I'm always dubious of "talent searches" that are built like contests. It's usually BS intended to generate PR for the company.

http://mlpeters.com
http://comicspace.com/mlpeters
http://myspace.com/mlpetersartist

Not when it comes to comics.

Comic book publishers know tons of people would kill to have work published, and talent searches come with the sure knowledge that talent will come to them.

Granted, 99.9999999999% of aspiring comic creators are completely fucking awful, but there are diamonds in the rough...

-BCM

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Hawaiian Dick Online
BCM Message Board @ Imagecomics.com
The Daily '76 Blog! | Atomic Revolver: Six Chambers of Awesome

I don't mind talent searches, just when they're structured like a contest. It's not a game to me.

http://mlpeters.com
http://comicspace.com/mlpeters
http://myspace.com/mlpetersartist

No, it isn't a game, but I can promise you that when a publisher has a 'talent/starmaker contest' that they get MANY more submissions than normal. They can't (and shouldn't because as Clay pointed out, a massive number of them suck a nation of ass) publish everyone, but there is a very concrete benefit in being the publisher that discovers the next sienkiewicz/templesmith/wood/etc.

As noted in another thread, they ain't there to be nice guys, they are there to make their business successful. If new/unseen creators get their 'big break' from it, and go on to bigger and better things from it, then grousing about the structure is just... pointless at best, and bitter time wasting at worst.

Rantz Hoseley

I think running a "contest" is crazy, since they generally guarantee a winner getting published, even if no one worth publishing enters.

-BCM

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Hawaiian Dick Online
BCM Message Board @ Imagecomics.com
The Daily '76 Blog! | Atomic Revolver: Six Chambers of Awesome

I think Mark Bagley came out of some kind of talent search/contest.

Can anyone else name anyone who came out of one of these things?

Josh Dahl

ComcSpace Twitter The Engine Network The Cape Symposium www.monolithllc.com

Yeah, Bagley did the Marvel Try Out book and got work through that.

And y'know, I don't think he wants to do anything beyond working on Marvel characters. I imagine he makes a much better living than most comic artists. If he's smart with his money he can probably retire comfortably, but that's assuming he remains drawing there (or DC) for most of his life which is assuming a lot, but it's possible.

You know, I thought I was going to be doing art, or art directing, for computer games until I hit 70. So I enjoyed the pay and didn't mind that I was doing work-for-hire.

Then I got dumped at age 43 and all I had was a 401K fund that got chewed up real fast in a desperate scramble to avoid bankruptcy. I had to sell our Southern California house before losing it to the bank, and move to Mars.

If I seem a bit obsessive now about creators owning IP, this is one reason why.

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Scott Bieser Annoying my betters since 1957.. gallery: http://www.scottbieser.com My Online Graphic Novel: Roswell, Texas publisher: http://www.bigheadpress.com blog: Living On Mars Engine.ning

Absolutely. There was never a guarantee; only a promise of a direct line to the publishers, which the winners do get.

And some of the titles that have come from previous winners have been superb! ^_^

I'm fairly sure there are a few artists who have got their break through the Oni Press Talent Search. Can't remember off the top of my head who, but they did those Talent Searches as just that, searches. No guarantee that there'd actually be anyone published at the end of the day but no limits to how many people that could get published either.

I imagine to a certain extent talent contests are a bit of a double edged sword for publishing companies since they're going to get so many entries and there's going to be so much stuff that is rubbish or not bad but not really good enough that sifting out the genuine talent that is actualyl ready to start work on publishable stuff is going to be an absolute mammoth task.