The Seinen magazine Comic Zenon is currently running a competition where they're looking for comics that express themselves clearly without the use of words.
Manga Audition Rules
“No Words, No Story”
Submissions are judged based on the author's use of a manga artist's most valuable skill: performance. Please express the selected “one emotion” in a way that is uniquely yours.
No need to come up with a complex story. The important thing is to convey the selected theme to your readers. Visually depict your characters emotions without relying on a backstory and gimmicks.
Professionals and amateurs of any gender; all are welcome to apply!
The competition will be judged by Tsukasa Houjou author of
City Hunter, Tetsuo Hara author of
Hokuto no Ken (Fist of the North Star), Nobuhiko Horie the Chief Editor of Comic Zenon (Former Chief Editor, “Weekly Shonen Jump”) and the Comic Zenon Editorial Team.
Entries can be submitted by PDF at the
Audition Entry page or posting the pages to the Editorial department directly:
Comic Zenon Editorial Department
North Stars Pictures, Inc.
Attn: Comic Zenon Manga Audition
Medicorp Building 8, 3rd Floor,
Kichijojihon-cho 2-4-14
Musashino-shi, Tokyo
JAPAN 180-0004
Although this option would seem somewhat inappropriate considering the competition closes at the
end of this month.
Submission Details
The manga must be an unpublished original work (imitations, parodies, or altered versions of someone else’s manga are not allowed). NSP and third parties associated with the Manga Audition, here by called the Manga Audition Committee, may use submissions in the following ways, anywhere in the world. In some cases, a submission may undergo translation upon use.
- Publication in magazines and other printed media. Publication in a manga book.
- Distribution as an e-book.
- Promotional material related to 1 and 2.
Any use of the submission other than those mentioned above will be discussed between NSP and the author prior to use. (this includes cases where the author intends to use the submission in some way) The submission will be considered as published in Japan first, and will therefore be bound by Japan's copyright laws. Should either of the below circumstances apply to a submission, it will be disqualified. If prizes have already been allocated, the author's right to the prize will be null and void.
- Submission was already submitted to another manga contest, or was announced/used in another magazine.
- Submission belongs to, or in some way infringes on the rights/profits of, a third party.
There area few examples of silent comics on the audition page which should provide an idea of the page-count they're looking for (even if a few still use onomatopoeia, making them technically
not silent).