I’m all for the upside-down rocket clubhouse.

Thanks for sharing some thoughts about Zuda. While I can see why some people may be a little cynical or suspicious about it, most creators who’ve done it (either winners or otherwise) seem pretty positive about the experience, and obviously some great comics have come out of it. I think it’s an interesting bridge between the indie comics world and the major publishers.

Perhaps we should form a union? Or get an upside-down rocket for a clubhouse?

For the record, I think Zuda is a good deal for the creators, so long as they are fully aware of the contract details and the rights they’re exchanging for the compensation. As long as people read and understand the contracts (they’re posted right on the internet) all parties should know what they’re getting into. The page rate is well beyond what any other creators not working on Big 2 franchise characters would have access to. Hyeondo and I certainly wouldn’t have participated in the contest if we hadn’t known what we were getting into. I also greatly enjoyed the experience of working with the Zuda team and think Ron, Richard, Nika, Kwanza, and the rest are terrific. I would consider pitching something else in the future but am too busy right now to do it. The way that the HIGH MOON and other Zuda creators have been happy with the experience, now 2+ years into the relationship, says a lot about how they operate.

Having said that, we’re not unhappy we lost. The “scooping” was intended to take full advantage of the publicity we’d received to date in promoting the comic for the contest, and it became pretty clear with a few days remaining that we weren’t going to end up in 1st place. But after working day and night for a month to get eyeballs and votes for our comic in the contest, we felt it was better to tell people where we’d be continuing the story while the interest in S&L was still (relatively) high.

Also, Hyeondo and I have been able to take the comic in directions that we’re not 100% sure would have been approved by Zuda editorial. For one, we set one scene at a DC United match and included appearances by actual United players, all without getting prior permission. Instead of suing us into oblivion, DC United lived up to its reputation as a fan-centric organization and not only approved the use, but posted about us on the official blog and hooked us up with a Washington Post sports writer to talk about it, making SAM & LILAH probably the first webcomic ever to appear on p.2 of the Post Sports section. I’ve since talked to Ben Olsen and other players about the comic, and it’s been really cool. But if I had to guess, DC Comics’ legal department would probably have put the kibosh on that scene up front and asked us to use a fictional team and players. Which I can totally understand, but it was cool that we were able to do it the way we wanted in the first place, and kudos to United to taking it in the right spirit.

@Mike R: the guy who asked the IDW question wasn’t Marc Ruffin (who came to the BP Vienna signing, incidentally) but local cartoonist and Glyph nominee Julian Lytle.

So basically every D.C.-area comic book blogger was there? (I know there’s more than three of us, but we practically had a meet-up.)

I kept thinking “Why do I know that name? Why do I know that name?” and I didn’t make the connection until I was leaving. It had been a long week.

Good report too. Now I don’t have to do one!

Mike

I could be wrong, but I do think with Zuda, you eventually get your rights back (like after a few years or something). I don’t remember all the details, but it seemed like it was a decent deal, as long as the creators knew what they were getting into.