Zuda Comics: Market Research By Committee
by
on July 09, 2007,
Strong Bad and Homestar Runner. Weebl and Bob. Red Meat. some of the most popular comics are either exclusively online, or have increased their reader base significantly over the stereotypical alt-weeklies and college papers where they were previously hidden. You'd have to assume that this would have an impact on print comics, and apparently, DC Comics has decided to do something about it with their launch of Zuda Comics.
Zuda Comics has all the right 2.0 buzzwords: community, blog (not live yet), user votes. It all sounds hunky dory, user-enabled, and happy, but what it really amounts to is an attempt by DC to harness the power of user-created content. It costs money to recruit new comic creators, and even more to market them. Enter Web 2.0, where everyone has a voice.
When Zuda launches in October, it will begin taking submissions immediately. Some submitters may land a print contract immediately, while others will be submitted in batches of 10 for “community members” to vote on. Winners will receive a one-year contract for their web comic.
It's actually a great idea on DC's part, and a potential money-maker for them. It may also give some great exposure to currently unknown comic creators. But the comics industry as a whole has been known to take advantage before (anyone remember Stan Lee getting base pay for creating Spider-Man for Marvel?). Great comics like Homestar Runner have still floated to the top via viral means, and their creators have been able to manage product tie-ins without the behemoth of the comics industry taking money off the top for the privilege.
I'll try to give Zuda the benefit of the doubt when they launch, but I still get the feeling this is an attempt at a corporate takeover disguised as a user-created community.
