Our Graphic Novel Making Contest is Just Around the Corner!
The 2025 Graphic Novel Making Contest is coming this June! Many people have already started working on their ideas, and we hope you will consider submitting something too. There are a few rules creators need to keep in mind:
- Maximum 8 pages in length (single sided)
- Use letter-size paper (8.5x11”)
- Black and White drawings only (no color)
- No A.I. or clipart allowed (but drawing your own stuff on a tablet or computer is fine)
- Submissions that are not appropriate for a general audience are ineligible for award.
- No copyrighted material
That last one can be tough! Judges have seen wonderful comics starring characters like Pikachu, Sonic, or Mario and had to rule them ineligible because those characters are still under copyright! That doesn’t mean you cannot EVER use a well-known character, you just have to make sure the character you use is in the Public Domain.
What is the Public Domain?
In 1999, Alan Moore and Kevin O’Neill created The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Using newer characters like James Bond, Sam Spade, or Indiana Jones in the comic (without permission from their creators) would have had Moore and O’Neill run into trouble. But that doesn’t mean they had to start with their own original characters. Instead they used some that had been published so long ago they were now in the public domain. So, we get a wonderful comic starring classic characters like Alan Quartermain, The Invisible Man, Doctor Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Mina Murray, and Captain Nemo.
Copyright refers to the laws that protect a creative work for a set period of time. Others cannot copy or adapt a given work (or its characters) without their creator’s approval during the time that work is under copyright protection. The amount of time after a work is published varies from country to country and often depends on when the work was created. Works automatically enter the public domain when they are not covered by copyright.
All works (except sound recordings) first published or released in the United States before January 1, 1930, are in the public domain as of January 1, 2025. There’s plenty of examples of classics being re-released, rebroadcast (It’s a Wonderful Life, The Night of the Living Dead), or had iconic characters adapted to other genres. One recent example is a horror movie starring Winnie the Pooh!
Public Domain Characters
Mickey Mouse is often discussed when talking about public domain characters because Disney is often cited as the reason copyright protections keep getting extended. However, Mickey and Minnie Mouse (as they appeared in Steamboat Willie) entered the public domain in 2024. One thing to keep in mind is that even if a character is now in the public domain, it’s often limited to how it was depicted specifically in the work(s) that are now public. Modern interpretations are still copyrighted. Here’s a short list of characters entering the public domain in 2025:
- Mickey Mouse was already in the public domain as a silent character, but with his ninth cartoon The Karnival Kid in the public domain, Mickey with a speaking voice is OK too!
- Popeye, without his iconic can of spinach since that appeared later
- Tintin as he appears in Tintin in the Land of the Soviets
- Buck Rogers from the old newspaper comic strip
- Doctor Fu Manchu
Also fair game are lots of characters from older works, like the original Aladdin, Alice from the original books, Dracula, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Hercules, Krampus, Dorothy Gale, Cthulhu, and many more. Just be careful on which version you use. The originals are in the public domain, but, the one from your favorite movie franchise might not be. For example, Snow White is ok, as is having seven dwarves. BUT, if you use the Disney dwarves you’ll be in trouble.
So, What Now?
Keep on creating! The contest starts on June 1st, but nothing says you can’t start now! We hope to see you at the awards ceremony!
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