Virgin Comics + MySpace = Coalition Comics
by Joey Manley
So Virgin and MySpace are launching a user-generated webcomics portal.
Clean up the floor from where your head exploded, then come back.
My head exploded at first, too.
But then I realized that it’s just another stupid talent show.
YouTube didn’t succeed by promising people a contract with The Home Shopping Network or a hosting gig on America’s Funniest Home Videos. It succeeded by offering a way for people to broadcast what they wanted, when they wanted — and there’s a certain amount of simple respect in that kind of offering that doesn’t seem, to me, to be present in this new breed of corporate webcomics exploiters. If the real message from webcomics creators to traditional publishers has been, “We don’t need you guys, except on our own terms,” these projects seem like a desperate and kind of rushed response, “No! Wait! Don’t you want an exciting Publishing Contract(tm)?”.
I could be wrong. What do you think?
July 20th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I think you overestimate the spirit of the average cartoonist a bit Joey. Many people do want to ‘make it’ and they always will.
That said, this one is too sell-out even for a sell-out like me. Having MySpace dictate the course of the story I’m working on? HELLZ NO. That is one step too far. I love the idea of having an established pro give me pointers, but no way could I abide letting the MySpace tell me how to write my comic. I mean c’mon, half the point of storytelling is keeping the audience on their toes and sometimes that means doing stuff they don’t like to pay off something they will LOVE later. How can you account for that here? I’m sure the editors will keep things sane, but still this just feels like a step too far from being a creator and becoming a comics assembly line. (And this is all coming from some one who actually likes MySpace and is typically more concerned with the almighty dollar than artsy stuff.)
I see the participatory appeal to the audience, and it’s not a bad idea, but oi gevalt, I’d rather sell a property outright and see someone else take it down the wrong path than be forced to do so myself.
July 20th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Tim — I think you and I are the only two people in the Whole Wide World who aren’t on their way to San Diego right now. (sob).
July 20th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
That’s cause we got too much stuff to do! Slackers.
Also: it means it’s the time to strike. By the time everyone gets back THE INTERWEBS WILL BE OURS!!!!
July 20th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
I’m not on my way to San Diego either. Mostly that’s because I don’t like to fly and I’m allergic to Storm Troopers.
I wonder if there’s any creative venture that hasn’t been made into a reality spectacle. (The day I turn to my local TV listings and see the program “Filk Idol” is the day I check out.)
July 20th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
If it gives you any comfort. I’m not going to the Con, and I live in San Diego.
July 20th, 2007 at 6:47 pm
The way I read it, I’m pretty sure it’s not a talent show, more on the lines of a “You vote on what happens next” comic strip.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:27 pm
This isn’t even vaguely like a talent show. Virgin is pulling established creators to compose modern versions of the CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE books, then permitting dozens, hundreds or thousands of people to vote on whether to turn to page 4 or page 23.
July 20th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Or, yeah, what Tim Tylor said.
July 20th, 2007 at 10:11 pm
Cons:
Cons are funny things. They are people spending a lot of money to go venerate the shopping they’ve done. If anything can sum up flaws of modern society, it’s a con.
Coalition Comix:
Looks like it’s more a case of readers getting the illusion they have a say in what happens next in the comic. Basically, it’s a dog & pony show where someone in the audience gets to come up and do math with the horse.
Selling out:
The problem isn’t that people are doing whatever they can to make their dreams come true. It’s that they are willing to whore themselves for peanuts in the hopes of reaching that goal. The producers of these IP farms know that they will always find suckers with stars in their eyes they can exploit for a pittance.
And hell yeah, I’d sell all of my ideas to some company like Virgin. But they’d have to back a dump-truck full of money up to my house. They wouldn’t want someone’s concept unless they thought there was a chance for them to earn a few more dump trucks full of cash off of it, and I’d want a good chunk of that. No way I’d accept a hearty handshake and a press release on Newsarama. The creators control the means of production, the creators should be dictating the terms.
I don’t think people should be yelling, “Never sell out!”
They should be yelling, “Drain the bastards dry!”
July 21st, 2007 at 12:26 am
Hear, hear!
There have been some webcartoonists (well, one cartoonist) whose business decisions I’ve criticized in the recent past. He seems to have gone on to characterize my problem with his actions as me accusing him of being a sellout. That’s as far from the truth as can be. I don’t mind seeing cartoonists sell out. I hate to see them sell themselves short — not making as much money as they possibly can off of their IP. There’s a huge difference. But the “sellout” paradigm is easier for people to digest, so they go along with this mischaracterization of what I’ve said. Ah well. Doesn’t really matter.
Also, you guys are right. I seem to have misunderstood this thing. Hard to decipher the corpohype sometimes.
July 21st, 2007 at 4:14 am
Another gimmick folks. I smell trouble and irritation for comic creators as usual.
If you’re serious about being published, check out ikcomics.com. 2 of my friends have already signed up there with debut titles. You have to check out their comic viewing software…. it rocks.
July 22nd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
I blame DJ Coffman for this. Not for being a cheerleader, but for Hero By Night. It doesn’t suck. If it sucked nobody would be out there ripping of Platinum. But it didn’t.
July 23rd, 2007 at 3:24 am
I agree with Tim
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The way I read it, I’m pretty sure it’s not a talent show, more on the lines of a “You vote on what happens next†comic strip.
Comment by Tim Tylor — 7/20/2007 @ 6:47 pm
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July 24th, 2007 at 5:18 am
[...] I’ll be damned if I can figure out the purpose of Virgin Comics and MySpace’s new online initiative, Coalition Comix. It looks like neither a moneyearner nor a talent farm, and I’d be surprised if it attracted an overload of users. Maybe it exists to make Zudacomics look adventurous, perhaps? (Link via Joey Manley.) [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 9:38 pm
bullsheet! sorry for sneezing. Junk.
July 31st, 2007 at 7:39 am
[...] I wonder whats in it for the comic book creators. I somehow believe firmly that a wiki approach doesn’t work when it comes to creative work of this sort. Ofcourse this is far less ambitious than the penguin wiki novel project, but still, I doubt anything really worth reading will come out it. Comic buffs have derided it as just another stupid talent show though I really don’t think the objective is to generate fresh talent. It doesn’t offer enough room for that. [...]