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Caliburn Prize to encourage new, unpublished British comics talent, has “underwhelming” response

By John Freeman on May 22, 2023

Applications for The Hooded Man Caliburn Prize for Comic Creation (aka The Caliburn Prize) close at the end of this month – but, unfortunately, you may never have heard of it.

The Caliburn Prize is a UK comic-based literary grant that aims to recognise new and unpublished voices in the world of comic and graphic novel creation, sponsored by the author Tony Lee through his digital-first publishing imprint, Hooded Man Media, and in association with the London Film & Comic Con (Showmasters Events), The Comic Book Legal Defence Fund (CBLDF) and the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi).

It is open to all unpublished UK-based comic creators, with an end goal of assisting them in completing their first finished book.

If you haven’t heard about the Prize, you won’t be the only one. It was announced in February, but a Google News Search suggests few news sites – among them, Bleeding Cool, the site run by one of the Prize judges, Rich Johnston, received the press release, and covered the news.

The Hooded Man Caliburn Prize for Comic Creation (aka The Caliburn Prize)

While sponsor Tony Lee himself trailing an announcement in a press mailing in December 2022, full details were not provided to downthetubes.

Broken Frontier, Andy Oliver’s brilliant comics site, devoted to independent comics creation and creators, seems not to have received any information, or Tripwire, although it has been covered by two American sites, Comicon and the Alliance of Independent Authors, did cover its launch.

Perhaps the organisers were expecting the power of social media algorithms to get the message out there, about what is actually a great idea, but it clearly didn’t worked.

The deadline for entries is 31st May 2023.

“The response has been… underwhelming,” Tony commented on Twitter earlier today. “For years I’ve had new UK creators complain to me they get no funding or help. I gave both here. Out of my own pocket.

“Sadly, I don’t think there’ll be a 2024 prize, based on this year’s response.”

To be considered for the Prize, entrants must submit a project containing eight pages of finished comic, a finished cover with logo, a one-page synopsis of the story and a one-page biography list of all creators involved.

The winning entry will be awarded a prize fund of £2500 at the 2023 London Film & Comic Con on 8th July, to support the completion of their work, a free table and hotel at the 2024 London Film & Comic Con, a year’s membership of both the Comic Book Legal Defence Fund (CBLDF) and the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), and an hour-long zoom call with Oriana Leckert, Director of Publishing and Comics Outreach for Kickstarter.

The shortlisted candidates will move on to a judging panel including award winning writers, artists, editors, publishers, literary agents and other experts in the industry.

• For full details of the prize, the judges and more, head to the official Caliburn Prize web site at caliburnprize.com | The deadline for entries is 31st May 2023

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.