D.J. Coffman - Sequential Artist, Thinker

Zuda Comics launches tomorrow, with what looks to be a strong lineup of talented creators. Zuda took some of the same heat from the webcomic community that Platinum Studios did for the Comic Book Challenge contest. (the contest I won with Hero By Night) — Now the new heat applied is the fact that all of their new lineup of contestants have been published before.

You have people like Todd Allen devoting whole articles of speculation to it on Comic Book Resources.  Eluding that the fact that they only have “pros” there, means that the webcomic community MUST have taken a stand of some sort against Zuda and it’s contracts. He asks, where are the webcomic people?

Well, one is right here. I would have actually submitted to Zuda if I wasn’t so busy with Hero By Night. I have another idea which would have been perfect for it. The bottom line is, and I’m sure the Zuda people would tell you this too, they wanted to OPEN STRONG on their site with showing you the level of quality they’re looking for. They want to set the bar just a little higher.

But that’s not “webcomics” is it? For years now, any person who thinks he can draw comics can just jump online, publish their comics and believe they are on a level playing field with quality just because a bunch of people on the internet tell them they’re awesome. Or other cartoonists in a community they’re part of tell them they’re awesome. So called “news sites”, run by other creators, tell them they’re awesome. For the past decade in webcomics, there’s been this notion that the web is the great equalizer… that you as a cartoonist have the SAME shot at it as ANYONE. Somebody like Scott Kurtz sent his comics in and was repeatedly turned down by syndicates, but his webcomic is a success and he’s gone on to win awards– Penny Arcade ignored IT ALL and went on to make zillions… and there are a few other super success stories out there as well… If they can do it, SO CAN YOU! RIGHT??? RIGHT!

Wrong.

That’s just not reality. While it’s TRUE that with the internet, any schmuck or amateur with a pencil and scanner or wacom tablet can post their art online, even build an audience and make money selling t-shirts or trinkets… it doesn’t mean that they’re GOOD. It just means that there has never been a place that told you what was quality and what was not. A “submissions” process. There is no submissions process in webcomics until now.

If you want to be on a site like Zuda, they are going to pick what they believe is the BEST of the BEST of the submissions they get. Did they ever say it was closed to people who have been published before or were considered “pros”? I don’t think they ever did. Now, yeah, there might be an ethical thing here, but if I were Jim Lee, or some other regular working pro, you’d think they wouldn’t wake up and think… “hey, I’m gonna submit to Zuda”– but while some loud mouths online will tell you these guys in the lineup are pros, and published— it doesn’t matter… they submitted because they felt they needed Zuda. For the money? Recognition? Career? Who knows… who cares. That’s the skill level bar that’s been sent because that’s the level of quality Zuda will be looking for. If you don’t have the skill level, or feel you’re out of your league, don’t enter. Run off to your little webcomic sites and forums and pat each other on the back about how AWESOME you are, and keep trying to be the next Scott Kurtz or Penny Arcade or Dumbrella, but it won’t change a damn thing about what you’re complaining about.

OR… or you could decide to step up your game. Get better… and really strive to put out something that’s going to beat the pants off of any submission they get. Zuda IS a competition. Comic Book Challenge IS a competition. Seeing the difference in QUALITY is night and day. If someone wants to argue that, they’re lying to you.

And that’s the key problem here… in the current state of webcomics, there is a TON of quantity, but not enough quality. There is a sea of CRAP, that comic readers don’t want to read through. And there has never been a centralized place with a set level of “professional” quality, which was willing to actually pay for it. You might say what is considered as “quality” could vary from one person’s opinion to the next… but that’s a lie. You know what’s good and what’s bad. You know what’s a “style” and what’s actually a lack of skill.

These are hard lessons to learn or accept, especially to a community who’s leaders were often rejected by firm institutions  like newspaper syndicates, or publishers like Marvel and DC. They were turned down, REJECTED… because someone somewhere, in some office,  thought they weren’t good enough yet.

“Webcomics” is like the Island of Misfit Toys.

This new world has been formed by those who were rejected because they didn’t pass somebody’s smell test. And to follow that, it was the people who weren’t good enough, but never submitted to anything, because dammit, they’re rebels, and it’s fucking COOL to hangout with all the misfits. The island of misfit toys is where it’s at!

On the island of misfit toys… in “webcomics” — now you have that message that… “You don’t need them! Do it yourself! We did, so can you!” — “You can do it all yourself!” - Even though you’re not perfect, kids will STILL play with you and you can bring joy and escapism to the world!— to an extent, all of that is true… but there’s a high percentage chance that it won’t happen. If you’re in it as a career… you can almost forget about it.

I’m not saying QUALITY is the only bar being set for those who want to make a living with their cartooning skills online. It will always ONLY be the “driven” who make it. You CAN makeup for you lack of skills and storytelling with being driven to do it. Not everyone has that kind of drive.  You have to have it if you want to make it. If you limit yourself to only believing there is ONE way to make it… the way the rejected ones did… you’re going to fail. You’ll be a fool to follow them, or anyone else, you should follow yourself and your own drive. Don’t follow.

A driven webcomics artist should see ALL of these things as opportunities. Don’t limit yourself to one idea. Keep the warnings in mind and be educated about your intellectual property rights, but for god’s sake, use your skills and drive to take advantage of things like Comic Book Challenge or Zuda. - Use them just like you would use Marvel or DC, or newspaper syndicates. Submit your work… forget the fact they are calling you “contestants”– it’s just the evolution of the “submissions” department.

Isn’t that all a submissions department was? The best comes in, it “wins” a contract.

Some say “We are not contestants”, but come to think of it in life, we’re ALL contestants. When you go to a job interview and walk through that door.. that’s your ENTRY. You might “win” the job, because of your skills. It’s a job. And like most jobs, You get paid, get benefits, maybe even retire based on your performance. SURE you can always go work for yourself.

The same people will tell you, like they told me, if you’re thing was so good and picked there, you could have taken it to a publisher like Image or Dark Horse… but then again… you have to “submit”, and the BEST are picked… you win a contract with those companies. It’s ALL a contest, whether you want to see it or not. Call it something else if you want.

But pick your contests wisely if you want to actually make a living or a career out of your cartooning. With a company like Zuda or DC comics, they’re guaranteeing you are paid for a year. They share rights with you, and why shouldn’t they? They DO have connections you can’t have on your own. Take your same submission to Image and more than likely, watch it be turned down. If you are accepted, be prepared to not make a dime off your independent book. That’s just reality. They don’t pay you a page rate per your book. You’d better already have a name for yourself before heading off to Dark Horse or Image or any company based on percentages and sales.

It’s cool to hang out on the island of Misfit toys– but they don’t exclusively own the island anymore.