Okay, before I get anything else out… WOO-HOO! 2000 freaking comics!! Who da man? I da man!
Ahem. Okay, so now that that’s out of the way…. yeah, wow. Today is the OFFICIAL two-thousandth Real Life comic. I went through earlier in the year and did a new count, removing any and all non-comic “images” that happen to fill the archives, and have been meticulous in my counting since then, so I’ve seen this coming like a freight train for the past few weeks. Now it’s here. And it wasn’t until last night that Liz and I actually decided that we’d DO something on this particular milestone. So, being that it’s a particularly awesome milestone for me, I’m going to pass along the good fortune to you by holding TWO contests – the first contests I’ve ever done.
The prize for each of them is a Shirt Ninja Figurine – signed by yours truly, of course. They each have completely different rules and qualifications, and each of them will end at EXACTLY midnight (Central time) next wednesday – May 28th. (And to clarify things, yes – that means you have all of wednesday to participate.) And without further ado… here they are.
Our first contest is one of artistic merit, and is bourne partially out of necessity. I’ve been meaning to get the fanart section up for a while now, but a lot of my old fanart has been lost to the ages (and the various server moves I’ve undergone) and because the section has been down so long, fan art has… well, it hasn’t even been trickling in. It’s been ages since I’ve seen any. Now’s your chance to change that – and get a figurine in the process!
RULES: Frankly, this one’s easy. Create a piece of fanart for Real Life Comics. It can be anything you want, pretty much. The winner will be chosen by a panel of judges, (Me, Liz, and my mom, who besides being a devout reader, is visiting next week) and will be judged on the criteria of style, quality, subject matter, and, if applicable, humor. (It’s not necessary for the fanart to be funny at all – but I’ll be honest, if it makes me laugh my ass off, it’s going to be rated a lot higher in my estimation.) Remember – I want to see things done in YOUR style. Don’t try to copy my style… franky, it’s not that good of a style to begin with.
All entries MUST be sent to 2000thComicContest@gmail.com by the May 28th deadline in order to be eligible for the contest. (If you want to send it in after that, feel free – it just won’t be judged.) The winners will be announced Thursday, May 29th. Did I say winners? I guess I did. For THIS contest, in addition to the first prize of a figurine, I will also be giving a second place prize of a $25 gift certificate on the store, and a third place prize of a $10 gift certificate on the store. Not bad, eh?
ALL entries (the ones that are worksafe, anyhow) will go in the Fan Art section, which will be revived from the dead following this contest, and we’ll be trying our damndest to find all the old fanart to go there as well. So warm up your drawing hand – it could win you a figurine!
This contest is a liiitle more difficult. Well, okay – not so much more DIFFICULT, but it will require a bit more thought, and a bit of luck, in order to win. In fact, to even start the contest and find the rules, you’re going to have to know the answer to this riddle:
This word, while fun to exclaim, should never be yelled in a crowded spanish theater.
That should whet your appetite a little for this little adventure through the Real Life archives. In order to start playing, you’ll need to fill in the “XXXXX” part of the following web address with your answer: (all lowercase, no punctuation) www.reallifecomics.com/XXXXX.html .
You’ll find the rest of the rules there, along with everything you need to continue. Have fun!