Darby Pop Publishing is pleased to announce the winners of its second “Breaking Into Comics” contest. After hundreds of submissions were reviewed, and the top writers and artists were selected, Darby Pop created “teams” -- with selected Artists bringing the winning Writers’ scripts to life for the ultimate anthology book, The Women of Darby Pop #1.Featuring 11 all-new stories, The Women of Darby Pop #1 (Diamond Code: JUL16 1751) releases to local comic book shops on September 28, 2016.

“With our second ‘Breaking Into Comics’ contest, Darby Pop Publishing has tried to give aspiring comic book professionals an opportunity to get a foot in the door – and get published,” said Kristine Chester, the book’s Associate Editor. “Plus, we’ll be introducing comic book readers to a wellspring of new talent.”

The winners of Darby Pop’s “Breaking Into Comics” contest are writers and artists with reservoirs of passion and varying degrees of experience. Last year, with her young-adult mystery comic, Ma Douce Rose, 17-year-old Kate Davis was a winner of the “Future of Comics Contest” held at the Baltimore Comic-Con Kids Love Comics Pavilion. Austin Bridges has a background in playwriting and is co-creator of an episodic radio adventure series Mermaid in Manhattan. Matthew Cody is a professional novelist with published works in historical adventure (for kids), science fiction (for teens), and retro-pulp (for adults); his credits include the book Powerless. Among his various creative endeavors, scriptwriter Adrian Reynolds is co-creator and writer of the science fiction web comic Dadtown. Forrest C. Helvie is co-creator and writer of a children’s graphic novel, The Adventures of Whiz Bang: The Boy Robot. Jeff Burns is creator, writer, and director of the Super Knocked Up web series. Brent Hibbard has been working on 2-page kids’ comics for Kids Prize Pack, a monthly subscription box service. And the list goes on and on.

The two things the majority of the aforementioned Creatives have in common: a lifelong passion for comic books, and the dream of earning a living in the comic book industry.

Back in April, Darby Pop Publishing put out a call for the best short scripts (4 pgs. maximum) and sample art featuring (at least) one female character from Darby Pop’s lineup including heroes and villains such as: Stingray, Princess Power, and Gaia from Indestructible; Chloe from City: The Mind in the Machine; Superfecta 5 and Kathleen from The 7^th Sword; Angela Garcia from Doberman; Vargas, Ayala Tal, and Dr. Nash from Dead Squad; Atalanta from Side-Kicked; Cynara Veil from Dead Man’s Party; Charli, Lucy, and Jill from Fake Empire, etc. etc.

And the call was answered.