This one's going to be a lot of fun, given the wide range of possibilities.

DC Comics has often used its characters to promote worthy causes, from the War Bond drives of the 1940s to the many social concerns of the 1990s. In the 1970s, DC promoted racial togetherness (such as the famous picture of Superman surrounded by a diverse group of kids, or the "Man, Thy Name Is Brother" JLA #57 Cover about the United Nations). In just this last decade, DC has published anti-drug comics, addressed the issues of violence and gunplay in our schools, and run full-page ads about AIDS awareness and fund-raising for flood victims.

Let's start 1999 off in a very positive manner!I think that, given the wide range of talented and imaginative artists who have entered past art challenges, you can all come up with a DC Comics Public Service Poster.

So here's the challenge:

1. Create a piece of artwork featuring DC Comics characters which conveys a message. These can be general pro-social values and virtues (togetherness, diversity, non-violent resolutions to problems, telling the truth, equality, etc.), topical (anti-smoking, anti-drug, anti-drinking, safe sex, anti-drunk driving, etc.), environmental (littering, recycling, etc.), nationalistic ("Ain't America Great?", "Kick Saddam Hussein's Butt!" etc) or global (Promoting peace, international goodwill, kicking Saddam Hussein's butt, addressing atrocities, etc.).
2. These can be single-size posters or multi-panel stories.
3. You can use word balloons or titles, or simply make your point with pictures. As always, if you have problems adding words to pictures, we have several proficient letterers who are usually willing to help. Just e-mail us for assistance.
4. Some issues are too controversial (abortion, legalizing marijuhwanna, political advocacy) and should be avoided. Common sense should dictate what is not acceptable, but we reserve the right to not run any piece which we feel will jeopardize the "fair use" policy under which Fanzing can use DC characters. DC does not want their characters used in any way which could be considered defamation, and Fanzing does not want to risk being shut down (obviously).
5. Send it in to [email protected] by January 31, 1998.
   
6. A team of judges will pick the best one. The results will be announced in the February issue.

Entries must be in a digital format such as GIF, JPG or BMP (scan in your drawings if necessary). Photomanipulations are allowed for backgrounds, although doing a background by hand can help your score. All acceptable entries will be shown in the February issue. Have fun!