Comic Book Resources

Doing the Math

180 entries. 14 nominees. 8 judges.

That was the math for the submissions round of Comic Book Idol 3 and it all added up to these 10 talented artists becoming our contestants for what is shaping up to be our most exciting season yet…

Andrew Huerta
Age: 23
Santa Ana, California, USA
http://aztekh.deviantart.com/

Caio Oliveira
Age: 28
Tersina, Piaui, Brazil
http://www.quantaacademia.com/quantoon/Fanfiction/MPF001ing.htm

Charles Paul Wilson III
Age: 31
Wharton, New Jersey, USA
http://www.comicspace.com/cpw3art

Daniel Lafrance
Age: 42
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
http://www.danlafrance.com/

Dan McDaid
Age: 30
London, England
http://danmcdaid.com

Jon Reed
Age: 28
Alexandria, Virginia, USA
http://www.jonreedcomicart.com/

Jose Holder (a.k.a. Joh James)
Age: 36
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa297/johjames/NewSire2

Nicholas Pitarra
Age: 25
http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=9703

Warren Leonhardt
Age: 33
Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
http://www.warrenleonhardt.com/

Wilfredo Torres
Age: 35
http://www.comicspace.com/mightyfineline/

So, how did we get from 180 down to 10? Well, we have former CBI contestants Billy Penn, Carlos Rodriguez, Joe Infurnari, Jonathan Hickman, Jason Masters, Martin Redmond, Micah Gunnell, and Patrick Scherberger to thank for that. They poured over all of the submissions, picked out their favorites including alternate choices, nominated a short list of 3 names, ranked those nominations using a simple point system, and left it to me to verify the eligibility and availability of the artists.

Out the short lists came 14 potential contestants (from the 180) for me to sort out during what Jonah Weiland refers to as the period of ”due dilligence.” I contacted the 10 who received the most points either via e-mail or phone and in a couple of cases both.

One had withdrawn his submission from the competition while selections were ongoing, but I didn’t know it at the time. We then had to bump the next nominee with the most points up to take his place.

During my second round of contacts, a second artist almost backed out as well. I then contacted the remaining 3 nominees just in case we needed to go to another round of selections and verifications, but in the end the first 9 and alternate nominee #1 were cleared for take off.

All of this took place, over the course of about 72 sometimes worrisome, sometimes exhilarating, often nerve-wracking but mostly satisfying hours.

Whew.

Where do we go from here?

Well, first of all, let’s have a round of applause for the four nominees who didn’t make the top ten but definitely deserve honorable mentions…

Alex Aguilar
http://tattoedbeatmessiah.deviantart.com/gallery/

Sean Izaakse
http://seanizaakse.blogspot.com/

Armando Mendoza
http://www.flickr.com/photos/60772020@N00/

Wes Wedman
http://s142.photobucket.com/albums/r89/weswedman/

A quick aside about Wes: out of the 14 nominees he received the most points from a total of 4 different judges. The most nods anyone else got was from 2 judges. While we’re all sad to not get to see Wes in the competition, I hear he’s on to greener pastures. So, I wish him, as well as Alex, Sean, and Armando all the best and look foward to seeing where their art takes them next.

And where does this take our 10 contestants next?

For two of them, potentially five weekends of sometimes worrisome, sometimes exhilarating, often nerve-wracking but hopefully mostly satisfying sleepless nights at the drawing table.

For all of them, they can look forward to at least one week that will look something like this…

Thursday: Art assignment posted
Monday: Assignment deadline; judges begin posting comments
Wednesday: Public vote
Thursday: Elimination; next assignment posted

…and those left standing get to do it all over again for at least another week!

We’ll try to start and end each round at approximately noon (E.S.T.) on each of those days and do our best to give the contestants 4 days to complete their assignments, the judges 2 days to post their comments, and the public 1 full day to vote.

I was never any good at math in school, but hopefully all of those numbers add up to a lot of sweet eye candy and the crowning of the next comic book superstar on November 15th.

More on our panel judges, “surprise” guest judges, and the artists’ assignments in my next blog. Take care till then.

Thank you for your attention.

J.