April 26 and 27 at the Stumptown Comics Fest in Portland (www.stumptowncomics.com), Dark Horse editor Scott Allie be reviewing portfolios specifically to fill the "newbie" slot for the next two months in Myspace Dark Horse Presents.
Every month MDHP features the professional debut of a creator whose work was found on MySpace.com. For the last three years Portland's Stumptown Comics Fest has been a great place for new creators to show off their work in one of the greatest comic book cities in the nation. If novice artists and writers think they have what it takes to join the ranks of Ezra Claytan Daniels, Brian Churilla, Katie Cook, Matt Brenier, Rebecca Sugar, Ilias Kyriazis, Jeff Wamester, and Jason Graham—all of whom made their paid, professional comics debut on MDHP— they are encouraged to show up with a stapled, 8 1/2 x 11 copy of their work and a print out of their MySpace homepage. A print-out of the candidates MySpace homepage is mandatory! Eligibility requires that the participant has examples of their work currently displayed on MySpace, and that they have never had comics released by a professional publisher or through Diamond Distribution, through a major comics website, or one that charges a fee. Ashcans and free, self-run websites do not disqualify, and ultimately eligibility is left to the discretion of the MySpace Dark Horse Presents editors. At the end of the weekend, Scott Allie will select two cartoonists to create original strips to appear on MDHP later this year, alongside the likes of Joss Whedon, Steve Niles, Mike Mignola, Tony Millionaire, and Stan Sakai. Scott will have a table at the show, but review of portfolios for MDHP will be limited to one block of time per day, in the Dark Horse booth—see below. Visit the Stumptown website (http://www.stumptowncomics.com) and the MySpace Dark Horse Presents (http://www.myspace.com/darkhorsepresents) page for more information.
