DC Comics has announced a brand new imprint called Zudacomics. Instead of a print line, Zudacomics will be the company’s first webcomic line.
“There is an explosion of creativity in web comics,” said Paul Levitz, DC Comics President & Publisher. “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.”
The site is scheduled to launch in October, with a teaser site launching in July (hey, just in time for SDCC!). After the first couple of weeks, visitors will be able to vote on new web comics. Those winners will then be commissioned to create a year’s worth of comics that will appear online, and later in print.
Creators will be encouraged to send submissions that run the full gamut of comic book genres—from humor, romance, science fiction, fantasy and superheroes. Editorial for Zudacomics.com will be handled by Ron Perazza, DC Comics Director of Creative Services and Kwanza Johnson, DC Comics Online Editor, and overseen by DC Comics SVP-Creative Director. Richard Bruning. Johnson and Perazza will be charged with selecting the submissions for the site’s competitions; additionally, the editors can declare 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.
Well the web is certainly big enough for more webcomics, but it just seems DC is jumping into this kind of late with all those other companies who have been around for a while gathering forces. It should be an interesting time when Zuda Comics goes online and the battle can begin.
