DC Universe: The Collective

ZUDA COMICS went live in October 2007 after a bleary-eyed and exhausting 48-hour, non-stop, final development push. It was a moment of cautious pride initiating a brash experiment.

DC Comics had never done anything quite like ZUDA before; a mash-up of comics and social media, talent search and think tank. It had supporters, detractors, loyalists and cynics. Unfortunately, as a whole, ZUDA just never quite seemed to fit with DC Comics. Three years later it was time to close shop.

But something interesting happened along the way.  Within that rag-tag assemblage there were a wealth of very specific achievements; how to manage editorially driven webcomics, how to structure online talent submissions, how to build a community from scratch, file size, format and aspect ratio specifications, storytelling techniques, web-to-print workflow…the list goes on.

Yes, ZUDA COMICS is over. The website and the imprint are gone.

However, that isn’t quite the end of the story.

We’re working with Jim Lee, John Rood and others on ways to take everything we’ve learned from ZUDA and combine it with new ideas for something that is, with a little luck, bigger and better. We”ll keep you up to date, work-in-progress style, as THE COLLECTIVE migrates from the “Official Blog of Zuda Comics” to “The Official Production Blog of DC Online.”

In the meantime we’re also going to continue to release the remaining series through our current digital publishing outlets – comiXology and Sony. Please support those guys with as much passion in those new outlets as you did when they were on the site. They’ve earned it.

Finally, thanks to all of the creators, contributors and fans – ZUDA COMICS would literally not have been possible without you.

Cheers!

Here are five simple ways to stall your comics career;

1. COLD CALLING
Do not cold contact editors. Do not email them gigantic art files they did not ask you for. There is a difference between being proactive and annoying. Do a little research on how to promote yourself to the right people. Such knowledge is on the InterWebs.

2. NOT MAKING COMICS
No one will give you an assignment unless you’ve shown that you that you can actually make comics — regularly. Even if you are mindbogglingly talented, there are others who are less so, but have shown that they can do the work.

3. TAKING REJECTION POORLY
I am not the best editor in the world (I think I am but it is not true… Ow. That hurt just to type.) and you are not the best artist in the world. Everyone gets rejected, all the time. Don’t make an issue of being critiqued, just absorb the information and put out better work.

4. NOT WORKING WITH OTHERS
Comics are a collaborative effort, period. There are few who can do it all themselves and even they need to work with others in some capacity. There is no “I” in team, blah, blah blah. It is better for publishers to know that you have established good work relationships.

5. NO SCHOOLING
Talent is natural, but that doesn’t mean you can’t learn the fundamentals of writing or illustration. You should study the rules before trying to break them with your “style.” Go to college/art school, intern, become an apprentice to someone in the business. It will help.

That is it. Pretty quick and dirty but something to mull over as you make your way in this crazy business.

Okay, so, one of my favorite comic book villains is THE JAZZMEISTER from Kevin Colden‘s delightfully perverse and violent superhero story, I RULE THE NIGHT. The Jazzmeister is sinister. The Jazzmeister also has a high musical aptitude. These two attributes combined create a dangerous goal — to corrupt the youth of America through his music…jazz music.

I wanted to know more about The Jazzmeister. I sent Kevin an email inquiring about the guy’s origins: Kevin sent this subsequent email. I already knew The Jazzmeister was an evil cornetist, but I had no idea he was from the Midwest.

The Jazzmeister was born in Iowa, and taught himself to play the cornet at an early age. By the time he was in his teens, he had become one of the most prominent jazz cornetists in the midwest.

He died in Queens in 1931, of pneumonia likely brought on by his alcoholism, but was resurrected shortly thereafter when a cat near the cemetery in which he was buried accidentally caused a victrola playing his recording of the song “Wa-Da-Da (Everybody’s Doin’ It Now)” to play backwards. This caused a reversed incantation, hidden in his cornet line, to reanimate his lifeless corpse.

Having learned a few important things in the afterlife about the universe (and the history of American music to come), and fueled by moonshine whiskey (his only viable food source) Jazzmeister returned to this world with a new purpose: to educate society about the development of music and assign proper credit where credit is due.

He will presumably return from the dead at some point in the future in order to eradicate white rap.

Hm. Interesting.

’til next time,

Jessica

P.S. – you can download I RULE THE NIGHT #1 for free at Comixology.

Voting for the 2010 Lulu Awards were announced Monday — among them we found a nomination for our very own NIGHT OWLS, for the category of Best Female Character (more closely defined as “For a lead female character from an ongoing or limited comic book series or comic strip, original graphic novel or novella. Whether in print or online”). Mindy Markus is up against a handful of other female leads, including Ramona Flowers from Scott Pilgrim. Cast your vote, or be extremely sorry*. While you’re at it, check out Night Owls on Comixology.

-J

*not true

Good Day,

Robert Berry sent this gag illustration to commemorate the release of THE HAMMER #3. This was actually a multi-person affair: Sam Little provides the layout while Rob Berry inked and colored. They work hard to bring  us all this lovely gore and violence — so enjoy, and maybe add them on Facebook.

-Jess

Oh? Did I break you concentration? Well, allow me to report… that the first issues of all Zuda digital releases are FREE.

That’s right $FREE.99!

No dinero, Di Niro. Free like opinions, and you could be missing out, but we decided to make you a list of what is available right now.

AZURE #1
Daniel Govar
The remnants of civilization survive underwater after a cataclysmic event decimates the earth. Warfare destroys most dry land, and the survivors must to eke out an existence beneath the sea, relying on technology to survive. AZURE hasn’t come into contact with another human for years and believes herself to be alone – until a blip materializes on her radar.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

BAYOU #1
Jermey Love, Patrick Morgan
Lee Wagstaff, the daughter of a black sharecropper in depression-era Mississippi, and Bayou, a blues-singing swamp monster, trek across a hauntingly familiar Southern Neverland, confronting creatures both benign and malevolent, in an effort to rescue Lee’s father and Lily, Lee’s white playmate.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

HIGH MOON #1
David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, Scott O. Brown
Former Pinkerton detective Matthew Macgregor investigates a slew of strange happenings in the town of Blest, Texas, a town parched by drought, stricken with famine and haunted by werewolves. As Macgregor attempts to unravel the secrets of Blest, he struggles to contain the secret of his own supernatural past – a struggle that will continue to haunt him across the plains of the American West.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE NIGHT OWLS #1
Bobby Timony, Peter Timony
New York City, the roaring twenties. A detective agency like no other, The Night Owls specialize in solving crimes of the supernatural variety. Occult specialist Ernest Baxter and his assistant Mindy Markus crack cases that leave the police baffled. Aided by their sidekick, Roscoe the Gargoyle, the trio can tackle any adversary.
Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

BLOOD HUNTER #1
Loren Meyer
In a world ruled by vampires, the life of the last living human on earth surfaces. The baby’s fate lies in the hands of Vincent, a lone vampire warrior.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

BOTTLE OF AWESOME #1
Andy Belanger
Billy Butterman is a loser, a putz. High school is a total nightmare: all the cool guys pick on him, girls ignore him, and worse yet, everyone calls him “Butterpants” because he had bladder control problems until age of twelve. That is, until the day he encounters a mysterious hobo, who urges him into drink from a bottle of awesome. However, he warns Billy not to drink too much, for a person can become too awesome. Will Billy heed his words?

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

DEADLY #1
James Fosdike
Australia’s population flees as the earth becomes toxic. Only the Aboriginals remain, determined to resuscitate the dead land, a land riddled with mutant carnivores, punishing heat, and lethal air. Vaughn discovers a lone child who can breathe the air without consequence – but he’s not talking.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

SAFE INSIDE #1
Zerocalcare
After a zombie epidemic, life of earth develops inside fortress cities that none are permitted to leave. Repression becomes routine, unchallenged by a frightful society. A small group of punks dares to defy the city’s authority, determined to prove that the state exploits the fear of the people.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

STREET CODE #1
Dean Haspiel
Jack, a native New York bruiser, is fed up with living in the dregs of a drug-addled Alphabet City where his neighbors are insane shut-ins and his bicycle is always getting stolen. He escapes from Manhattan to Brooklyn to make a fresh start in Carroll Gardens only to face a new strain of street logic — where most everything he encounters is not as it seems. Jack steps in the hazing of eons old rituals as a polarized community begrudgingly changes hands between tribes. With STREET CODE, Dean Haspiel returns to his semi-autobiographical roots and explores the emotional truths between prime and primate.

Price: FREE
_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE HAMMER #1
Sam Little, Gabe Ostley, Robert Berry, Steve Steiner
Calvin School grew up hard and mean on the streets of Hamtown. He worked his way up the underworld ladder, making a brutal name for himself in the rackets. They called him the Hammer. That was then. Now, all Calvin wants is to leave his bloody past behind. But old scores remain unsettled. Old blood remains very, very bad. And sooner or later, the Hammer will fall on Hamtown.

Price: FREE

I know, we spoil you too much, but it is just because we care. Be on the lookout for future, free, first issues from Zuda.

Isn’t it cool that we have something for free nearly every week? But here is also what is on sale this week from Zuda via the PSP, DC Comics and Comics apps:

BAYOU #9
Jeremy Love, Patrick Morgan
Lee and Bayou pay a visit to Brer Rabbit’s house, but he’s out gathering berries for a pie. They wait for his return while Bayou tries his best to ignore some diabolical messages from The Bossman.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

BLOOD HUNTER #1
Loren Meyer
In a world ruled by vampires, the life of the last living human on earth surfaces. The baby’s fate lies in the hands of Vincent, a lone vampire warrior.

Price: FREE

_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE HAMMER #3
Sam Little, Gabe Ostley, Robert Berry, Steve Steiner
Calvin’s search for Bones Charlie ends in a bloody Hamtown showdown – a showdown that involves a couple of family members.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE NIGHT OWLS #5
Bobby Timony, Peter Timony
The Night Owls search for KING SHOKKA – the ancient Egyptian mummy at large.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

ONSALE NEXT WEEK – September 15:

BLOOD HUNTER #2
HIGH MOON #9
I RULE THE NIGHT #1
THE NIGHT OWLS #6

Robot 6 recently dropped this interview with STREET CODE creator Dean Haspiel. Among other topics, he discusses his recent Emmy win, the inspirational backdrop of his Zuda comic, the passing away of longtime collaborator Harvey Pekar and his latest Vertigo book, Cuba: My Revolution.

Don’t forget that you can download STREET CODE for your iPhone or iPad on the Comixology site. Issue #1 costs literally no dollars (Whee!)

Spectra Magazine recently named NIGHT OWLS and DEADLY among the top 10 best non-superhero comics for the iPad (other titles mentioned include Vertigo’s Y The Last Man and a Boom!’s excellent adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?). Check out the rest of this very detailed list and sweep up all the titles on the Comixology site — less paper, less hoarding, more satisfaction.

The Night Owls (along with our other illustrious issues) are back on sale this week from Zuda via the PSP, DC Comics and Comics apps:

THE HAMMER #2
Sam Little, Gabe Ostley, Robert Berry, Steve Steiner
Calvin’s got a little vendetta to settle with Bones Charlie: woe to anyone stupid enough to stand in his way.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

HIGH MOON #8
David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, Scott O. Brown
Tristan and Macgregor encounter Fergus and join forces to foil the diabolical plans Deidre has for the Indian reservation.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

THE NIGHT OWLS #4
Peter Timony, Bobby Timony
The Navajo Reservation, Summer of 1916. Ernie Baxter finds he’s chosen a poor time to visit – he’s enlisted to help Ikshu, his love interest’s brother, fight the terrifying Big Owl. Does Ernie stand a chance – especially without his glasses?!

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

STREET CODE #3
Emmy Award Winner, Dean Haspiel
Danger lurks everywhere in the streets of Carroll Gardens–even if that danger is mostly vehicular. Jack encounters his ex-girlfriend’s ex-best friend.

Price: 99¢

_______________________________________________________________________________________

ONSALE NEXT WEEK – September 8:

BAYOU# 9
THE NIGHT OWLS #5
THE HAMMER#3
BLOOD HUNTER #1