Sure, most of the winners have found great success from the DC bump, but ask any of the other nine competitors in any given Zuda month and they’ll likely tell you the same thing: the system is flawed. Some of the winners would possibly say likewise. No voting system is perfect, of course; the United States alone is proof of that. But when something as important and possibly career-altering as a shot at a short-term comics deal hangs in the balance, the process to gain that prize should be a fair and balanced one (suck it, Fox News).
It’s not surprising, then, that the announcement came today via Zuda head honcho Ron Perazza that the oft-maligned comics contest would be ditching the democratic process for one with far less yeas and nays. Via the Zuda blog, The Collective, Perazza noted that, while Zuda has had an amazing crop of winners come through the ranks, it has let just as many potential superstars slip through the cracks. It doesn’t seem clear just what the new Zuda will entail, but rest assured Digital Strips will be there to cover this shift in the way a major player dips into the webcomics pool of talent.
Here are just a smattering of the tweets posted thus far from industry folks, almost universally praising the coming changes:
brockheasley (Brock Heasley, The Superfogeys: Looking forward to seeing what this means for the future of #Zuda . Could be very exciting!
pvponline (Scott Kurtz, PvP): Zuda is leaving the competition model behind in favor of an editorial one. SMART MOVE!
Iron_Spike (Spike, Templar, AZ): @pvponline Agreed. Ballot box stuffing assured talented unknowns would always lose to well-known, not-necessarily-better competitors.
peprally (David Maguire, Gastrophobia): Oh man, Zuda has decided to treat their artists like employees instead of contestents! http://zuda.blog.dccomics.com/
DavidGallaher (David Gallaher, High Moon): For the record, I couldn’t ask for a greater group of friends, editors, and creators than @zudacomics. It’s been the highlight of my career.
sequentialmatt (Mathew D., Sequential Life): Guess I missed out on any more chances of rejection by Zuda. I didn’t really want to draw goth elves anyway…
AdamAtherton (Adam Atherton, Lily of the Valley): #FF @Zudacomics I loved the Zuda competition and the opportunity it gave me so I’m very thankful, but look forward to the new changes!
