Call for submissions – CBA vol 76: WORLD WITHOUT PICTURES – ART ON STRIKE

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 76: WORLD WITHOUT PICTURES – ART ON STRIKE
Main editor: Mattias Elftorp
Deadline: February 15, 2027

Both comics artists and illustrators are heavily underpaid. Yet illustrations of all kind, from instruction manuals and pictographs to logotypes and deeply involving visual storytelling, surround us constantly. With this theme, we imagine a world where illustrations are on strike, where what remains is a collection of stories completely devoid of pictures. Let’s see what their absence has to say about our forgotten need, our neglected dependence, for the visual arts.

This issue of CBA will be a bit different, but we’re confident you’ll come up with something.

What’s allowed: Text. Speech/thought bubbles. Panels. Captions*.
What’s not allowed: Pictures. Logos. Pictures pretending to be text/text used as pictures (ASCII etc). Sound effects (text modified to visually represent sound). We may or may not disqualify color, because if you try to use it as a substitute for images, you’re on thin ice.

* But don’t cheat by describing what would otherwise have been drawn. That’s bad storytelling.
The absence of something can sometimes be as tangible as its presence. Play with that.

Be creative with the concept. It can be anything from a story about a world without pictures or a story about being blind, to something completely different. You can use a story that already exists but where the original pictures have been deleted. Try to make it work as a comics story. Try to make a point (implicit rather than explicit) about the importance of illustrations. Make the reader feel what they’re missing. Make the reader not be able to dismiss this as a lazy way to get out of drawing.

We also accept plain text articles relating to the theme (may be the importance of pictures, may be about the strike as a tool to improve working conditions in general), but the texts won’t take up a larger portion of the issue than they normally would (1 or 2, maybe 3 text pieces/issue), and where there would normally be an illustration, there will be an empty space.

Will we accept collaborative submissions, where there is one writer and one artist? Sure, why not? If you’re a writer and you need help with the composition to make it clear that there are no images where they should be, you may want the expertise of someone who is fluent in the visual language of comics.

If we can get employers to realize they need to pay more for illustrations (in comics or in general) after reading this, we have succeeded.

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (or download links from your domain, etc).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and we usually don’t have a lot of that.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you’re unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose.

Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length and written in 3rd person. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published that they might find, rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.

Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 5 free copies of the issue, with the option to buy more at a reduced price. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2029)…

Feel free to share this call for submissions to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Call for submissions – CBA vol 74: APATHY

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 74: APATHY
Main editor: Marie Tillman
Deadline: September 15, 2026

You wonder how your future will turn out, so you draw a tarot card. You turn the card, it’s apathy. Not so surprising. Who has enough energy to be surprised anymore?

Are you feeling political and social apathy right now? There’s so much that we should do and change, but it feels impossible. We should be saving the earth, we should be saving the humans, we should be saving ourselves. Instead so many of us get overwhelmed because everything we do feels too small. Apathy is the lack of concern and emotion. But how does lack come to be? Could we trace the line around our missing emotion and find the cure? What if our emotions and concerns were stolen? How do we catch the thief? Could we construct a forensic image of the thief?

Give us your comics on apathy!

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (or download links from your domain, etc).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and we usually don’t have a lot of that.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you’re unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose.

Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length and written in 3rd person. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published that they might find, rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.

Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

—

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 5 free copies of the issue, with the option to buy more at a reduced price. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2029)…

—

Feel free to share this call for submissions and/or the Facebook event to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Call for submissions – CBA vol 73: BUGS

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 73: BUGS
Main editor: Aiden Kvarnström
Deadline: February 15, 2026

One day, Gregor Samsa woke up and found himself transformed into an insect. Do you think that bugged him?

Puns aside, insects are fascinating. Many people find them disgusting and associate them with filth and decay, but without them we wouldn’t have anything to eat, considering they’re also the main pollinators of our plants. How could we survive in a world with no bugs? Then again, fleas were quite significant in spreading the plague.

Insects are hailed as the protein of the future and shunned as vectors of disease. They’re pests, pets and objects of fear and fascination. But they aren’t the only kind of bug out there. If you’re sick, you’ve caught a bug. If your computer program doesn’t run as intended, it’s due to a bug. If you experience a glitch in the matrix, there might be a bug in the very fabric of our reality. If something is bugging you, you can’t stop thinking about it. And remember: shrimp are also bugs.

Give us your best stories rooted in entomology, annoyance, glitches or any other kind of bug out there! Exoskeletons, hive minds, metamorphosis, silk, webs and rot; we’re sure you all have something to say about bugs.

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (or download links from your domain, etc).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and we usually don’t have a lot of that.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you’re unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose.

Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length and written in 3rd person. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published that they might find, rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.

Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

—

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2029)…

—

Feel free to share this call for submissions and/or the Facebook event to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Call for submissions – CBA vol 68 & 2025

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 68 & 2025 in general: NO THEME, just some more STORIES
Main editor: Mattias Elftorp
Deadline: March 20

NO THEME, just some more STORIES.

Give us your comics and texts for our upcoming issue and for 2025 in general. This may be the only call for submissions of the year, depending on how our plans develop.
EDIT: Our plans have developed and this will NOT be the only call for submissions of the year. More on that later…

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and we usually don’t have a lot of that.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose.

Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length and written in 3rd person. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published that they might find, rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.

Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

—

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2029)…

—

Feel free to share this call for submissions and/or the Facebook event to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Call for submissions – CBA vol 66|67: MORE STORIES

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 66|67: MORE STORIES
Main editor: Mattias Elftorp
Deadline: October 15

No theme, just MORE STORIES.

Give us your comics and texts for this double issue of CBA!

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK (profile: PSO coated V3, or you can send it in RGB and we’ll convert it)
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start. This saves time and we usually don’t have a lot of that.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose.

Policy on generative AI: We do not accept submissions that are created using generative AI.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length and written in 3rd person. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published that they might find, rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.

Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

—

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus of the financial support we receive for CBA amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2029)…

—

Feel free to share this call for submissions and/or the Facebook event to any comics creator you think would be interested!

Extended deadline – CBA vol 64: Kolaż

We’ve decided to extend the deadline for CBA vol 64: Kolaż to May 31!

You can find all the submission guidelines for this issue here.

THEME:

Kolaż (Polish for collage) is an art where you weave existing images into new narratives. Dive deep into various techniques and tech. We want your unlimited comic fusions!

Explore the art of collage with us in blends of found images with drawings and digital manipulations, dissections and reassemblies, insertions and rearrangements. Share your stories, your subversions and discoveries of meaning through combinations and reinterpretations. Create new comics or cut up your old ones, make new life out of previous stories.

Be inspired by pioneers like Mary Shelley’s Victor F, Hannah Höch, Romare Bearden, Dave McKean and many more, whose unique approaches reshape artistic boundaries.

Join us to celebrate this remarkable art form in CBA vol 64: Kolaż (polish for Collage) where innovation and imagination breathe life into fragments, woven through the magic of artistic amalgamation.

Is collage your passion and you want to write an article about it? Great! A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.

***Disclaimer***
Copyrighted material:
Be mindful of the images you use to create your collage. In general, using copyrighted images in your collage without permission could potentially constitute copyright infringement.e
AI:
If you use AI art it has to be clearly stated that it is AI, what AI platform it is made at and what words and/or base images you used to create the comic. We want to discourage the use of AI and you will not receive any payment for AI- images.
***

Call for submissions – CBA vol 59: ALONELINESS

Call for submissions for:
CBA vol 59: Aloneliness
Main Editor: Oskar Aspman
Deadline: October 1

In a world where everyone seems to be moving into the forced crowd that is the City (more than 50% of the entire population of earth live on the 2% surface that is urbanized, in Sweden the rate is 85%). The epidemic of loneliness is skyrocketing alongside the skyscrapers, we sit inside our empty little apartments with our empty little hearts. The mortality rate of being lonely rivaling those of smoking too much. We are but morals and the City is our graveyard it seems.

And one bad thing isn’t enough, because at the same time a new phenomenon is being researched. Aloneliness is the negative feelings that arise from NOT spending enough time alone. In a city, in a crowd there is never time to slow down, to contemplate, to ponder and to recover. Stress and its manufactured hellhole well-being-spa-solutions is in itself another epidemic.

SO this issue of CBA invites you to explore this longing to be more alone. Take us to your favourite place of solitude. Show us moments of solitary relaxation. Tell us the tale of nosthalgia-ridden woodlands, a sunlit forest glade, the forgotten refuge on a rooftop in a crowded city.

Where do you go to, my lovely
When you’re alone in your bed?

—SUBMISSION GUIDELINES—
Please read and follow these guidelines:
Number of pages: We prefer comics that are about 5-30 pages, but any number is welcome.
Format: 20 x 26 cm
Color: Color / Black and white
Language: English
File format: .TIF
Resolution: 1200 dpi line art or 300 dpi CMYK
Length (texts): A good size for a text is ca 7500 characters (including spaces), but it can also be longer or shorter.
Bleed: 5mm. Think you know how to handle bleed? Read this to make sure you know what we mean.
Within this space, there are no limits.

Delivery: We prefer download links that do NOT require us to login anywhere (wetransfer usually works fine, for example).
Request: Please don’t use Comic Sans. We don’t like it and will ask you to change to another font.
And again; Please check our guidelines for bleed.
Please send us high-resolution files from the start.
Include a short bio*, with one URL (if you have a website or similar).

Please ask us if you are unsure about formats, resolution, bleed, etc. We prefer stupid questions to bad files. And there are no stupid questions!
Normally, we also organize a release exhibition showcasing sample pages from the new issue. Please let us know if you’re NOT ok with us using your works for that purpose. It’s part of our marketing and it usually takes place in a physical exhibition space, although these days we’re more likely to make a digital exhibition online at the Hybriden website.

*Your bio should be approximately 500-700 characters in length. It should read more as an entertaining and informative bio and less as a CV. What you want to say about yourself is up to you, but it’s generally more interesting for our readers to know about your interests, who you are and what else you’ve published rather than where you’ve studied. We may edit it if needed to fit our format.
Send comics, questions, etc to: submissions(a)cbkcomics(.)com

Unfortunately we cannot guarantee you any payment for participating (although these last few years we’ve had more financing so we have been able to pay at least something, i.e. when all the expenses have been paid we will share the surplus amongst the participants). If we publish your submission you will receive 10 free copies of the issue. That’s all we can promise at this date. Hopefully you will find being in CBA an enjoyable experience. Naturally, copyright for your material will stay in your hands.

Also note that we are constantly overworked and there’s a great risk that we won’t get in touch in case your submission doesn’t make it into the current volume (we WILL, however, let you know if we do publish your submission, and if you don’t get into this one we might keep your comic for a future issue). We are sorry for this and will try to catch up as soon as things clear up (optimistically in 2025)…

Feel free to invite people to the Facebook event or share this call for submissions blogpost!