DC's brave new pioneering imprint is...

Blankspace

Webcomics?

The ubiquitous online phrase is now the tagline of Zudacomics.com, a new digital imprint being launched by DC Comics in October which will publish webcomics featuring new characters and concepts by creators yet to be found. The official announcement of the new webcomics venture came via The New York Times.

“There is an explosion of creativity in web comics,” said Paul Levitz, DC Comics President & Publisher in a release. “We want to build a great stage for this new generation of creators to perform on, a solid system for their work to reach audiences online and in print, and for the creators to share in the profits their creations can generate. In this time of rapid technological and cultural change, DC wants to be a good publisher for the evolving and growing community of online comic creators, so that we can be their partner for showcasing new kinds of works to entertain future generations.”

Let's just say I'm a bit skeptical.

Hooraydiation

Speaking for myself alone, the amount of web comics I read peaked at somewhere around 10 around 4 years ago but has steadily dropped since then to the point where I only read Penny-Arcade when I remember to and Perry Bible Fellowship when I realize it's been a month since I checked the site.

Iroh

Given that there is a vast amount more shit than readable material among web comics, this is probably going to fail miserably right out of the gate. Unless of course they sign artists that are already well-established in the medium, then they may get lucky with existing readers.

Scooter

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Speaking for myself alone, the amount of web comics I read peaked at somewhere around 10 around 4 years ago but has steadily dropped since then to the point where I only read Penny-Arcade when I remember to and Perry Bible Fellowship when I realize it's been a month since I checked the site.

I wasn't really thinking DC would be getting into the comedy business?

TehChowd

Scooter wrote: »

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Speaking for myself alone, the amount of web comics I read peaked at somewhere around 10 around 4 years ago but has steadily dropped since then to the point where I only read Penny-Arcade when I remember to and Perry Bible Fellowship when I realize it's been a month since I checked the site.

I wasn't really thinking DC would be getting into the comedy business?

I think DC's already in the comedy bussiness, don't they publish Mad magazine? I get what you're saying though, I would/would have expected DC to try and bolster their super hero holdings before taking the risky plunge into pubishing more comedy comics.

Hooraydiation

Could a web comic about action really work? It'd be in the vein of Mark Trail, Dick Tracy, and the Spider-Man newspaper strip, and those never struck me as being even as strong as freakin' Garfield.

The medium's best suited to comedy and, occasionally, drama, in my opinion.

But then, I haven't read every webcomic.

Bad Karma

The only postitive that I can think of (as I generally read only one webcomic..PA) is that if it does take off, and certain character gains enough popularity, it could translate into a new comic. But other than that...meh..

Scooter

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Could a web comic about action really work? It'd be in the vein of Mark Trail, Dick Tracy, and the Spider-Man newspaper strip, and those never struck me as being even as strong as freakin' Garfield.

The medium's best suited to comedy and, occasionally, drama, in my opinion.

But then, I haven't read every webcomic.

Dr. McNinja? It's comedy, but it's an action comic too. Besides, nothing says they have to do one panel/page at a time instead of just doing monthly full comics.

Kitten

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Could a web comic about action really work? It'd be in the vein of Mark Trail, Dick Tracy, and the Spider-Man newspaper strip, and those never struck me as being even as strong as freakin' Garfield.

The medium's best suited to comedy and, occasionally, drama, in my opinion.

But then, I haven't read every webcomic.

http://dominic-deegan.com/ has done fairly well.

Bloods End

Dr. McNinja is a webcomic, and it might as well be considered a monthly comic for how many pages and events happen in it.

It even has full blown story arcs.

Mai-Kero

Scary-go-round is probably the best webcomic ever.

DC's webcomic division should just exist to give John Allison lots of money.

wwtMask

This might be cool, depending on whether this is sort of a Vertigo for webcomics. I mean, if it lets people get exposure and helps them get recognition in the industry while retaining their original IP, that's great. If they want to take control of your IP, though, I'm not with it. I assume (or rather hope) that the winners get their stuff published eventually, otherwise I'd be interested to see how they intend to compensate the contributors.

Lux

wwtMask wrote: »

This might be cool, depending on whether this is sort of a Vertigo for webcomics. I mean, if it lets people get exposure and helps them get recognition in the industry while retaining their original IP, that's great. If they want to take control of your IP, though, I'm not with it. I assume (or rather hope) that the winners get their stuff published eventually, otherwise I'd be interested to see how they intend to compensate the contributors.

As I understand it, if your vision is good, their editorial staff will pick you & pay you to make the webcomic for them. Later on down the line, maybe they'll buy the IP from you. Maybe it will get published into print, but that's not the "grand prize" or anything. It seems their main idea is that it's not just a collective of webcomics like Dayfree, but a webcomic community site that lets viewers determine the success of each strip.

What I don't like all too much is how they're making them all conform to the same canvas size. I imagine some creators will want their strip in a small 3 panel format, and some will want full blown pages.

Munch

Personally, I think this sounds pretty cool. There's a lot of really talented people out there making webcomics (Scary Go Round, Platinum Grit, Dr. McNinja, etc.) and if they could make comics under an imprint where they'd get wider exposure and guaranteed pay, all the better.

On the other hand, most good comics are already a source of income for their creators. Even if it's not enough to live on, a lot of people are making a nice little chunk of change from t-shirts, self-published books, and as revenue. Fuck, even shit like Dominic Deegan and the Wotch make their creators enough money to do it full time.

Still, maybe this will give aspiring creators yet another way to get their foot in the door to make print comics. I'm still waiting for when I'll be able to buy the newest issue of Batman online rather than having to go to the comic shop and buy an overpriced, flimsy, ad-filled print comic though.

Toji Suzuhara

Lux wrote: »

What I don't like all too much is how they're making them all conform to the same canvas size. I imagine some creators will want their strip in a small 3 panel format, and some will want full blown pages.

4:3 is basically just like two comic pages side by side. Two pages of 2:3. It seems like it would be good to make "widescreen" comics with huge panoramas. Still, they should've given maybe two or three options instead of just the one.

This actually sounds pretty interesting. Thanks for the heads up Blank.

bobgorila

DC should snap up Achewood?

Liebot, what is the saddest thing?

The Muffin Man

bobgorila wrote: »

DC should snap up Achewood?

Liebot, what is the saddest thing?

All of the Flashes sacrificing themselves in order to stop a super powerful evil being by sacrificing their power source, only to have him come back 6 months later for a Green Lantern event.

bobgorila

The Muffin Man wrote: »

bobgorila wrote: »

DC should snap up Achewood?

Liebot, what is the saddest thing?

All of the Flashes sacrificing themselves in order to stop a super powerful evil being by sacrificing their power source, only to have him come back 6 months later for a Green Lantern event.

close

Mai-Kero

bobgorila wrote: »

The Muffin Man wrote: »

bobgorila wrote: »

DC should snap up Achewood?

Liebot, what is the saddest thing?

All of the Flashes sacrificing themselves in order to stop a super powerful evil being by sacrificing their power source, only to have him come back 6 months later for a Green Lantern event.

close

closer

Briareos

Hooraydiation wrote: »

Speaking for myself alone, the amount of web comics I read peaked at somewhere around 10 around 4 years ago but has steadily dropped since then to the point where I only read Penny-Arcade when I remember to and Perry Bible Fellowship when I realize it's been a month since I checked the site.

You don't read J. Grant's comic? Shame on you. It's funny.

Avro_Arrow

Zuda sounds like a soccer-player's nickname.

Target Practice

Iroh wrote: »

Given that there is a vast amount more shit than readable material among web comics, this is probably going to fail miserably right out of the gate. Unless of course they sign artists that are already well-established in the medium, then they may get lucky with existing readers.

They should sign the woman who does Lackadaisy.

Algertman

This Lie Bot is funny

I must find out more