mmbtv: The Official Marvel Comics Try-Out Book

Originally published about 30 years ago, The Official Marvel Comics Try-Out Book was billed as an opportunity for interested folks to show Marvel Comics that they had the right stuff to become Marvel Comics creators...

Originally published in 1983

According to Wikipedia:

The book described the respective jobs and accompanying tools of a writer, penciller, inker, letterer, and colorist, and then provided pages ready for the hopeful cartoonist to work on. An unfinished Spider-Man story (titled "Personals") was the springboard for the try-out portion, which among other features contained blank, pre-ruled pages for pencilers, pre-penciled "non-photo blue" pages (by artist John Romita, Jr.) to be inked and lettered, and completed black-and-white pages to be colored. The entire book was printed on two-ply 11" x 17" paper, replicating the size that a typical comic book was drawn on.

Winners of the "contest" announced in 1986 who went on to have actual careers in comics included  Mark Bagley, Doug Hazlewood, and Robin Riggs.  Of the three, Mark Bagley has arguably achieved the greatest fame with his extended run on Ultimate Spider-Man with Brian Bendis.

There has been a second volume published, and copies of The Official Marvel Comics Try-Out Book are still available, so if you'd like to try your hand, you still have a shot.  The "contest" is over, however.

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