Silent Manga Audition offers publishing opportunities in Japan for international artists

By John Freeman on April 12, 2019

Russian Silent Manga Audition MasterClass member SIDEBURN004 made recently recently, by being the first SMA MasterClass member to debut in a Japanese manga magazine.

A work originally conceived by Japanese manga artist Matsuri Midou (Black Terror) for the first Zenon Creator Audition, “Midnight Shadow” tells the story of Alice, a young woman plagued with the ability to see people’s true selves through their shadows.

Barney, a mysterious eccentric enters her life showing a fascination in her seldom few have, when a trip to a coﬀee shop goes horribly wrong.

Organised by Japanese manga publisher Coamix Inc., the Silent Manga Audition is the world’s largest manga competition aimed at discovering, nurturing and publishing international manga artists.

With a judging panel consisting of manga making legends Tsukasa Hojo (Cat’s Eye; City Hunter), Tetsuo Hara (Fist of the North Star; Ikusa no Ko), Ryuji Tsugihara (Yoroshiku Mecha-Doc; Restore Garage 251), and Jun Tomizawa (Commander Zero; Koroshiya Menkichi), along with company CEO and former Weekly Shonen Jump Editor-in-Chief Nobuhiko Horie, the Silent Manga Audition is leading the future for international manga.

SIDEBURN004, a resident of Saint Petersburg, Russia joined the SMA MasterClass in 2017, with her SMA8 Grand Prix award winning manga Checkmate. Selected from among three other MasterClass members to reinterpret Midou’s “name” (rough storyboard), the Russian artist captured the spirit of the original concept with her beautifully crafted character designs and engaging composition skills.

With “Midnight Shadow” currently wowing Japanese manga fans on digital manga magazine “Webcomic Zenyon”, the team behind Silent Manga Audition reckon this pioneering event promises to bring international manga talent to the spiritual home of manga, with more events of this kind mooted for 2019.

• Check out “Midnight Shadow” (in Japanese) here

• Find out more about the Silent Manga Audition project (in English)

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.