The iPad has gotten everyone excited in the comic publishing industry. This is based on predictions that 20% of households in the U.S. will have one in the next two years. These aren’t being purchased as productivity devices, they are for fun. They aren’t just fun for the person who buys them either, they are becoming pass-around devices that get into the hands of everyone in their family. The idea that 62M people in the U.S. will have one of these devices in their home should make anyone producing creative content very excited. Considering that there are going to be a whole pile of other tablets and e-readers adding to those numbers and you’ve got a huge potential market for anything that can be consumed on a tablet.

These devices aren’t going to just be for watching movies and playing games. Any initial speculation about whether or not people will actually read on these devices is now gone. Currently about 25% of adult fiction is being purchased in the form of digital e-books. People are getting to like the idea of a digital library, more than that, they are starting to see digital as a great way to read for enjoyment.

Several comic publishers are thinking that the iPad will cause the same kind of shift in comic reading…

Finish this article on my Blog, Fictional Narratives.

“I’m proud to support local artists willing to put their foot out for a medium that encourages readers both visually and intellectually,” says Bruno Steppuhn, the Founder of Fabler Comics’ thefabler.com.

More than 30 artists are represented in the book that showcases classical stories and myth’s. Participating artists each donated their work to the project.

This is the first time that this group of artists have created a book in order to raise money for community organizations. The project was created to showcase Alberta artistic talent as well as generate interest in literacy issues in the province.

“There is a lot of talent in Alberta and books like this are a great opportunity for people to be exposed to that talent”

Gerald Garcia says that the book will help to promote artists and allow them to contribute back to their community. Supporting literacy helps them to tell others about their love of books and comics.

All proceeds from the books sales support the the Alberta Literacy Foundation and the Eugene Ouchi Scholarship Fund (ACAD).

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Literacy Alberta is a provincial not-for-profit organization working toward a fully literate society. We are leaders for literacy in Alberta. Together we foster a culture of learning for all Albertans. Literacy Alberta supports people involved in literacy activities, and influences public policy.

The Eugene Ouchi Scholarship is an annual competitive scholarship in the visual communications department created in memory of Eugene Ouchi.

When I finally gathered myself after the movie was over, we sat around the living room discussing the possibilities of the next in the Batman series. Who were the villains going to be and the rest of the details that go along with it? After pulling out the trusty iPhone, we found that it was going to be Bane and Catwoman. Bane, you ask? Why not the Riddler?

Obsessedwithfilm.com’s Simon Gallagher, outlines it so eloquently on his latest column:

When the announcement of Tom Hardy’s inclusion in Chris Nolan’s third and final Batman film was initially made, the rumour hounds went crazy over who he would play, with the top three options lining up as The Riddler, Hugo Strange and Bane, with the masked muscle-bound madman coming in a distant third in that particular race. So it wasn’t hugely surprising to find a vocal and vociferous opposition to the further announcement that the Brit would indeed be taking on the role of he who is often referred to as the anti-Batman.

This year has quite the round-up of comic based movies. Which one’s are you excited for?

If you guessed an entree of more savory Formspring goodness, pat yourself on the back, grab some utensils, and pull up a chair.

…

Oh, but I kid. Please, contain your raucous laughter so we can move on to topics of substance. (Incidentally, who even knows what raucous means? It’s one of those sneaky words that lurk on the peripheral of common knowledge. You’ve heard it used, you’ve probably used it yourself, and when coupled with the word ‘laughter’, you likely assume it means there is a whole slop wagon of hilarity being had. But do you know what it really means? Have you ever actually taken the time to look it up in  a dictionary?)

(Harsh and loud. It means harsh and loud.)

So this week I thought we’d take a look at some of the content our fabulous users have updated to The Fabler. If the term fabulous is too effeminate or grandiose for some, you could substitute ‘creatively talented but rough around the edges’. Sort of like Jeff Bridges.

Also, as you’re all hopefully aware, the current Fabler Wacom contest is on as we speak, and we are accepting submissions right up until the last day of the contest, which is May 15, 2011.

Some of the comics mentioned below are brand new, while others have been up on the site for a while now.  Don’t fret if I don’t mention your comic, it doesn’t mean you fail at drawing or life. These are just some of the submissions that jumped out at me for one reason or another.

First off, shout outs to Simon Roy, Matthew Dunn, and Jason Bradshaw for their Fabler Comic submissions. Each of these unwitting comic creators were at one point or another shamelessly exploited by The Fabler Blog in an interview. Er, ‘endearingly explored’? No, that sounds like something that could get me arrested… Let’s just say I talked to them.

Simon Roy is the Joe Shuster Award nominated artist of Jan’s Atomic Heart, and his current offerings on The Fabler are twofold. Man in the 51st Millenium is a short (currently 5 pages) vignette about a band of humans living so far in the future that they have culturally de-evolved into a sort of nomadic neo-caveperson tribe. Dead Lands is a longer (currently 29 pages) story about a cursed shaman who wanders the landscape of Upper Palaeolithic Northern Europe- complete with anthropomorphic bird-people!

Matthew Dunn is an Australian fellow who is, fortunately for us all, artistically more than able enough to translate his twisted imagination into dark, memorable, and pop art-savvy images of monkey-people wielding chainsaws and gas-mask-clad zombie hunters with neurotic personalities. His submission to the Fabler, The Secret History of Skullboy: The Complete Story is a webcomic still in its depraved infancy, but you can bet it will be worth watching.

Jason Bradshaw is up for a Gene Day Award this year for issue # 2 of the very same comic he currently has up on The Fabler. Boredom Pays issue # 1 is a humorous, insightful, and unabashedly honest comic about the real things people feel on a day-to-day basis. Its well drawn with a very original artistic style, and often quite inspired – but really the best thing I can say about it is that it genuinely feels real.

Next up, if you haven’t already, I would suggest checking out Oldwizard Book 2 by Lazarus and Forest Rhodes.  The first Oldwizard book was a finalist in the last Fabler Wacom tablet, and this latest submission puts their ongoing tales of a wizard-in-training cast out into the world to find his destiny back into the running. The reason the Oldwizard comics stand out to me has a lot to do with the surprising richness and depth to the world the creators are building. Without a doubt, this will appeal to fantasy fans first and foremost (alliteration quota for the day: met) but I think there’s also some value to be found by anyone just in the skill with which they mingle the light-hearted with  the epic.  It’s funny, but not entirely ridiculous. It holds a story that has a sense of epic adventure, but it’s not ROTFLOTR.

Which is to say, epic cheese.

Speaking of fantastical Fabler submissions, another I would recommend giving a solid read-through to would be the much darker in nature Eternal Day, Book Two: In Bondage of Mind. Eternal Day mixes elementals of surrealist fantasy with strong themes of mental illness, courting schizophrenia and the concept self-inflicted harm while building a narrative about a mysterious stranger with mystical powers who haunts the life of the protagonist, New Yorker Alec Magnone. Also, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how visually compelling this comic is.

Say the comics I’ve mentioned here so far aren’t so much your bag. Perhaps you consider yourself more of a Manga enthusiast – nay! A Manga all-star. A Manga grand master. (?)

As it turns out, we have Manga in ample supply.  From the poignant Fabler Contest finalist comic Stay By My Side: One Shot to the high visual quality secondary school romance Love Go Round, I would be hard pressed to deny that we have a strong Manga creative contingent on the site.

Special Manga mention: in addition to the above titles, which are certified scope-worthy, I was also quite impressed with the artwork on the Fruitful Confusion comics by falconer. Parts One and Two are currently up on The Fabler (with the second still in progress), and they tell the uniquely interesting story of a boy from a town that isn’t supposed to exist who isn’t aware that he himself is supposed to be something else entirely. Sort of like Total Recall, only not at all.

If you haven’t already seen it, also check out Blind Love: Volume 1, by juri0juli. Artistically and structurally, it has to be the most Manga-esque Manga currently on The Fabler. There presently isn’t much to it beyond eleven pages of a-day-in-the-life-of-a-high-school-girl narrative, but it’s fun in a bubbly sort of way.

Who doesn’t like their fun bubbly?

On this note, adieu. Check back on The Fabler soon for new comics and updates!

-post written by Kevin de Vlaming

Though we are taking a neutral stance as to who was involved, Fabler Comics holds a zero tolerance policy towards copyright infringement and plagiarism. In light of our stance we had to suspend the comic, Zombies Ate my Neighbors, by PsElliott pending further inquiry, with respect to the contest. Upon further investigation, the characters used in the story appeared to be similar in nature to some characters created by Matthew Dunn, an accomplished comic artist and illustrator in Melbourne Australia.

We spoke to both Peter and Matthew regarding the contest and this issue and Peter. Though the similarities were unintentional, Peter has asked us to withdraw his comic, Zombies ate my Neighbors from this contest and the site due to the similarities.

Matthew explained to us that this wasn’t the first uncanny appearance and similarities of his character designs of Leroy, the star of his comic called Lonely Monsters, also appearing in a webcomic called LM2. Apparently little Leroy and some of Matthew’s other characters have appeared in knock off t-shirts. posters, stickers etc. since their first appearances.

Moving forward, We hope that this incident doesn’t deter Peter or anyone from entering ongoing contests as we are looking forward to giving away many more prizes and much, much more for the next few years to come.

It has come to our attention that there has been some alleged plagiarism from one of our contestants. Now as you know, the contest rules and clearly state that we hold a zero tolerance policy with respect to copyright infringement. As a result, the comic in question has been suspended pending further inquiry.

Please remember that if you suspect someone of any form of copyright infringement to contact us rather than start a public stoning. This will help us handle these incidents quickly and efficiently.

Regardless of this incident, we will continue our quarterly Cintiq Contests. The next contest starts October 1st, 2010. For further questions or comments regarding the matter please contact us at cm@thefabler.com.

We hope that this is just a bump in the road and will continue to do our best to host contests and services that help independent comic creators thrive!

*Ahem*
I want to thank all the participants and fablerites who’ve joined us for this great event. I know this isn’t quite the ballroom show that we’d like it to be but that just gives us something more to work towards for future contests.

As I’ve said, you’ve all worked very hard. To our fellow comic creators your artistry and passion for sequential storytelling is what brings so many of us together. So keep it up! In a moment of cliche articulations, the sky is the limit and the only way to go is up.

Refreshments are on the house, and please be sure to stick around after the announcement as we have a few more tricks up our sleeves. Let’s get on with the show!

So, it gives me pleasure to announce the winners of The Fabler’s first ever Cintiq contest!

Let me go over the ground rules really quick to lay a foundation as to why our three Grand Prize winners have been chosen.

Our Top three finalists were chosen based on 4 fundamental aspects of comics. Originality, Story, Artwork, and Layout. These fundamentals are both technical and interpretation. And the top three have done it well. Out of over 45 submissions to the contest these 3 Finalists have won the hearts of their fans and our judges. Our panel of judges spent time reviewing each page that was submitted gathering their thoughts and deciding on who should be crowned this time.

This was a very difficult decision for us as everyone who entered is very talented and we’ve seen growth in their artistry and writing. We’ve done our homework and we hope that all participants of this contest will continue to grow, prosper and entertain us with their creativity!

Let’s start with our Third Place finalist:
This artist/writer spent some time coming up with the perfect idea for the contest. His idea of creating a 24 page one off book with influences from his childhood brought him here today to share one of many stories he has to present of a world, where all kinds of undead creatures lived among us.

Our Third place Grand Prize winner this round is Peter Scott Elliott, of Zombies Ate my Girlfriend!

We’ve asked him to give us a few words, Peter…

“I’d like to thank everyone who voted for my book. My amazing daughters for their input ( even though they voted for the other manga based comics on the site too, lol ) and especially my beautiful wife, who has supported me while I dream of making it in comics.”

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend, by Peter Scott Elliott

Peter has won a Sony Playstation 3 Package with a copy of Little Big Planet. Congrats Peter! Great work!

Our Second Place finalist, who we know very little of but in the face of life’s many blockades, has managed to complete her comic in the nick of time the day before the contest closing. Her comic appeared out of nowhere climbed up to the number won spot and in the face of much fierce competition, held onto it relentlessly where it still remains today. We can only hope that our creator continues to work on her comic and her artistry as we’ve seen much growth in her since her comics have started to appear on the web.

We present to you, our Second Place winner, Danielle Keller, of Ghost!

Danielle couldn’t be with us today to offer words of gratitude but we will pass on our blessing as she continues as a comic artist and creator.

Ghost!, by Danielle Keller

Danielle will be receiving an Extra Large Intuos4 Tablet by Wacom. Congratulations Danielle! We want to see more Ghost!

And last but not least, we would like to present our top finalist of this contest. A veteran in the web comics world who nearly jumped up and down when reading our announcements. He also may have shamefully pretended to high 5 his dog, who shall remain nameless for now.

Our winner, is not only a great comic artist and creator, but brings every day life to his work. Influenced and guided by his brother. Our winner today has dedicated his life to his passion in comics, will continue chugging down coffee, and not sleeping if necessary to succeed in this passion. Scott Ferguson, for your sake and ours, make sure you take cat naps once in a while!

Our First Place Grand Prize winner of The Fabler’s first ever Cintiq contest is Scott Ferguson of Scouts Crossing!

Scout Crossing, by Scott Fergusen

Scott will be receiving a 21UX Cintiq by Wacom! Congratulations Scott! Well Done!

We’ve asked him to give us a few words, Scott…

“I could easily make a list of names that could fill this whole section, but if I really had to thank the people who most helped and supported me, it would be these people; Tony, for listening to me drone on for hours about comics, and would tolerate me always sketching out strips while we would hang out. (this must have been devastatingly boring for him) Sayward, for being my unofficial catcher of grammatical errors, and not being afraid to tell me that something didn’t make sense, and I should fix it. I would also thank her for listening to my (most likely boring stories) of time lining Scout. Most of all, I would like to thank my mother, who has always been nothing but an outstanding parent, and has always offered advice and shown support in my career as an illustrator.”

Oh, but that’s not all. We’ve received a great number of comments regarding this contest, and Fabler Comics social networking intiative thefabler.com. Some of them not so positive but very many comments from our readers, fans, and supporters. Based on these comments we have two announcements to make.

Did you like this contest? The first announcement is that we will be continuing Fabler Cintiq Contests 4 times a year. Yes you heard us. We will be giving away 4 Wacom Cintiq’s along with other prizes to comic creators in the same manner. Each contest will be approximately 3 months long with a requirement of 24 pages. Our next contest will start October 1st 2010 and we will be announcing the winners January 15th. 2011. So get your creative caps on and get thinking of your next submissions!

The second announcement is a new one for us and a doozy. We felt that everyone should win. Now, Thefabler.com isn’t just about contests but we feel that everyone is entitled to win. Also members of The Fabler shouldn’t be limited to just one contest. Why not let them submit for two? Every year Fabler Comics will support The Fabler Anthology Contest. This program will give each creative team or individual the chance to hit the big time. We have more details to release very soon but to drop a little teaser, Fabler Comics will be giving away a pot of $50,000 dollars to the top 3 finalists in this contest. Be ready for more news soon.

Congratulations to our submitters, contestants and finalists!

Just a quick note here from the guys upstairs. We have chosen our Top 3 Grand Prize Winners and will be making the official announcement to everyone via the blog. Check back today at 5pm EST to find out who our Top 3 Finalists are, and Grand Prize winners of our first ever Cintiq contest. We will also be making some very important announcements for all you comic creators and fans a like. So stay tuned!

To you the Fans. Your participation to helping your favorite creators has put them into the spot that they have worked so hard to be in. We want to thank you and congratulate you in your support. It’s you who have helped this community be a vibrant place where these talented story tellers can showcase their creativity!

To all those creators who have participated in this contest. You have all worked so hard with an idea and ran with it. Your participation together and as individuals in making such entertaining, dramatic and action packed stories gives us reason as to why we truly believe in Independent Comics and Small Press industry!

So, without further ado, I would like to announce our Top Ten Finalists, as chosen by you, their fans!

We start with our 10th place comic creator as voted by you and decided by The Fabler’s Top Overall.

Scout Crossing, by Scott Fergusen

Fruitful Confusion, by Laura Kajpust

Real Life Fiction, by Jennifer Meyer

Acting Out, by Andrea Cabral

Zombies Ate My Girlfriend, by Peter Scott Elliott

Oldwizard, by Lazarus Berry, and Forest Rhodes of Roll

Book of the NOT Dead, by Mickey and Nikki of Nematode in Space.

Moving to our top 3 finalists as voted by you, and of the site,

3rd Place as voted by you:
Adrastus Chapter 1, by Elizabeth Staley and Julie Devin of Dynamite Candy

2nd Place as voted by you:
Stay by my Side, by THEN Productions

And last but definitely not least our Top 1st Place Finalist of this contest and all current thefabler.com submissions:

Ghost!, by Danielle Keller

Now that our Top 10 Finalists have been chosen, we will move on to the final round of this contest. Fabler Comics Inc., editors and contest sponsors will now spend the next few days reviewing each comic carefully to determine our Top 3 Grand Prize winners by the following Criteria:

Originality (uniqueness of concept)
Story (plot and subplots, narrative, character dialog, etc.)
Layout (overall panel design, sequential pacing, reader leading, etc.)
Artwork (final style and quality of the line art, coloring)

Stay tuned as we will be announcing our 3 Grand Prize Winners in just a few days on Mondy September 20th, 2010. Good Luck to Everyone!

It’s a sad day in comic land folks. Zuda Comics, DC’s answer to closed open submission policies, and American Idol for Indy comics is officially closing. After more than two years of contests, cheers and tears Ron Perazza of Zuda made the announcement on Zuda’s blog. They did announce that they will be moving some of what Zuda had to offer through their new Digital Initiative, on digital distribution networks like Comixology, and Sony’s Playstation Network. Stay tuned to see what DC does next!