Comic Book Resources

Press Release: Jon Reed Wins CBI3

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jon Reed wins Comic Book Idol 3!
Wins by less than 1%… Reed goes from an accounting assistant to comic book fame by winning the popular comic book art contest.

LOS ANGELES - After thousands of votes have been cast, an accounting assistant from Alexandria, Va., is the new Comic Book Idol. And he may need a new computer mouse after wearing his out.

“I just kept hitting ‘refresh,’ ‘refresh,’ ‘refresh,’” says Jon Reed, the Comic Book Idol 3 winner. He was eagerly watching as the votes were coming in, and with such a narrow margin of victory – an even 600 votes for Reed, while the runner-up, Charles Paul Wilson III, finished with an oh-so-close 581 votes – one can understand the nervousness he must have experienced. “It was stressful,” sighs Reed.

By winning CBI 3, the comic artist talent search contest hosted by www.comicbookresources.com, Reed gets an all-expense paid trip to the 2008 New York City Comicon, where Comic Book Idol host and comic book writer J Torres will help him network and meet industry leaders. Reed also gets assignments from IDW Publishing, Oni Press and Image Comics for winning the contest.

“I think that even previous contestants will agree that this was the most diverse and polished group of ten we’ve seen to date,” Torres said. “That made it for a tougher contest for those involved, and a better show for us fans to watch.”

Reed outlasted an incredible talent pool for CBI 3 that featured a global field, with contestants from England, Brazil and Canada. It was also a diverse field, with not only the accounting professional, who eventually won, but also a waiter and a security guard up against a batch of freelance artists. And the fans flocked to the competition – comicbookresources.com experienced a 500% increase in new traffic to its forum during the Comic Book Idol contest.

“It was funny listening to others (not involved in the contest), how stressed out they were,” Reed says. “I think people like to get behind someone… it’s like reality TV.”

Fans will be able to continue to cheer for Reed, as he is serious about making it in the comic book profession. He’s been dreaming of being a comic book artist since kindergarten, he says, and he was so dedicated to competing in Comic Book Idol 3 that he took sick days from work to stay home and complete the assignments.

“I’ve never imagined myself doing any other thing than drawing comics,” the 28-year-old says. “If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. I’ve heard how tough it is to break into the paid artists club. But I’ve always loved drawing comics, and I always will.”

And it’s “wait until next year” for the rest of the would-be Comic Book Idols.

“Each time we run Comic Book Idol we learn a lot about how to run it better and how to improve future editions,” Jonah Weiland, executive producer of Comicbookresources.com, says. “That said, we’ve already begun planning for the 2008 edition of the contest and we’ve got big multi-media plans that should make Comic Book Idol that much more engaging for contestants and viewers alike.”

Comic Book Resources (CBR) is the premier online comics magazine. Renowned for its high quality content and active community, CBR draws almost 2 million fans every month.