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The Eagles Initiative was launched in May 2010 as an independent offshoot of the Eagle Awards to find and promote new creators in a worldwide talent search. With many industry professionals graciously agreeing to donate their time to judge a shortlist of twelve entries to form three prize winners, and with Stan Lee as its patron, it was a bold experiment.
 
"Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, I have had to reluctantly cancel this years Eagles Initiative competition due to low turnout," announced organiser Barry Renshaw. "Though many entries were of a very high standard, there were not enough submissions to make the competition viable. It's a decision that is bitterly disappointing to me and everyone involved, especially after the amount of time and effort put into it, but considering the poor response it was the only option."
 
Renshaw has stated that "all registration fees are being refunded and as per the guidelines, all submissions remain creator owned and of course will not be published by the Initiative." Entrants have already been informed.
 
While admitting to be "personally gutted" by the cancellation, Renshaw added "we will be looking at developing smaller more localised projects in the future. We still believe a proactive and progressive approach to finding and developing new talent is important and the Eagles Initiative will pursue that mandate in the future. In the meantime I want to take this opportunity to personally thank all the industry professionals for offering their time for free to be a competition judge, and for lending their support to what I still believe to be a unique opportunity for undiscovered talent."

THE EAGLE INITIATIVE is pleased to announce that its website is now open for submissions to its innovative worldwide talent search.
 
With Stan Lee as its patron and a host of top name creators on board as judges, the Initiative – an offshoot of the long-established Eagle Awards – is offering untried talent a chance to demonstrate their abilities before a global audience. It is providing a unique platform from which the next generation of writers and artists can promote their storytelling ability in an increasingly competitive market.

Entrants can be a single writer/artist, a writer and artist, or a writer, penciller and inker team. They should submit a clearly told, self contained story of between 4 and 10 pages to http://www.eaglesinitiative.com/Submissions.aspx where full details can be found.
 
The thousands of projected entries will be assessed by a hand-picked jury of comics readers, which will present a final dozen to the panel of judges comprising many of the comics industry's top talents. Among those who have already agreed to participate are Tom Brevoort, Mike Carey, Howard Chaykin, Chris Claremont, Mike Deodato Jr, Steve Epting, David Finch, Geoff Johns, Denny O’Neil, Trina Robbins, Bob Shreck, Gail Simone and Roy Thomas.
A cash prize is on offer to the top three entries as voted by the judges:
First................ £1,000
Second............ £500
Third............... £250

In addition, all 12 short listed entries will made available both digitally and in print in the form of an internationally distributed anthology.
The deadline for submissions is midnight (Greenwich Mean Time) on Monday, January 31, 2011.
 
For further details on the Initiative, a full list of judges and complete submission guidelines, go to http://www.eaglesinitiative.com/. For press enquiries, contact Mike Conroy: mike@eagleawards.co.uk. For further details on the Eagle Awards, contact Cassandra Conroy: cassandra@eagleawards.co.uk.

BARRY Renshaw and Cassandra Conroy are delighted to announce that Stan Lee – the celebrated co-creator of such enduring Marvel characters as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk and the X-Men – has agreed to become patron of the Eagle Initiative.

Agreeing to give his backing to the innovative worldwide talent search, Lee said, 'Way back in 1976 mine was the first name enrolled on the Eagle Awards Roll of Honour and I’m thrilled, lo these many years later, to be invited to be a patron of this pioneering initiative which stems from such prestigious and long-running prizes.

“Breaking into comic books has never been easy and I think it's great that Barry and Cassandra are devoting their energies to helping newcomers from around the world get their foot on – and up – the ladder,” added the venerated writer. “I’m delighted to add my name to the Eagle Initiative and wish every contestant all the best, both with their entries and their subsequent careers.  Who knows, this ambitious project might lead to the discovery of a 21st century Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko... or Stan Lee!”

Responding to the celebrated Marvel creator’s comments, Renshaw – who is spearheading the project – said, “Having an industry legend like Stan Lee not only support the Initiative but agree to be its patron is both incredibly exciting and humbling at the same time. I certainly never expected to receive the amount of interest and support from industry professionals that we have done over just a few short months, and everyone behind the scenes at the Initiative is absolutely dedicated to making sure we live up to their faith in the endeavour."

Now heading up the Eagle Awards, Cassandra Conroy added, “The Marvel Universe had just had its 30th birthday when I came into this world but my dad familarised me with those classic early stories throughout my formative years. It is, therefore, a great honour to have Stan Lee not only support us on the Initiative but also be so enthusiastic about what Barry is doing. I’m sure his involvement will catapult the Initiative and the Eagle Awards themselves into the wider public spotlight.”

Eagle Awards founder Mike Conroy is serving as a consultant and publicist to the Initiative. He commented, “Things just keep getting better for Barry and Cassandra. The industry has been behind them from the start but to get backing from the living legend that is Stan Lee just turns things up to 11!”

Anticipation for the opening of the Eagles Initiative has been raised again today as the date for submitting entries and registering as jurors has been moved to the 1st August 2010 to allow time for the Initiative team to clarify and correct some last minute technical details. The previously stated timeline in earlier postings has been corrected to reflect this.

In the meantime an exciting major announcement will soon be made in the following days...

Today the timeline for Initiative submissions have been released.

The entries will go through several stages to determine a winner. First, all accepted entries will be submitted to the JURY vote. A shortlist of twelve will be formed from those voted on, which will be submitted to the judging panel (note- all entries will be viewable to the JUDGES should they choose to, not just the twelve shortlisted). A top three will then be determined. Those in the top three will be contacted by the Initiative organisers to be made aware they are in the top three, and will be asked to submit a cover art concept should their submission win.

The winners will be announced at the 2011 Eagle Awards ceremony and awarded their respective cash prize by cheque, with the cover art concept used as the cover to the 2011 Initiative Anthology. The submissions of the top three will be included in the anthology, complete with interviews on the creators involved. At the awards ceremony, the winners will be presented their printed copy of the anthology along with their respective cash prize.

The timeline for the competition is below:

1ST AUGUST 2010: SUBMISSIONS are open. JURY recruitment begins.

1ST NOVEMBER 2010: SUBMISSIONS close.

1ST DECEMBER: JURY voting begins.

1ST APRIL 2011: JURY voting end.

1ST JUNE: Creators of the shortlisted twelve submissions are made public. JUDGES voting begins.

1ST AUGUST: 2012 Initiative submissions opens.

1ST OCTOBER: JUDGES voting ends. Creators of the final three submissions are made public.

NOVEMBER: Winner announced at the 2011 Eagle Awards Ceremony. Initiative anthology goes on sale worldwide. 2012 submissions close.

For further details check out our Submissions Page.

At todays panel at the biggest event in the UK comic calender, the Bristol International Comics Festival, the new committee for the Eagle Awards announced a new direction for the long running awards ceremony.

Formed in 1976, the Eagles are one of the longest running awards in the comic book industry. Unique in that they represent the fans vote, they celebrate the very best talent the medium has to offer. Alongside the nominees for this years Award categories, the committee announced the formation of the Eagle Awards Initiative, a search for new unpublished artistic talent from the UK and across the world.

"I've always thought the Eagles could take a far more progressive and proactive role in the comics industry, especially within the UK which has such an untapped and unsupported pool of talent," explains Barry Renshaw, Initiative organiser. "When I was asked to rebrand the Eagle Awards themselves last year, I pitched the idea of the Initiative to the committee and it soon snowballed into something far more expansive."

In what is an unprecedented global talent search, the entrants will be asked to submit an original self contained illustrated story, which will be whittled down from the thousands expected to just a dozen, to be judged by a panel of the comic industry's top talents, including Geoff Johns, Brian Wood, Dave Gibbons, Karen Berger, Mark Waid, and Bryan Talbot, to name just a a few.

"The Initiative is the first stage in a several year plan to reform the Eagles into a tool for developing new talent, for educating young people about the potential in the medium, and to help connect the many disperate elements of the comics industry together," added Renshaw. "As an example, we have creators, editors, publishers, journalists, festival organisers, distributors and academics from across the world on our judges panel. We have plans to use those various assets in projects next year in the UK, including paid school visits by professionals, creative seminars and cultural exchanges with other countries in our Eagles Outreach program. It's looking at other mediums, like film, literature and the internet, and applying those lessons to our own medium to help it grow, while identifying and supporting those who may already be working to the same ends in isolation."

In what will become an annual event, the competition aspect of the Initiative begins on the 1st July 2010, when the submissions becomes open. The winner will have their story published in print and digitally, in multiple languages, and have it available to anyone on the planet, as well as recieving a cash prize during the 2011 Eagle Awards Ceremony.

For further details on the Initiative, a full list of judges and complete submissionguidelines, go to eagleawardsinitiative.com. For press enquiries, contact us here.