A tribute zine for the Johnny the Homicidal Maniac franchise to celebrate 30 years of painting walls with blood and infecting the world with head explody!!
THEME:
Consider this a love letter to NNY and all of his horrible cast mates; take what JTHM means to you in its most pure form and run with it! Think blood, knives, dark humor, and of course, little fuckass creatures that mimic your voice to steal your brain.
RULES:
• All participants must be at least 18 years old (due to content rating, legal thingies, etc.)
• ONLY characters from JTHM/SQUEE!/IFS (the more the merrier!)
• Original drawn and written works only
↳ Artwork: must be 2007x3072px canvas size (1960x3000px after bleed is cut), preferably CMYK to best color match for printing.
(Here is a template!)
↳ Written works: No more than 2-pages in length, approx 1000 words. If you'd like to use "2 entries" to double up on words for one fic (4-pages, 2000 words), that is fine too! :]
• Absolutely NO GENERATIVE AI USE!
• No definitively ship-related content (to keep with the spirit of the comics!)
(EX: Portraying Devi and Johnny’s date from Issue #2 in some fashion is fine, but not them in an AU as a happy couple, etc 💔🔪)
• ⚠️CONTENT WARNING! ⚠️ For this zine, entry content can range from all-ages-friendly to comic-canon levels of violence/themes. That includes things like: explicit gore, murder, torture, suicide, drug use, and mentions of SA and CSA.
(With that in mind, for this project we are NOT accepting any entries that contain depictions of SA or CSA! Thank you 🪳)
Still interested in joining after reading all those horrible, horrible words?
We ask that all entries be sent to our email, in hopes that they aren't compressed to Hell through other means like tumblr messenger or Discord links.
Feel free to message any questions you may have here @jthmzine!
(Or you can harass the mod @devnny 🖤🔪)
QUESTIONS?
Can I submit a drawing/fic that I did before this zine was announced?
YES! If you’ve got a work you’re proud of that fits the sizing scale, I don’t see why not! New works are greatly appreciated, but since we’re late on the 30th anniversary anyway, some artists may already have artwork they’d like to showcase instead :]
What kind of artwork is allowed?
ALL KINDS! Please, don’t think of this as a very big, professional project, it is a labor of love (or madness). From fully rendered pieces, to black and white line work, to silly comics, to a page full of sketchy doodles, we want it all!
How many entries per person?
We are not expecting a ton of entrants, so we think a max of 2 entries would be fine! There is a lot of potential content, and if you’re feeling particularly inspired, maybe you want to do a 2nd entry for a different comic/character (EX: JTHM vs IFS), or you could do a 2-page comic, or double up on words for a written work! We are very flexible.
Is this for profit?
NO, not at all! The zine will be available for purchase, but priced as necessary to pay for production costs (which is estimated to be somewhere between $5-10 +shipping)
Will there be extra goodies in the physical copy?
That is up in the air, but we would definitely love to include some neat things like stickers or prints! If any artists want to volunteer extra time/work, it would be possible :)
What is the timeframe?
We will be accepting entries all summer, from June 1 to August 31, 2026. Digital release should easily be expected in September of 2026, and if we have the funds, printing could start in September as well, but potentially not until November 2026. We will keep you posted!
**JUNE UPDATE
Can I post my entry outside of the zine?
Absolutely! You can post it as soon as you finish, or post only a preview, or never post it at all. And that goes for anywhere online, not just tumblr. It’s your art, do as you like!
Do I need to use a specific tag or something?
We are using the tag "jthm 30th zine", but if it's in the main tag "jthm", the rabid mod is sure to find it. You are also welcome to tag @jthmzine in your posts to make sure it shows up in our activity feed <3
If you are outside of tumblr, please email the file/link to your entry if you would like it posted to the blog! :)
Is it okay to promote the zine outside of tumblr?
DEFINITELY! A few lovely participants already have (twitter, reddit), but we are happy to try and reach all JTHM fans across the internet. The only thing is that the zine mod is by all accounts tumblr exclusive, so participants from other platforms will need to reach out by email. (Or make a wretched tumblr blog… their choice.)
(shy yet friendly kid with an emotional support teddy bear) do you think frankiesmileshow was a fan (joke)
this last one i drew because i was trying to animate something and got so pissed off that i had to take a break and i scared myself because both of them look way too skinny and that pissed me off so i ended up finishing the animation that night. i'll draw something real i want to post to tumblr some day.
