July 9, 2007 - With Vertigo, Minx, Johnny DC and Wildstorm under its umbrella, DC Comics already has an impressive and diverse imprint portfolio. Today it added one more to its ranks. This morning the publisher announced Zuda, an online initiative designed to attract new audiences and creators to DC's properties.
To gather details on the concept and the submission process (anyone can apply!), IGN turned to DC's Director of Creative Services, Ron Perazza. Perazza, along with Kwanza Johnson, DC's Online Editor, will be managing the imprint.
IGN Comics: Let's start with the obvious questions - What is "Zuda"? When does it launch?
Ron Perazza: 'What is Zuda?' is a huge question. In short, it's a new online imprint from DC Comics, designed and built specifically for all original web comics. Users can come to the site and read comics all day for free or, once they register, can build their own profile page and interact with the comics on a variety of levels - from simply reading, discussing and rating to voting and having a editorial voice and decision-making power in what Zuda Comics will publish. Not only that, but the users can submit comics as well. Those comics will be vetted by the Zuda editorial - because, you know, we have to weed out things like pictures of people's family or other random things they might upload. We'll then organize the best submissions into competitions.
Each month we'll post 10 of the submissions to the site for the community to review and offer feedback and vote. The most popular web comic will get signed for a one-year contract. We'll do this every month - 10 new "limited series" and, following that, one new "ongoing series." So 'What is Zuda?' is pretty open-ended. It's web comics, but really it's a community for web comics fans, readers and artists deciding what they want it to be. We're going live with a preview site in July, timed with Comic Con. That way people will be able to pre-register for membership and get updates about our progress as we develop the site itself. The full site, with content and all of the features and functions I just mentioned -- and more, will go live in October.
IGN Comics: How are you planning on rolling out the first comics? Will we see a new brand each day? Each week? Will these comics be published on set schedules or is that up to the creator?
Perazza: The comics that we decide to publish in an ongoing format will be selected by the Zuda Community. That's not to say that there might be something that will come along in a submission that will blow everyone's mind -- that's always a possibility, but the vast majority of what we publish will be selected by the community. Because of that, we wont really know what each individual artist or team will be able to produce in a specific period of time. We're going to have to work on a case-by-case basis with the creators to determine the best publishing schedule for their particular stories.
IGN Comics: What made DC decide to pursue this publishing strategy?
Perazza: There's an incredible amount of talented people making amazing comics and telling excellent stories using new formats and platforms that don't necessarily correspond with the way DC Comics currently does business. We want to know these people. We want to work with them. Not only that, but DC Comics has a history of pushing into new publishing territories in order to increase it's talent pool and its diversity - like we did with manga and CMX or with teen girl fiction and MINX. Given all that, it's not really a question of why would we do this but why wouldn't we do this?
IGN Comics: Can you elaborate on how this will be offered to consumers? Are we looking at a standard web comic model where the strips are free and advertising brings in revenue? Are we looking at a mixed model of ads and payment by readers?
Perazza: The strips are going to be free - read 'em all you like. We're really taking kind of a long-term strategy on this one. Our main goal is to work with the creative community and build something for the long term. We want to develop these series so that they can be successful web comics, print comics and whatever else might come after that.
IGN Comics: Thematically speaking, what are you hoping to develop in your initial lineup? Are we looking at mature content? All audience? Are you looking for superhero-themed strips or something we might see in the newspaper? Humor or drama? All of the above?
Perazza: We're looking for high-quality material, regardless of the specific genre or style. In fact, we want stuff from all genres. We want to produce the best, most intelligent, most fun, most artistic, highest quality original stories possible. That said, we also completely understand that not all comics are for all audiences. We expect that some of the stuff people will submit will be for mature readers and we're prepared to deal with from both an editorial and a technical level, as needed. The only thing I can say that we're not looking for are web comics related to our existing properties. Meaning, we're not looking for your best Batman story or your take on Swamp Thing.
IGN Comics: Some of the most popular web comics are aimed at a very particular audience. VG Cats or Penny Arcade come to mind as comics that routinely satirize the videogame industry. Is DC looking to these comics as a standard or trying to move define its own path?
Perazza: We're not looking to define what the community wants for them and then spend a lot of effort to convince them that's what they wanted all along. We're ready to respond to the community, and I think it's important not to undervalue their involvement in this site. In that I think we're doing something pretty unique. If the community decides that the best comic in any given month is gamer-focused then that's the one we'll sign up for a contract. If the next month it's a biographical piece, then that's what we'll sign up. In that way I hope that we can grown a diverse lineup of stories whose common connection is quality, originality and popularity.
IGN Comics: What is the process to submit samples to DC for Zuda? Should prospective comic creators bring samples to conventions? Will you have an e-mail address set up for applications? What are you looking for in a sample comic? Are you focusing on black and white strips or color?
Perazza: The process will be entirely online. This month we'll be launching a preview site that will have more information about the submissions process itself but in a nutshell we've defined a specific aspect ratio (4:3) that will serve as our "screen." Users will submit eight screens of their web comic. That could be eight single instances of a single panel comic or they could break that screen up into any number of panels to create eight self-contained newspaper style strips. They really have the freedom to do whatever they want within those parameters - black and white or color or other create decisions are entirely up to the creators. Whatever they feel best displays their web comic.
IGN Comics: Are you looking to acquire any established web creators or their properties? Will any established talent from the comic book industry be working on these comics or are you only seeking fresh faces?
Perazza: At this point we're not pursuing existing web comics. I can't really speak for the entire existing web comics community, obviously, but I would guess that those guys are pretty happy with the series they've built and the fan-bases they've created. I think the level of entrepreneurial effort they've poured into their creations and the results they've had are really amazing. That road isn't for everyone, though. However, if any of those guys wanted to work with us - or if there were creators and artists from other mediums, like traditional print comics - that wanted to be a part of Zuda Comics in some way, be it as a creator or even just as a part of the community, then I think that would be incredible.
IGN Comics: Any last comments on Zuda?
Perazza: At the San Diego Comic Con we're creating a bunch of postcards that are blank on one side and self-addressed and postage paid as well. We're going to be handing them out to everyone, asking people to draw or write on the blank side - even if it's just to say "hi." It doesn't matter really. We're going to take the postcards and make a web comic out of the best or funniest or most interesting ones. A web comic created by...well, everyone. We're going to try and keep it going for as long as we can. As long as the cards keep coming in.
IGN Comics: Thanks very much, Ron!
Perazza: You're quite welcome.
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