Do you have what it takes to be a professional comic book artist?

OK, I have to say up front that I don’t have any artistic talent, but if I did one of my dream jobs would be drawing comic books.  So if you have any artistic ability or know someone who would love the chance to work on comic book layouts for a living, you will definitely want to know about the Open Talent Searchbeing held by DC COMICS.

They are asking for anybody with an interest to submit a 4 panel page based upon a script they provide for an upcoming Harley Quinn comic book.  Harley Quinn is the side-kick and girl friend to DC Comics infamous villain The Joker.  The contest kicked off with a little infamy itself with complaints from some public interest groups that the script promoted or glamorized suicide.  DC has issued an apology and said the script portrays a fantastic dream sequence and does not depict a real suicide. They have maintained the script as is for the contest with the questionable scene being that depicted in Panel 4 remaining in place.  Harley Quinn is a violent lunatic so suicide isn't that tough to believe for the character and doesn't seem that far off beat for a comic script involving the character though it may have been a little too edgy to include in a public contest like this. 

The winning entry will be included within the published on page 15 of the first edition of a new Harley Quinn series that begins in November with issue #0.  Best case scenario is this could open doors to a paying gig by winning this contest and worst case is you get a great portfolio piece or souvenir for yourself.

Check out all the contest and submission rules on the contest website:  www.dccomics.com/node/305151. Than provide them your original artistic interpretation of what the four panels should look like from the provided script below on a single page:

PANEL 1
Harley is on top of a building, holding a large DETACHED cellphone tower in her hands as lightning is striking just about everywhere except her tower. She is looking at us like she cannot believe what she is doing. Beside herself. Not happy.

PANEL 2
Harley is sitting in an alligator pond, on a little island with a suit of raw chicken on, rolling her eyes like once again, she cannot believe where she has found herself. We see the alligators ignoring her.

PANEL 3
Harley is sitting in an open whale mouth, tickling the inside of the whale’s mouth with a feather. She is ecstatic and happy, like this is the most fun ever.

PANEL 4
Harley sitting naked in a bathtub with toasters, blow dryers, blenders, appliances all dangling above the bathtub and she has a cord that will release them all. We are watching the moment before the inevitable death. Her expression is one of “oh well, guess that’s it for me” and she has resigned herself to the moment that is going to happen.

The contest ends on Tuesday, October 1, 2013 at 10 am PDT so get those entries in.  If you win let us know too!  Good luck!!!

DC COMICS: Open Talent Search

DC COMICS HAS DOUBLE SUCCESS WITH ITS VIDEO GAME & COMIC BOOK DYNAMIC DUO

My college years were filled with a lot of late evenings tackling my buddies in exhausting bouts of combat as we all strove to be the campus champion in Mortal Kombat.  This game had cutting edge graphics and features for the time and was a great way to release some of our scholarly anxieties and just have some youthful rambunctious fun.  I've wondered over the years why video game publishers have never made an exhilarating combat game that allows players to bash comic book super heroes and villains  against one another.  Well the waiting ended this year when the creators of Mortal Kombat took its game engine updated with today's graphics and processing technology to produce INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US.

INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US pits the DC Comics super heroes of "our universe" against their personalities from an alternate dimension on  Xbox and PlayStation consoles.  The game play is fun and full of special effects and feature moves that keeps the games interesting.  It's a brawling good time for fans of Superman, Batman and the like.  The weakness of the games is an odd ball plot and lacking script for the game's "story" but that is overcome by the sheer fun of the game's one-on-one battle sequences.

Don't fret though because DC has addressed the limitations of the game's script with an incredible new comic
book series with the same name as the video game but with its own stand alone in-depth story.   Often times these type of tie-in comics are just meant for marketing purposes and don't have a lot of effort put into them making them not worth a glance, but I have to say DC has embraced this effort and made this an extraordinary piece of work.  I was riveted to the pages while reading it and enthralled by the storyline of this comic book series.  The comic has decent artwork but it is the story that draws your interest and hooks you.  This was one of the best comic book reads I've had in a few years and highly recommend it whether or not you are interested in the video game.

While of course the story has super hero battles it also has a philosophical undertone exploring the balancing
act of giving up "freedom" to gain "security" that combined with good character plots and scripting makes this title a winner.  The comic book series revolves around how an injustice is done to Superman and how superheroes based upon that act as "gods" among mankind in response.  There really are some hard hitting sequences in this comic that go a lot darker than the "Smallville" type portrayal of the DC universe that many people associate with its super heroes.

The story starts with the Joker tricking Superman into killing his pregnant wife, Lois Lane as well as their unborn child, with his bare hands and in the process also causing a nuclear explosion that decimates his adopted home of Metropolis killings it entire population of 11 million people.  This pushes Superman to his breaking point.  He pledges to stop all violence in the world.  Instead of protecting humanity from threats so they have the freedom of self determination, the Man of Steel determines that he well  decide the rules by which mankind conducts itself and behaves.  This places Superman at odds with Batman who doesn't believe that super heroes should be acting like "gods among us" in determining how much freedom or control the people of Earth should have over their own behavior.

 The plot of INJUSTICE: GODS AMONG US really places Superman who has been know for upholding "truth, justice, and the American way" into a grey area between good guy and bad guy which is highlighted in one scene where he tries to put down a citizen protest and is yelled down being told "you think you can come here and hover above us all with a scowl and some special powers and tell us what to do?"  This dynamic really makes the story an entertaining read that I couldn't put down.  So far I haven't figured out if the comic book story is taking place in an "alternate reality" like the video game and is explaining how the Superman Regime from the game began or is supposed to be taking place in the "main stream" DC universe.  While there are similarities between some things in the game script and the comic book story there are also lots of differences too. DC Comics does call the series a prequel to the video game though which has to make you think maybe this is the alternate reality setup.  I guess I'll have to just keep reading to find out.

Missed the monthly serial issues of the comic? Don't worry you can catch up with the first 5 issues all bundled together as a hardcover edition.  INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US - VOLUME 1 went on sale August 13, 2013.  Check it out!

Also if you are interested in the game console video game and/or the comic book there also is a great iPad game that I've downloaded and been playing quite a bit lately...it's become my favorite game beating out Angry Birds: Star Wars for my attention...and its FREE.  I just beat a number of challenges to add General Zod to my online cast of characters.  You can download the game from the iTunes store.

Kudos to DC Comics for making their INJUSTICE video game and comic book a great dynamic duo!

DISCLAIMER:  I was provided a complimentary digital advance readers edition pdf of INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US-VOLUME 1 from the publisher.  I was not compensated for this review and the thoughts and opinions in this post are my own.