Zuda Comics

Zuda Comics is DC Comics' webcomics division. The creation of this division was announced in press release on July 9 2007 [ [http://www.zudacomics.com/?action=press_release Initial Press Release] ] and the first line-up went live October 30th. [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134038 First ten Zuda contestants named] , Newsarama, October 24, 2007]

Editorial Board

Sometimes called the 'zudaluminati' [ [http://www.google.com/search?q=zudaluminati Google search for "zudaluminati"] because of their secret selection process of the submissions, the Zuda editorial board consists of:
*Paul Levitz - Publisher
*Richard Bruning - SVP-Creative Director
*Ronald Perraza - Director of Creative Services
*Kwanza Johnson - DC Comics Online Editor
*Nika Denoyelle - DC Comics OnlineAssistant Editor
*Dave McCullough - DC Comics Online Technology Editor
*Monkey Puppet - Zuda Comics Mascot

Titles

Instant Winners

There are currently four instant winners:
*Bayou by Jeremy Love [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134156 Jeremy Love's "Bayou" Named Aa Zuda's First "Instant Winner"] , Newsarama, October 25, 2007]
*The Night Owls by Peter Timony and Bobby Timony [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=139696 ZUDA COMICS NAMES THE NIGHT OWLS AS NEWEST INSTANT WINNER] , Newsarama, December 14, 2007]
*Street-Code by Dean Haspiel
*The Imaginary Boys by Carlos López Bermúdez

Competition Winners

There are currently eight contest winners:
*"High Moon" by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis, with lettering by Scott O. Brown [ [http://www.comixology.com/podcasts/8/High-Moon-from-Zuda-with-David-Gallaher David Gallaher's "High Moon" Wins Zuda] , It Came Out on Wednesday, October 25, 2007]
*"Pray for Death" by Nicholas Doan and Daniele Serra [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16802 COMMENTARY TRACK: "Pray For Death"] , June 13, 2008]
* "Supertron" by Sheldon Vella
* "Road" by Eddie Sharam
* "The Black Cherry Bombshells" by Johnny Zito, Tony Trov, Sacha Borisich & Alex Bruno
* Melody by Ilias Kyriazis
* Dual
* Celadore
* Re-Evolution

November 2007 contestant lineup

The first set of contestants was announced on Newsarama:
*"Alpha Monkey" by Bobbie Rubio and Howard M. Shum
*"This American Strife" by J. Longo
*"Battlefield Babysitter" by Matthew Humphreys
*"Black Swan" by Mulele Jarvis
*"Dead in the Now" by Corey Lewis
*"The Dead Seas" by Pop Mhan
*"The Enders" by Tim Smith III
* High Moon by David Gallaher and Steve Ellis
*"Leprenomicon" by Greg DelCurla and Fernando Ruiz
*"Raining Cats and Dogs" by Sho Murase

December 2007 contestant lineup

*"Adventures of Maxy J Millionaire" by Paul Maybury
*"Araknid Kid" by Josh Alves
*"Avast Ye" by Kevin Cygan and Daniel H. Irving
*"Development Hell" by Carlos Ruiz
*"Frankie" by Manny Trembley
*"Ponbiki Z" by Alberto Rios
*"Pray for Death" by Nicholas Doan and Daniele Serra
*"The Crooked Man" by Gabriel Hardman and Corinna Sara Bechko
*"The Mundane Overrated Misadventures of Spudman" by Rory McConville
*"Word of Power" by Marc Sylvanus

January 2008 contestant lineup

As announced on Newsarama [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=142265 ZUDA ANNOUNCES JANUARY SLATE OF CONTESTANTS] ]
*"A Spelunker’s Guide to the City" by Gary Epting [ [http://storyclouds.com/blog/?p=16 Amalgamated Artists joins the fray at Zuda"] , Storyclouds, January 7, 2008]
* "Untrue Tales" by Sam Little
* "Urbis Faerie" by Robert Burke Richardson, Martin Morazzo, Carolina Cesare, Robt Snyder
* "Supertron" by Sheldon Vella
* "Agent of Chaos" by L. Jamal Walton (writer/letterer), Mike Imboden (writer) and Steve Musgrave (artist)
* "Pieces of Eden" by Seth Sherwood (writer/colorist) and [http://diegotripodi.deviantart.com/gallery/ Diego Tripodi] (artist)
* "The Legend of the Fool King" by Alexander Kanaris-Sotiriou
* "Demons in the Closet" by John Zakour (writer) and Amy Watson (artist)
* "Danetropolis" by David Daneman
* "Absurdity At Its Best" by Victor Bonilla

February 2008 contestant lineup

As announced on Newsarama [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=145555 ZUDA ANNOUNCES FEBRUARY SLATE OF CONTESTANTS] ]

* "Everyone Laughs at the Crocodile Man" by Steve Steiner
* "Joe Comics" by Chachi & Gabe Hernandez
* "Mountains of Dusk" by Mani Magalhaes
* "The Passenger" by Alexandre Vidal
* "Reno" by Dan Thompson
* "Road" by Eddie Sharam
* "Starfish" by Miguel Angel Sanchez
* "Strangle/Switch" by Kevin Colden
* "Teachers" by Gabe Ostley
* "Will Wrestle: For Science" by Jim Dedieu, Geoff Beaulieu, & Alex Donnard

March 2008 contestant lineup

As announced on Newsarama [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=148846 ZUDA ANNOUNCES MARCH SLATE OF CONTESTANTS] ]

* "Among the Silver Stars" by Chris Wichtendahl & Ariel Iacci
* "The Black Cherry Bombshells" by Johnny Zito, Tony Trov, Sacha Borisich & Alex Bruno
* "Day of Prey" by Ramon Cavalcante
* "Laura’s Bazaar" by Axel Medellin
* "The Litterbox Chronicles" by Wes Molebash
* "Little Inventor' by Igor Noronha
* "Rojo Fernandez: Son of Wind" by Gabriel Bautista
* "Sam & Lilah" by Jim Dougan & Hyeondo Park
* "Tiempo" by Mario Espinoza
* "Yuletide" by Tony Tobin

Reception

Although greeted with interest by the webcomics community, there was concern raised over the contracts and copyright situation. Once the initial line-up was announced it became clear that well-known webcomics creators hadn't been included, as Todd Allen at Comic Book Resources [ [http://www.comicbookresources.com/columns/index.cgi?column=follies&article=2913 Zuda's "established" talent search] , Comic Book Resources, October 25, 2007] opined "the vast majority of the creators here have already done print comics. Multiple print comics for the most part, and the majority go back a few years. Allen also inferred that, "This does not look like ushering in a new generation." Although he does concede "if you’re a potential reader, it shouldn’t hurt your feelings too much that they’ve lined up some strips with professional pedigree for the first batch."

In fact, the first instant winner Jeremy Love, [ [http://www.gettosake.com/ Gettosake Productions] ] [ [http://www.sequentialtart.com/archive/may04/jlove.shtml Jeremy Love - Fiercely Independent] , Sequential Tart, May 2004] who has worked for Dark Horse and Oni, has said his contribution was solicited by DC. Love stated "To be honest I didn’t even know about the contest portion of the site when the fine people at DC let me know they wanted to run Bayou on Zuda. I was approached by an editor months in advance to pitch something to Zuda." [ [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134214 Born On The Bayou: Jeremy Love Talks Zuda. Bayou] , Newsarama, October 24, 2007]

Webcomics aficionado, T.Campbell, stated that, "the payouts for Zuda winners are worth taking seriously: $250 per "screen," with a couple of additional bonuses, and a royalty package that-- with apologies to my friends at Tokyopop-- is easily the most generous I've seen from a major publisher." [ [http://www.tcampbell.net/2007/09/922-zuda-zuda-zuda-dammmit-wheres.html] ]

High Moon author, David Gallaher, in an interview with Comics Worth Reading [ [http://comicsworthreading.com/2007/12/03/interview-with-david-gallaher/ Interview With David Gallaher » Comics Worth Reading ] ] gave the following advice to future Zuda creators, "with only eight screens to tell your story, you need to be ready to be awesome right out of the gate. So, give it your all and make sure your submission is the best that you can make it. And whether you win or lose, you’ll already be in better shape than you were before you submitted, because you’ve cultivated an audience that you didn’t have before."

References

External links

* [http://www.zudacomics.com/ Zuda Comics]

Background Material

* [http://high-moon.blogspot.com/ High Moon Production Blog]
* [http://www.gettosake.com/blog/ Bayou Production Blog]
* [http://twincomics.blogspot.com/ Night Owls & Twin Comics Production Blog]
* [http://www.myspace.com/blackcherrybombshells Black Cherry Bombshells Production Blog/ Myspace Page]
* [http://www.knaveofkrypton.com/interviews.html The Knave of Krypton Interviews the December '07 contestants]

Interviews

* [http://comics.ign.com/articles/802/802354p1.html "IGN" Interview: DC's Web Comics Imprint]
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=119800 Interview] with Ron Perazza and Richard Bruning, Newsarama, July 9, 2007
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=120113 interview] with Paul Levitz, Newsarama, July 9, 2007
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=130286 ZudaComics Posts Contracts - Submissions Are A Go] , interview with Paul Levitz, Newsarama, September 21, 2007
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=134931 The Opening Team: Talking to the First Wave of Zuda Creators] , Newsarama, November 1, 2007
* [http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=120411 Comic, webcomic pros respond to Zuda] , July 11, 2007, Newsarama

Podcasts

* The Timony Twins, creators of The Night Owls, in a podcast interview on [http://comicscoasttocoast.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79 Comics Coast to Coast]
* David Gallaher, writer of High Moon, the first competition winner, in a podcast interview on [http://www.comixology.com/podcasts/8/High-Moon-from-Zuda-with-David-Gallaher It Came Out on Wednesday, by ComiXology.com]