Greg Robinson of West Columbia hopes to make the top ten in The Comic Book Challenge Tickw Ti othck h Visa geganabtr oy n ds. A South Carolina man is trying to win a world wide contest to determine the best unknown comic writer. Greg Robinson, who lives in West Columbia, has made the top 50 for the second year in a row and is trying to crack the top ten this year. He will make a three minute video presentation on his entry and rely on internet voting to advance.

The Comic Book Challenge began in 2006 with entries from 12 countries. Platinum Studios came up with the concept to find the "next Frank Miller." Platinum has comic library property with Dutch, French, Italian, and North American origins, among others.

Their stories have been developed by Disney and Dreamworks, and the website www.drunkduck.com boasts over 20,000,000 hits a month. The 2007 contest was sponsored by AT&T, and the voting increased the network's traffic by 40% during the contest. Jorge Vega captured last year's trophy with Gun Play.

The 2008 contest features entries from 32 countries, and the judges include Scott Mitchell Rosenberg ( Men In Black), Gale Anne

Hurd (producer, Incredible

Hulk), Brandon Routh ( Superman R eturns), and

Kevin Munroe (Teenage

Mutant Ninja Turtles).

California based Platinum is using the contest to expose fresh talent and build their position in the industry. In today's world, the male dominated comic book industry is massive, and fuels other media; movies, television, websites, and mobile are all affected by the comic industry.

The contest places Platinum at the forefront of the industry and also gives exposure to new artists who might not have another way to get their talent in front of such a large audience.

Greg's 2008 Comic Book

Challenge entry is titled Tick

Tock Vagabonds, a story set in a magical game world land called Tick Tock. Children from all walks of life come together and compete in a central playing field surrounded by living quarters. The field is composed of interchangeable disks; each one contains a unique obstacle.

The story begins with Tick Tock powering down for some unknown reason. A robot named Dodger is sent through a time warp to find the one person who can restore order to the magical place.

The maker is sucked into the time warp and replaced by a sinister man called the Baron. He takes over Tick Tock, and it is up to Dodger and three young classmates recruited from our time. They call themselves The Vagabonds.

Greg has been married for nine years. He and his wife Maria have a six- year- old daughter, Alexandra. He has been writing comics for four years. His first published work was Underlords. Greg is currently working on a screenplay with the Screen Writers Agency.

The panel of distinguished judges will narrow the entries from 50 down to ten finalists. In early August, these finalists will be announced on the website, www.drunkduck.com. Voters will take over and reduce that number to three. Another vote will decide the 2008 winner.

Greg Robinson is hoping to see his name listed among the finalists and would love to write another story about how a West Columbia man overcomes all odds to win a prestigious contest and achieve fame and fortune.