DC Comics has created Zudacomics.com, a new web comics imprint. Zuda Comics will publish “new, never before seen online content featuring new characters and concepts.” It will launch this October featuring multiple ongoing web comics. Following the launch, “the majority of the web comics will be selected by visitors to the site, who will vote on new web comics presented to them in periodic competitions. Winners of the competitions will receive commissions to create a year’s worth of their web comics for the site, and will have their work published in print formats as well.”
Once Zuda Comics opens for submissions, they’ll be looking for all genres: humor, romance, science fiction, fantasy, and superheroes. Ron Perazza (DC’s Director of Creative Services) and Kwanza Johnson (DC’s Online Editor) will be handling the editorial end of Zuda Comics, while Creative Director Richard Bruning will be overseeing the project. Johnson and Perazza will choose the submissions for the site’s competitions, and will have the option of “declaring as many as six submissions as instant winners during the calendar year. All Zudacomics.com creators who are instant winners, competition winners and competition finalists will be paid by DC Comics.”
According to Perazza, “Zuda Comics will be a transparent publishing operation. We’re asking the community and the creators to participate in the growth of a new business. They need to have access to every bit of information we can provide, so we’re going to roll out our submissions process, our contracts and agreements throughout the summer, well before our October content launch.”
DC Comics President & Publisher Paul Levitz explained the new venture. “We want to build a great stage for this new generation of creators to perform on, a solid system for their work to reach audiences online and in print, and for the creators to share in the profits their creations can generate. In this time of rapid technological and cultural change, DC wants to be a good publisher for the evolving and growing community of online comic creators, so that we can be their partner for showcasing new kinds of works to entertain future generations.”
Unlike a traditional comic book page (which measures 6.625″ x 10.25″), “a Zuda web comic will consist of a series of 4:3 aspect ratio screens, so that users will be able to read a web comic installment without opening an additional window in their browser or excessive scrolling. Ongoing Zuda web comics will run for at least 52 total installments, in addition to the initial submission.”
The Zudacomics.com teaser site is available now, with some information on the project. They also expect a big launch during this year’s San Diego ComicCon.