Welcome to the 4 PAGE COMIC JAM! As a participant, your job is to create a 4-page black-and-white comic. Anything goes as long as you stay within these two guidelines! It doesn’t matter if you’ve made zero comics or 500 of them– this is a low-stakes, no-judgment jam. I hope you can experiment, play, and HAVE FUN!

WHY 4 PAGES?

This rule is inspired by the classic 4-panel comic format—often used in comic strips or gag manga—which lends itself pretty naturally to classic storytelling structures like the three-act structure or kishotenketsu/起承転結 (like in the 4-panel comics above!) By expanding the idea of “4 panels” to “4 pages,” I’m aiming to give participants room to experiment with creating a short story in a short amount of time, without feeling too intimidated by scale. I want this jam to feel approachable to folks who’ve never made a comic before in their lives, while still feeling fresh and fun to creators who’ve been doing this for years and years. It doesn’t matter where you’re at in your creative journey— join in and draw some comics!

RULES

1. Please be respectful in your conduct and content. This is a pro-queer, anti-sexist, anti-racist space.
2. Your submission must be a finished 4-page black-and-white comic. (Grayscale is OK.) Your page layouts can be as concise as 1 panel or as dense as 500+ panels, but your entire comic must be 4 pages. (Additional pages for things that aren’t comics, like a cover or afterword, are OK.) 
3. Project descriptions must include the phrase “Made for 4 PAGE COMIC JAM 2027.” This is to help flag spam entries.
4. New comics only! The point of this jam is to make a new comic during the specified time period. Brainstorming before the jam begins is OK. Submitting a comic you already had in-progress before the jam begins is OK, as long as it fits the rules.
5. Individual/solo submissions are OK. Team/group/circle submissions are also OK.
6. Participating individuals/teams are limited to a maximum of 4 submissions.
7. NSFW/18+ submissions from 18+ participants are OK. Please be mindful of itch.io’s TOS.
8. Fan comics/spin-offs/Alternate Universes are OK.
9. No GenAI.

Read this before asking any questions:

QUESTIONS

Are there prizes/rankings?
This is a judgment-free jam. Your prize is the satisfaction of having finished a cool comic. (Not a lot of people have that!)

Can my submission be free/paid/pay-what-you-want?
Yes! You can charge as much or as little as you want for your comics.

Does my comic have to be in English?
Please submit your comic in whatever language(s) you prefer.

How do I submit my comic?
I recommend uploading a downloadable PDF on your project page. There are various free, paid, and browser-based apps and software for this. One free tool I've personally used is ImageMagick.

How big do my pages need to be? Is there a template I need to use?
No size requirements or templates here—you are free to make your comics at whatever dimensions you'd like. If you're interested in designing a comic specifically for print, many printers will have tips and guidelines on their websites that you can consult, like the US-based printer KENESS.

I don’t know how to draw! Can I still participate?
Of course! Lots of cool comics exist that use photography, sculpture, and other forms of mixed media for their visuals. Get creative!

I got carried away and made a comic that’s longer than 4 pages. Now what?
This is an exceptional achievement that unfortunately disqualifies your comic from the jam. 4 pages only!

I love colors! Does my comic have to be black-and-white? Can I color the cover??
No colors! Seriously, there are tons of beautiful black-and-white comics out there. Give it a try!

Social media tags?
#4PGCOMICJAM27 on everything! Feel free to post your comics on social media or wherever else you want, too!

If you've read this far, thanks so much for your interest! Now let's go draw some comics!!