Zuda Comics was DC Comics' webcomics imprint from 2007 until 2010. It featured comics for Flash player instead of in a web page. Announced in a press release on July 9, 2007 and the first ongoing series and competing comic entries went live October 30, 2007. Zuda removed the competition aspect in April 2010 and in July 2010, soon after the launch of DC's digital comics service, it was announced that Zuda would close and be folded into the new digital publishing arm. Zuda comics series have won awards and nominations from comic industry's Glyph Comics Awards and Harvey Awards. Bayou, Volume 1 was also named one of the 2010 Great Graphic Novels for Teens by the American Library Association.
Competition
Zuda had competitions that were open for comic creators to submit their own eight-page comics. Each month ten were selected to compete by editorial. Users could vote for their favorite and the winner received a contract to continue their comic on Zuda with 52 more screens. When the contract was filled, if the comic was liked enough it could be renewed for an additional "season". Occasionally an "instant winner" was chosen to receive a contract without having to compete. In July 2008 an "invitational" was held where some well liked comics that had not won were invited to back to compete with an additional eight pages apiece.
Staff
The Zuda staff consists of:
- Paul Levitz - Publisher
- Richard Bruning - SVP-Creative Director
- Ronald Perazza - VP of Creative Services
- Kwanza Johnson - DC Comics Online Editor
- Nika Vagner - DC Comics Online Assistant Editor
- Jessica Numsuwankijkul - DC Comics Assistant Editor
- Dave McCullough - DC Comics Online Technology Manager
Titles
Instant Winners
- Bayou by Jeremy Love
- The Night Owls by Peter Timony and Bobby Timony
- Street-Code by Dean Haspiel
- The Imaginary Boys by Carlos López Bermúdez
- I Rule The Night by Kevin Colden
- Bottle of Awesome by Andy Belanger and Ian Herring
- La Morté Sisters by Tony Trov, Johnny Zito & Christine Larsen
Competition Winners
- High Moon November 2007 â€" 2010
- Pray for Death December 2007
- Supertron January 2008 â€" 2010
- Road February 2008 â€" 2010
- Black Cherry Bombshells March 2008 â€" 2010
- Melody April 2008
- Celadore May 2008
- Dual June 2008 â€" 2010
- Re-Evolution July 2008
- Gulch August 2008
- Blood Hunter September 2008 â€" 2010
- Azure October 2008 â€" 2010
- Extracuricular Activities November 2008
- Devil's Wake December 2008 â€" 2010
- Safe Inside January 2009 â€" 2010
- The Hammer February 2009
- Deadly March 2009 â€" 2010
- Earthbuilders April 2009 â€" 2010
- Lily of the Valley May 2009 â€" 2010
- Sidewise June 2009 â€" 2010
- RockStar July 2009 â€" 2010
- Absolute Magnitude August 2009 â€" 2010
- Goldilock September 2009 â€"2010
Jeremy Love's Bayou was the first Zuda Comic to be printed (June 2009). High Moon was printed in September 2009. The Night Owls saw print in March 2010. Celadore was printed in October 2010.
Reception
Although greeted with interest by the webcomics community, concern arose over contracts and copyrights. The initial announced line-up of talent included no prominent webcomics creators, prompting Todd Allen at Comic Book Resources to opine, "[T]he vast majority of the initial creators here have already done print comics. Multiple print comics for the most part, and the majority go back a few years. ... This does not look like ushering in a new generation". He conceded, however, "that they’ve lined up some strips with professional pedigree for the first batch".
Notes
References
External links
- Interview: DC's Web Comics Imprint, IGN
- The Opening Team: Talking to the First Wave of Zuda Creators, Newsarama, November 1, 2007
- Comic, webcomic pros respond to Zuda, Newsarama, July 11, 2007
