Comic Book Resources

Ten contestants announced; “Popgun” prize added

Ten Comic Book Idol finalists announced; winner gets to draw story in Image Comics’ “Popgun” anthology

The global field of artists includes a part-time waiter, an accounting assistant and a security guard.

Starting with an opening pool of almost 200, the search for the next Comic Book Idol has been narrowed down to the final 10 contestants. 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.

And the pot just keeps getting sweeter for the winner, with the winning artist now also getting a feature in Image Comics’ “Popgun” anthology. That’s heaped on top of the already announced awards of an all-expense paid trip to New York City for New York Comicon; a Witchblade cover assignment; an assignment from Oni Press; an assignment with IDW Publishing; and countless networking opportunities and the chance to have their art seen by millions of fans.

The 10 finalists include:

Andrew Huerta
a 23-year-old freelance artist from Santa Ana, CA.
(http://aztekh.deviantart.com/)

Caio Oliveira
a 28-year-old who is currently unemployed, from Tersina, Piauí, Brazil.
(http://www.quantaacademia.com/quantoon/Fanfiction/MPF001ing.htm)

Charles Paul Wilson III
a 31-year-old security guard from Wharton, NJ.
(http://www.comicspace.com/cpw3art/)

Daniel Lafrance
a 42-year-old freelance artist from Toronto.
(http://www.danlafrance.com/)

Dan McDaid
a 30-year-old writer and illustrator from London.
(http://danmcdaid.com)

Jon Reed
a 28-year-old accountant assistant from Alexandria, VA.
(http://www.jonreedcomicart.com/)

Jose Holder
a 36-year-old storyboard artist from Montreal.
(http://s199.photobucket.com/albums/aa297/johjames/NewSire2)

Nicholas Pitarra
a 25-year-old college student and part-time waiter from Houston.
(http://www.comicartfans.com/GalleryDetail.asp?GCat=9703)

Warren Leonhardt
a 33-year-old freelance storyboard artist from Collingwood, Ontario, Canada.
(http://www.warrenleonhardt.com/)

Wilfredo Torres
a 35-year-old information technology professional from Lawrencville, GA. (http://www.comicspace.com/mightyfineline/)

These 10 artists will be given assignments to complete on a grueling weekly deadline. At the completion of each assignment, the art will be critiqued by a celebrity panel of comic book experts. The voting is then opened up to the fans, who will eventually choose the new Comic Book Idol.

The first assignment will be made this Thursday (10/11) at approximately noon EST. The winner of Comic Book Idol 3 will be named Nov. 15.
“Popgun” is an anthology from Image Comics featuring some of the industry’s finest talent alongside the industry’s newest talent. Past contributors to “Popgun” include Mike Allred, Jim Mahfood and Erik Larsen.

Joe Keatinge, PR and marketing coordinator for Image Comics, said that he wanted to include the winner of Comic Book Idol 3 in “Popgun” because he knows there are a lot of “insanely” talented artists out there not getting the visibility they deserve. “I think they highly deserve getting seen by a larger audience… I hope to also do that for the winner of Comic Book Idol 3,” he said.

Jonah Weiland, executive producer of Comic Book Resources, says this is another opportunity for the winner of CBI 3 that will help launch his career.

“To become a professional comic book artist one day and then instantly be published alongside these names the next is just incredible,” Weiland said.

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

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