Jurgen Comics Contest

The 2024-2025 challenge

face wearing a crown peers over a wallImagine a comic book centered around the suppression or censorship of visual art, books, music, film or performance at a particular historical moment. You might tell this story using any one of a number of comic book genres such as real life, comedy, horror, romance, weird/uncanny, fantasy or science fiction.
Now draw only the comic book’s cover.

Winning entries will 

  • Stimulate readers’ interest in a story centered on a specific historical incident of censorship or suppression and the ideas and issues at stake
  • Skillfully and engagingly communicate an understanding of the event
  • Demonstrate innovative use of the standard U.S. comic book cover format
  • Suggest one or more of the larger issues you’d imagine including in your comic such as censorship and self-censorship, art as a business vs. art for self-expression, art and its audiences, and the tension between artistic freedom and community standards

Prizes

  • Grand prize (Best overall): $1,000 and print and digital publication
  • Artistry $250 and print and digital publication
  • Storytelling $250 and print and digital publication
  • Research $250 and print and digital publication
  • All entries considered for digital publication as honorable mentions
  • Only one prize per person

Getting started

Among the many examples of art censorship:

Dangerously Funny by David Bianculli

Judgment Day final panel from Weird Fantasy no. 18, 1953.
Final panel of “Judgment Day”
Weird Fantasy, no. 18, Mar/Apr 1953

Other resources:


Young Romance, No. 10. Comic book coverSubmission requirements

Eligibility: VCU students enrolled in 9 or more credit hours during the Fall 2024 semester. Part-time VCU students, including university employees who are taking classes, are also encouraged to participate. Their entries are eligible for digital and physical publication, but will not be considered for cash prizes.

Format: 

  • Vertical format U.S. standard comic book cover
  • Submitted as a digital file; sized as an 11″ x 17″ original, 300 dpi JPG or PDF
  • Note: Should you win, your cover will be resized to 6.69 x 10.24 inches for printing. All pages that have imagery reaching the edge of the page should have an additional 8th inch bleed or .125”
  • Keep in mind your lettering size and use of space to prevent losing detail and legibility of the cover once it’s shrunk to scale.

Submissions must include a brief artist’s statement that includes

  • A synopsis of the story told in your imagined comic (2 to 4 sentences is plenty!)
  • Historical research conducted
  • Your creative process 
  • What about the historic event inspired you? 
  • Description of the tools/software you used

Judges will review both statements and comic book cover art

Note: The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools is not permitted. 
Swamp Thing Winter Special comic no. 1, 2018
© Artist’s name,  Jurgen Comics Contest, Virginia Commonwealth University, 2025  should appear at the bottom of the cover

Submissions must include a transcription of the text of your comic to aid accessibility

Email submissions to LibJurgen@vcu.edu 

Deadline for submissions: 11:59 p.m. Eastern, January 31, 2025


Judging: completed during February and March 2025 
DC comic book cover: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong No. 5, 2024

Our panel of judges may include representatives from

  • Professional comic or graphic artists
  • VCU Libraries
  • The Cabell Associates
  • VCU students
  • VCU faculty
  • Previous contest winners

Winners will be announced and their works published and exhibited by April 2025.

Copyright: Artists will retain copyright to their creations, and by entering the contest grant a non-exclusive license to VCU Libraries for publication and display.  

VCU Libraries reserves the right to refuse to award prizes should no entries meet the judging criteria. 

Questions about the contest? Email VCU Libraries at LibJurgen@vcu.edu 


Not familiar with comic book cover art. Wondering what you can do in a single page?

Horror comic book cover Black Magic v1 n1Try these links for inspiration.

Explore VCU Libraries Comic Arts Collection located in Special Collections and Archives

Take a look at previous winners’ comics

Questions about the contest? Looking for a writer or artist to collaborate? Email VCU Libraries at LibJurgen@vcu.edu


About the contest

The Jurgen Banned Art Comics Contest is an annual VCU student competition dedicated to telling the story of banned art and encouraging discussion of the complex relationship between art and society. The inaugural competition (Fall 2021-Spring 2022) focused on the events and issues surrounding the banning of James Branch Cabell’s Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice. The contest is sponsored by VCU Libraries and supported by the generosity of donors.

brightly colored lino-cut of two figures on horseback
Jurgen in Lino-cuts by William John Bernhard
Special Collections and Archives, VCU Libraries