Comic Contest 2009

In conjunction with the Year of the Comic, Penn Libraries sponsored a comic book contest inspired by this year's Penn Reading Project selection, "Your Inner Fish: A Journey into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body," by Neil Shubin.

Winners were announced at the April 1st Year of the Comic event, a lecture by Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist, Signe Wilkinson. Winning entries are online.

First Prize: Chara Odhner

Second Prize: Katharine Cunningham

Third Prize: Gladys Teo

Four Honorable Mention Prizes: Kathryn Coneybear, Conor Elliott, Jennifer Levy and Emma Saunders.

Content: Create your own comic book or graphic novel inspired by the theme(s) of evolution and change discussed in"Your Inner Fish." Submissions may be created using  the program Comic Life which is available in the Weigle Information Commons (WIC).

Length: Submissions may be up to 20 pages in length.

Eligibility: Currently enrolled Penn undergraduate and graduate students (individuals or groups).

Submissions: Due by 5 pm on March 16th, 2009 (the day classes resume after spring break). Submissions must include a completed application form, as well as your comic book/graphic novel in hardcopy and on a CD (with your document in its original format and also as a PDF document). Please bring submissions to the Vitale Digital Media Lab in the Weigle Information Commons, 1st floor west, Van Pelt Library.

Judges: Faculty members Louise Krasniewicz (Penn Museum) and Matthew Neff (School of Design), and collector Steve Rothman.

Submissions will be judged on:

• Creative, sophisticated design choices
• Relevance to the themes of evolution and/or change

• Comic Life software is available on all PCs and Macs.
• Sign up for a Comic Life workshop.
• Use our online Comic Life tutorial.
  
• View our comic book showcase created by Penn students in Spring 2008.

Call 215-746-2661 or email wic1@pobox.upenn.edu for more information.