The Tim’rous Beastie anthology project is now open for submissions. We’ll be accepting them between Dec 1st, 2016 and Jan 1st, 2017. The full list of anthology participants will be announced Jan 15th, except in the instance we receive more submissions than expected, in which case this may be extended 1 week to accommodate volume.
WHAT IS IT?
Tim'rous Beastie is a black-and-white comic anthology about small lives in a big, big world.
This is an anthology by and for those of us who grew up inspired by Redwall, The Deptford Mice, Rats of NIMH, and other tales of brave and imperiled critters defying their size and place in the natural order. We want to not only channel that inspiration into the medium of comics, but to approach familiar themes with fresh eyes.
Featuring fantasy, urban fantasy, and sci-fi, Tim'rous Beastie aims to explore the potential of stories told from a scale that, while still very human, makes even the mundane aspects of human life seem gigantic.
The anthology’s title is Scots for “timid little beast,” and from a line the 1785 Robert Burns poem, “To a Mouse, on Turning Her Up in Her Nest with the Plough (link),” which is also where the phrase “the best laid plans of mice and men” originates.
Tim’rous Beastie will be a joint venture, with Amanda Lafrenais as Managing Editor and Iron Circus Comics publishing and distributing.
PARTICIPANTS
The following creators are currently slated to appear in Tim’rous Beastie.
Stories of all genres – adventure, romance, horror, etc – about the lives of anthropomorphic intelligent animals. The acceptable level of anthropomorphism ranges from giving voices to realistic animals in their natural habitats to “civilized” creatures who wear pants, build homes, cook meals, and soforth. However, all the animals featured in creator submissions should be depicted in realistic scale with one another. Mice should be mouse-sized, cats cat-sized, and so on.
Think Mouse Guard, not Mickey Mouse.
WHAT WE DON’T WANT
Pin-ups and prose submissions.
This anthology will exclusively feature comics.
Excessively graphic content.
Like the books that inspired this anthology, we welcome darker themes, however they must be equivalent to a PG-13 movie rating. No profanity, nudity, erotica, or gore.
Proposals from incomplete creative teams.
If you’re an artist without a writer, or a writer without an artist, please find a partner before submitting your proposal.
Fanfic, fan art, or pastiche.
Please don’t submit stories using intellectual property you don’t own, or stories that are clearly referential of such work/take place in the same universe or reality.
Racist/xenophobic allegory.
Tim'rous Beastie will not accept stories that generalize or caricature entire species of animals as the equivalents of or stand-ins for human races or ethnic groups. We would also prefer it if submitted stories avoided the cliche of rats, weasels, snakes, and similar animals being inherently evil by design, and mice or bunnies as inherently good.
Cute mice vs. The World.
We won’t reject submissions with mice as protagonists, but we urge you to put more thought and originality into your stories than Cute Mouse Protagonist vs. Irredeemably Evil Whatever.
Examples
Some existing media that inspired or captures the spirit of Tim'rous Beastie:
Tim’rous Beastie will pay a $50 page rate, plus ten contributor’s copies per creator and the perpetual right to buy copies of the anthology for 50% off the cover price for as long as the comic is in print. There will also be a bonus for all contributors if the Kickstarter campaign does well.
Creators’ Rights
Creators submit stories to Tim’rous Beastie with the understanding that, if accepted, they are ceding exclusive first worldwide rights to the story for a full calendar year from the date of publication, and non-exclusive worldwide reprint rights in perpetuity. Intellectual property rights will remain in the hands of the creator. We don’t want your characters or concepts, just your comics.
Production Size
If your proposal is accepted, the final art must be designed to fit standard American graphic novel dimensions: 6.625″ × 10.25″. What this means for your production process depends on your choice of medium, but the following guides may be useful.
If you have any questions about this project which have not been addressed here, you can contact us at [email protected] or send a tumblr ask. Please read this page, including the FAQ, in its entirety before emailing us or sending a Tumblr ask. Thank you!
FAQ
Can my submission be grayscale? Or does “black and white” MEAN black and white?
Grayscale is just fine!
Can people outside the United States submit to this anthology?
Absolutely!
I am under 18 and/or will be turning 18 when the book comes out, can I submit?
No. For legal reasons we are only accepting submissions from people who are 18+ at the time of submission.
Can I submit more than one story proposal?
Yes, but please, try to keep the total number of stories you submit low, maybe to a maximum of three. We want your best ideas, not every single idea you have!
When will you need the finished pages by?
TBA.
Can my story have humans?
Humans may be alluded to or depicted as part of the world building, as in they can have an impact on the world the characters live in, but they themselves cannot be characters. This means small Beasties can have things like sardine can beds, teacup bathtubs, and framed postage stamps on their walls. Humans can also have an impact on the plot, much like in “Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH” wherein the events of the story are necessitated by the actions of the human farmers. But submitted stories cannot star these humans.
Can I make my submission about a non-existent fantasy creature?
No. While fantasy elements are allowed (magic, sorcery, the occult, etc), animals must represent real-world counterparts.
The latest Iron Circus Comics anthology is now accepting submissions! Please read the post above and click the links provided there for more information.
61 years old and employed as a scribe in a royal palace, his most regular client is Lucardo von Gishaupt, a forever-young aristocrat… and member of the mysterious and revered Night Court.When the eternally 33-year-old Lucardo and the aging Ed develop feelings for one another, both are forced to contend with the culture shock of a mortal man's presence among the deathless, the dangerous disapproval of the sitting Lord of the Night Court, and Ed’s own ever-present mortality, threatening to bring an end to their romance in the blink of an everlasting eye.
Letters for Lucardo by @claystorks is the first in a planned four-book series, and Iron Circus Comics' latest erotic graphic novel!
This fantastic new comic is about an aristocratic immortal, and his ill-advised love for a human man in the autumn of his mortal life.
Ed Fiedler is a common man, 61 years old and employed as a scribe in a royal palace. His most regular client is Lucardo von Gishaupt, a forever-young member of the mysterious and revered Night Court. When the eternally 33-year-old Lucardo and the aging Ed develop feelings for one another, both are forced to contend with the culture shock of a mortal man’s presence among the deathless, the disapproval of the sitting Lord of the Night Court, and Ed’s own ever-present mortality, threatening to bring an end to their romance in the blink of an everlasting eye.
Iron Circus Comics' next Kickstarter launches October 24th! Follow Spike on Kickstarter to know the moment the project goes live!
Launching TODAY on GoComics: Poorcraft, the Funnybook Fundamentals of Living Well on Less!
Heya, folks! I am beyond pleased to announce that Poorcraft, Iron Circus Comics’ first-ever Kickstarted book and evergreen bestseller, is now syndicated on GoComics! It updates Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays.
Yes, Roya, set in 1960s California, written by @spikedrewthis, drawn by @ghostgreen, and with a cover by @kinomatika, Tells the story of Wylie Kogan. An aspiring artist, a fawning fan letter grants him access to his cartoonist hero, the wealthy and celebrated Joseph Ahlstrom, Wy’s quick to take advantage of a proffered portfolio review … but winds up learning more than he ever wanted to about Joe when he stumbles across some of his idol’s illicit fetish art. His hasty, ill-considered theft of a drawing triggers a series of events he never planned on … most of which involve Joseph’s imposing and resolute partner, Roya.
A m/f/m femdom story, Yes, Roya is ICC’s FIRST (but definitely not last!) erotic GN!
And My Monster Boyfriend is ICC first themed erotic comics anthology! 220 pages of cute monster boys! Robots, demons, aliens and spirits, with their human and not-so-human lovers, in ten incredible stories by comics’ best and brightest.
Nope, it’s not Friday. But ICC’s got a new title for you ANYWAY.
But then, well, maybe not…?
Iris & Angel isn’t exactly new; the first chapter’s already been written by myself, drawn by @littlefroggies, and posted on Slipshine, the subscription adult comics site. But Slipshine came with certain restrictions; monthly quotas, length limits, and the expectation of sex every fifteen pages, to name a few. And while that works for a lot of comics, it wasn’t working for I&A.
So, Amanda and I are trying something new.
Iris & Angel is restarting from scratch, and will be released chapter-by-chapter on ComiXology and in the Iron Circus Comics online store!
This is a new approach for us, and we’re excited to see where it might lead. We’re test-driving a smaller, cheaper, more incremental approach to our comics; inexpensive “issues” of I&A with a nice, low bar for entry for the curious and the freedom to tell the story as we like.
And WHAT A STORY.
Iris Moore is a victim of her own success; her small soap-making business has taken off like a shot, but she’s found herself floundering with the financials. With April 15th approaching and her paperwork more hopelessly scrambled than ever, she finally accepts the inevitable: she needs professional help. But where to start?
A fetish message-board on the internet, of course.
Iris’ pervy roommate Tate talks her into answering the weirdest personal ad ever posted; a cross-dressing accountant offering tax prep. And what begins as a hands-off, close-encounter with kink unexpectedly evolves into something much deeper when Iris and Angel discover desires they never anticipated; a deep attraction to both one another, and the new and unfamiliar world of fetish culture itself.
Iris & Angel! Coming this winter, from Iron Circus Comics! 😀
