| Rising Stars of Manga | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Publisher | Tokyopop (North America) |
| Demographic | Teen |
| Original run | 2002–2008 |
| Volumes | 8 |
Rising Stars of Manga (RSoM) was an English-language comic anthology published by TOKYOPOP from 2002 to 2008, and a contest held by the same company. It was originally semi-annual, but switched to annual beginning with the 6th volume.
Each volume represented the results of a contest, in which aspiring comic book artists from all over the U.S. each submit a 15-20 page one-shot comic. Tokyopop staff select the best entry in each genre category (Comedy, Action, Mystery, Romance, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror) to publish in the anthology. Each winner received a $1000 prize. In addition, a People's Choice winner was decided from around 20 entries by votes from online viewers or users of the Toykopop website. The People's Choice winner was awarded $500 and published in the anthology as well (although a genre winner could also be selected as a People's Choice winner). Before the seventh RSoM competition (in 2007), the staff of TOKYOPOP picked one grand-prize winner, a Second and a Third prize winner, and eight runners-up with no distinctions in genre.
The youngest entrant to become a finalist was 15 and the youngest to be published in the anthology was also 15, and the oldest had been 39. Finalists were offered a chance to submit a proposal to create a series of books, usually lasting three volumes. Other finalists have parlayed the exposure provided by the contest into manga/comics jobs at other companies.
A few of the winners had the beginning chapters of their comics serialized by syndication in the Sunday comics of various American newspapers (Peach Fuzz, Van Von Hunter and Mail Order Ninja), through the Universal Press Syndicate.