This project will become an anthology inspired by manga from the 70’s and early 80’s. We want it to honor the comics from the era and show of a variety of styles. Each manga should feel as if it could have been published in the 70’s or early 80’s in regards to the style of the art, while the story itself can be set in a contemporary setting. That means that the characters can own smartphones and tablets, they can vape or look at vines: the story’s time period is not restricted to the 70’s and 80’s only. However, the art style aesthetic should still be obviously inspired by the 70’s and early 80’s manga.

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We work together

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This is a co-joint project between everyone involved. You should be prepared to show your sketches and progress, and give and receive feedback on your manga. This is a democratic process, and should a majority of the artists involved vote to not include a certain subject or scene, you will be expected to change said subject or scene. If you're unsure, contact any of the editors for consultation.

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This book will be distributed by our joint efforts. Each person will be expected to receive and sell a minimum of 20 books. This book is distributed by each and every person as a joint effort. If every person receives books and distributes them, we will cover a much bigger geographical area. Everyone who sells the book will be listed on our website and social medias, so people from different parts of the world will be able to order from someone close to them.

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Self-published anthology

 

There’s no major publisher behind this project. This is a self-published anthology arranged by our core team. There’s no prior funding. We will make a crowdfunding campaign for the printing costs of this book. Our hope is that the crowdfunding campaign will fund the complete printing costs of the book. You will then receive a minimum of 20 books (you can choose to receive more as well) that you are expected to sell to people around you, via your homepage or social media, or such. You may keep the money you earn from selling the books. You might have to pay shipping to get the books to your location, but if the crowdfunding campaign is very successful, the shipping costs could also be covered. It all depends on how well the campaign goes.

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Crowdfunding

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This project will be crowdfunded, and we'll try to fund the print for the book this way. The book's success depends a lot on the crowdfunding campaign! Therefore we hope everyone will do their best to spread the word about the campaign. In the event of the project not being completely funded, each person will be expected to put in some amount of money to get the book printed. This sum will cover the printing costs. Then, when you sell the book, you will earn the difference between the printing cost and the consumer price. Example: a book costs €3 to print. The book is sold for €10. This means you earn €7 per book (excluding taxes).

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How to participate?

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To be able to participate with a comic in the anthology, you will have to fill out an application and provide us with links to your previous works and illustrations. Even if you apply there's no guarantee that you'll be able to participate in the anthology. We of course want as many people as possible to participate, but we might have to deny your request for various reasons, such as participant limitations or art style restrictions. Our core team will review your application and choose the artists and/or authors who seem to fit our vision the most. Also, make sure you are familiar with the deadlines and specifications before applying.

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Specifications

 

Language: English

Page count: min: 10 max: 30 (including chapter cover)

The manga will be read from right to left (Japanese way).

Size: European B5: 176 × 250mm (plus 5mm safety margin)
DPI: 1200 dpi bitmap/lineart/black and white

Time period to be inspired by: 1970-1985

Story: No theme in particular, but read the rules and guidelines carefully and do your research.

Style: The style should obviously be inspired by mangas from between 1970-1985. It doesn’t matter which genre (see rules for exceptions), so it doesn’t matter if it’s shoujo or shounen or something else.

Originality: Remember that your story should be original and NOT fan art. Use your own characters, no pre-existing characters.

Finished stories only: Your story should feel complete. Don’t just take a part of a longer story.

You keep the rights to your work! When you send it to us, you give us the right to publish it in the formats

we have agreed on.

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Rules

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• Look at our inspiration/guideline presentation: https://tinyurl.com/retromangainspo

• No porn: tasteful nudity or erotic scenes is okay, but keep it clean. If you draw nude bodies, keep them clean of details. Study erotic mangas from the period!

• No gore: blood is okay, but not guts and splattered brains.

• We will provide the final font that you will use for dialogue text (to make sure that it’s a font that’s free for commercial use)

• Keep to today’s values when handling subjects such as feminism, sexism, racism.

• Negative depictions of homosexuality and transgender people are not allowed.

• No positive promotion of heavy violence and gun use.

• You must be at least of legal age in your home country to participate.

• If you're not an artist but would like to make a manuscript for someone else to draw, please make sure you have an artist to work with before applying

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Guidelines regarding art style

Remember that this book is not a parody nor a negative commentary on the retro manga style. This book is to honor the art style of the era. This is very important to keep in mind. Don’t make fun of the style, make sure your manga is a tribute to the style. A fun and light attitude is fine to have, playing with the style if you want, but making a straight up parody and making fun of the art style is not the purpose of this project.

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Deadlines

 

25 March 2019: Interest to participate must be submitted via the apply-form
1 April 2019: You will receive an email about if you're invited to participate in the project

15 April 2019: Synopsis + character design done (then feedback for two weeks)

1 June 2019: Layout sketches done (then feedback for two weeks)
22 July 2019: Crowdfunding campaign starts
1 October 2019: Deadline for the completed comic

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Want to participate?

 

Applications are now closed. Subscribe for updates on whether we make another anthology in the future!

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Questions?

If you have questions, please write us a message via the contact-page, or email us at: RetroMangaAnthology@gmail.com

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See the gallery for more inspirational pictures from participants