Zuda Comics Shuts Down

Plain Rap Medski — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 04:31:15 +0000

DC has announced that it’s a wrap for Zuda Comics. Apparently they are making the move to the iPad and Sony PSP, but won’t be accepting any more submissions for their web comics competition. The few times I did manage to peep their site they had some decent looking visuals across the board, but seemed a bit light on the storytelling skills which is to be expected when dealing with (mostly) novices. Hopefully this isn’t the last time a big publisher gives the little guy a break. Oh well, on to the next one..

From the Zuda blog The Collective:

As for the site, from here on out, Zuda Comics will be folded into DC Comics’ exciting, new Digital Publishing initiative. Expect more Zuda series to be released through the DC Comics and comiXology Apps, the Sony PSP and on both the comiXology website and, eventually, the main DC Comics website as well. You’ll be able to read all of your digital editions and manage your entire library in one place, whether DCU, Vertigo, WildStorm or Zuda. The goal there is convergence of technology and convergence of editorial.

Tokyopop Web Comics Announced

Plain Rap Medski — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:36:13 +0000

I’m sure everybody who follows this type of thing is familiar with the whole restructuring ( i.e. massive layoffs ) that went on last year at my old publisher Tokyopop. Now that the economy is rebounding somewhat, Comic Book Resources reports that some of the series that were cancelled or left in limbo will be completed as web comics and presented for free in a weekly serialized format.

Marco Pavia: About a year ago, when we restructured the company due to the economy, we told the artists and writers for these series that we wanted to publish their continuing volumes online to get them in front of hundreds of thousands of manga fans. The book retail market was having its challenges— at the time, booksellers and publishers were describing it as the worst retailing environment in memory—and in most cases, bookstores were taking in very few copies or skipping the next volume of a series entirely…and they were also returning books in droves. Last month at Comic-Con, we invited our creators to a summit, at which we let them know we’d begin to serialize these series on TOKYOPOP.com, which has become a destination to enjoy comics, from our published series to user-generated content. We want to continue to give fans access to these talented creators and storytellers.

Definately good news for the creators of those books that their work won’t be a total wash, but it begs the question as to what they are really getting out of it. I know Pavia mentions the hundreds of thousands of manga fans that browse the Tokyopop website, but that same user-base was present before the economy tanked. They weren’t buying much OEL content back then either, so I can’t imagine what they’ll be checking for in this depressed market. Regardless, the internet is nothing if not a great self publishing tool, and I fully intend to take advantage of that on this site. Shouts out to everybody at Tokyopop and congratulations on the rebound. Here’s an old school 40 oz toast to future success, ONE.

Hip Hop Manga » web comics

Zuda Comics Shuts Down

Tokyopop Web Comics Announced