comic book stores as well as providing services to raise the profile of comic books around the world. ComicsPRO provides administration and promotion for the 24-Hour Comics Day event each year.

The next official 24HCD date is announced at the ComicsPRO Annual Membership Meeting which is usually held near the beginning of each calendar year. The next ComicsPRO AMM will be held February 10-13, 2011 in Dallas, Texas.

When the new date is announced by the 24HCD Committee at the Annual Membership Meeting, we will post it here at the blog and on the main 24HCD website.

Registration for the event usually goes live in June or July, and for the past few years the event has been held in the late 3rd quarter or the early 4th quarther of the year.

Thank you for participating in 24-Hour Comics Day or hosting an event. We’ll be back in a few months with more information about 24HCD 2011!

Created with flickrSLiDR.

And you can read about it all at the 24 Hour Comics Day from 7000 BC blog, where the whole day was documented.

All participants — and all those who want to see what was produced that day, or are interested in producing comics — are invited to the 24 Hour Comics Day Follow-Up Meeting.

Congratulations to all of the venues around the world who hosted a 24-Hour Comics Day event! And congratulations to all of the creators who took the 24-Hour Comics Day challenge–even if you didn’t finish your comic this year. Great work!

24HCD Venues: if you HOSTED a 24HCD event this year, don’t forget to email your total participation count. Just send the number of people who tried the challenge; you don’t need to send individual names and you can count them even if they didn’t finish their comics.

24HCD Participants: if you COMPLETED all 24 pages in 24 hours and your venue isn’t sending in a copy of your comic to the main 24-Hour Comics Day collection (not all venues do), please send in a copy of your completed comic!

You can use the form on this web page marked “Cover Letter to Submit Your Comics to the Official 24-Hour Comics Day Collection.” Mail that cover letter, along with a copy of your completed 24-page comic to the address on the form.

Thank you!