Open Call for Submissions
Each day AI pushes further into human life. Hollow AI-generated art saturates social media, students cheat using AI-written essays, and chatbots reinforce isolation and reflect our delusions. Technology that once promised convenience and connection is already reshaping how we think, create, and relate to one another. Rebel Goose Books is seeking submissions for a science fiction YA graphic novel anthology that explores the darker edges of this artificial intelligence, similar in style to Black Mirror, The Twilight Zone, Severance, Paranoia Agent, Serial Experiments Lain, and Love Death + Robots.
This anthology imagines a near-future world influenced by Turraxis, a global technology conglomerate responsible for groundbreaking advances in generative AI, robotics, virtual reality, and other emerging technologies. Its products and platforms shape everyday life across the world, often in ways people barely notice until something goes wrong. Our anthology will feature standalone stories about how people across the world wrestle with problems created by Turraxis technology. The corporation should not be the central focus of the plot, but its presence should appear somewhere within the story’s world.
We want sharp, unsettling, emotionally grounded comics that examine how AI is restructuring human identity. Stories might explore the erosion or warping of human qualities such as agency, creativity, and social connection, along with other messy parts of ourselves that should not be optimized. This anthology uses the term “AI” very broadly, so your story could include people interacting with generative AI programs, chatbots, fully physical robots, virtual reality games, or other technological permutations. Twist endings are strongly encouraged, as are endings with a bittersweet optimism, in which the protagonists find it in themselves to reconnect with their humanity.
We welcome unique interpretations of these ideas that approach the genre from unexpected angles.
Audience & Format
This anthology is intended for an upper YA audience. Protagonists should be teens, generally between 16 and 19 years old. Stories should respect teen intelligence and embrace complexity. If they feature horrific elements, those should be subtle, driven by psychological tension and emotional consequence rather than gore or spectacle.
We are seeking standalone comics short stories, not excerpts from longer works. Colour is preferred, but black and white or a limited palette is welcome if it serves the story. Stories may range from 4 to 20 pages. Pacing must serve the narrative.
Eligibility
Contributors must be at least 18 years old at the time of submission and reside in the United States or Canada. Submissions must be original, unpublished work and may not be under contract or previously published in print or online. All submissions must be created by human creators. The use of generative AI to produce scripts, artwork, or final pages is not permitted.
Compensation
$125 CAD per finished page. Rates apply to completed, final pages accepted for publication. Contributors will also receive a share of any additional rights income generated beyond the original publication, including translation, adaptation, and other licensed formats.
Project Timeline
Submissions Open: March 31, 2026
Submissions Close: June 30, 2026
Contributors Selected: July 2026
Script and Thumbnails Finalized: Late 2026
Artwork Production: First Half of 2027
Serialized Digital Release: Fall 2028
Print Publication: February 2029
Dates are approximate and may shift during production.
Submission Requirements
Submissions are open from March 31, 2026 through June 30, 2026. Please complete the form below and upload your submission materials as a single PDF.
Your PDF should include a 1–2 page synopsis outlining the full narrative arc of your story, including the ending, and several sample comics pages demonstrating your ability to tell a story through sequential art. These pages do not need to be from the story you are submitting and do not need to have been previously published. Personal or practice work is welcome if it demonstrates your approach to comics storytelling.
Questions about this open call may be directed to honk@rebelgoosebooks.com.
Submission Form
The Team
This anthology brings together a talented team that shares a passion for bold stories that challenge how we think about technology, humanity, and the future.
SUSAN PI (Publisher) is the founder and publisher of Rebel Goose Books. She holds a Master of Publishing from Simon Fraser University and has spent more than 15 years working across the publishing industry in roles spanning editing, marketing, design, bookselling, and ghostwriting. Her career includes positions at Ten Speed Press (now part of Penguin Random House) and Heyday Books, where she served as marketing director and championed diverse voices and stories. At Rebel Goose, Susan focuses on publishing work with emotional depth, authenticity, and lasting impact.
BEVAN THOMAS (Story Editor) is an award-winning author and editor with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He has written short stories and comics for numerous publishers and is closely involved with Cloudscape Comics, BC’s largest comics collective. Bevan created the anthology Through the Labyrinths of the Mind, a collection of comics about mental health, as well as the Epic Canadiana series celebrating classic Canadian superheroes. Epic Canadiana #2 won the 2016 Gene Day Award at the Joe Shuster Awards. He lives in Vancouver with his wife, the cartoonist Reetta Linjama.
ALPHA YU (Visual Editor) is an illustrator with a BFA in Illustration from Emily Carr University, where he specialized in landscape art. A lifelong manga enthusiast, he is drawn to introspective and inclusive storytelling and enjoys creating work for young readers, particularly within Canada’s Asian community. His self-published graphic novel A Canadian’s Guide to Making Manga received an Honourable Mention for the John C. Kerr Chancellor Emeritus Awards for Excellence in Visual Arts. When he is not drawing, Alpha enjoys long walks at sunset and building model robots—though not at the same time.