Comic Book Resources

Round 1 Recount

Voting scandal rocks round one of Comic Book Idol 3!
A new winner is named, while another contestant narrowly avoids disqualification.

And to think, some people thought Comic Book Idol was just about drawing pretty pictures.

Oh, no. It can get downright ugly, too.

When the ballots closed last Thursday, there was a narrow winner for round one – Caio Oliveira. But a CBI3 moderator suspected foul play may have swung the vote to Oliveira’s favor. After investigating the matter, it was discovered that multiple votes were cast by the same people, all in Oliveira’s favor.

CBI 3 rules state that only one vote is allowed per person. These votes, cast by colleagues of Oliveira, were subtracted from his total. With the new totals, there was also a new winner of round one – Charles Paul Wilson III. For winning round one, Wilson will get his three-page entry published in an upcoming Aspen Comic.

“While we certainly encourage contestants to drum up support and ask family and friends to vote for them, the rule has always been one person, one vote,” J Torres, host of Comic Book Idol 3, said. “Caio knew who one or two of the voters were, and while we can’t say he encouraged them, he also didn’t stop them from voting more than once. Caio apologized and even asked to be disqualified from the competition, just as (the Comic Book Resources team) were debating the matter. In the end, we decided to deduct the votes that we knew were from the same individuals and let Caio continue.”

Brandon Hanvey, Comic Book Idol 3 moderator, was the first to notice suspect voting patterns in round one. Hanvey thinks the Comic Book Resources team made the right choice in not disqualifying Oliveira from the competition. How far Oliveira – and all the contestants – go in the competition should be left up to the voters, he said.

“(Oliveira) didn’t need the ‘ballot stuffing’ as he is talented and seems popular enough to go far in the competition,” Hanvey said. “Call it a lapse in judgment or turning a blind eye on his part, but for our part we’ve made our decision and it’s now up to the fans to decide Caio’s fate from here.”

Caio Oliveira could not be reached for comment at this time.

Now that the drama of round one is settled, the eight remaining contestants have moved on to round two, where they have drawn a three-page script written by comic book writer C.B. Cebulski. Voting for round two opens Wednesday (10/24) at noon EST and closes at noon the next day. Fans can look at the art now by visiting http://forums.comicbookresources.com/forumdisplay.php?f=29

At the end of the competition, one artist will be crowned this season’s “Comic Book Idol” and awarded an all-expenses paid trip to New York City for the New York Comic Con, a “Witchblade” cover assignment, assignments from IDW Publishing and Oni Press, a slot in Image Comics’ “Pop Gun” anthology, and a few other great prizes.

Hosted by www.comicbookresources.com, the incredible talent pool for CBI 3 features a global field, with contestants from England, Brazil and Canada. It’s also a diverse field, with an accounting professional, a waiter and a security guard up against a batch of freelance artists.

The winner of Comic Book Idol 3 will be named Nov. 15. Patrick Scherberger and Carlos Rodriguez, the winners of the first two Comic Book Idol competitions, have gone on to become burgeoning comic book artists.

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

 

For more information contact:
Jonah Weiland, executive producer of ComicBookResources.com, 818.985.6688 or jonah@comicbookresources.com