DC Universe: The Collective

Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s post — where AZURE’s Daniel Govar submitted his pen and ink fan-piece for James Fosdike’s DEADLY — Foz himself colors it. Gorgeous and glowy. AZURE #3 is available on Comixology as of this week.

Not only does the free just keep on coming but everything is on sale this week from Zuda via the PSP, DC Comics and Comics apps:

DEADLY #3
James Fosdike
Vaughn finds himself in trouble with the pricks as they invade his home. These carnivorous strangers are troubling – but not as troubling as their familiarity with The Boy
Price: 99¢

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HIGH MOON #7
David Gallaher, Steve Ellis, Scott O. Brown
Conroy, Raven, and Tristan find themselves mired in trouble at the Pine Ridge Indian Reserve.

Price: 99¢

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SAFE INSIDE #2
Zerocalcare
A mob denounces Demian as a terrorist because of his hairstyle. He manages to escape with the help of the so-called terrorists – and a little teargas. The group concludes that only Demian can help them escape a certain fate, but he’s hesitant to help.

Price: 99¢

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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

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ONSALE NEXT WEEK - August 18:

BAYOU #8
SAFE INSIDE #3
STREET CODE #2
THE HAMMER #1

STREET CODE #1 launches on Comixology today. Creator Dean Haspiel has a few words to say:

When I first caught the buzz that DC Comics was sparking a web comics initiative called Zuda, I sent congratulatory emails and let ‘em know that, after having launched my very own web comics collective, ACT-I-VATE, a couple of years earlier, I’d be happy to share whatever wisdom I could impart. Especially since the Digital Age was upon us and there was a huge learning curve and we all needed to be on point and do this together.

After I met with the cats who make Zuda zoom, the gauntlet was thrown down for me to develop something new and join their ranks. I offered two superhero pitches and a semi-autobio comic. Zuda opted for my more personal fare and I dusted off documents I’d kept for a sequel to my Eisner Award nominated comic, OPPOSABLE THUMBS, which collected previous memoirs. I even had a cover lined up [shown here] that was eventually used for Tim Hall’s novel, FULL OF IT, and the story of that creepy street creature eventually made his appearance in my first STREET CODE story, “Awful George.” I only had two scripts in the can when I started to cull my diaries for more STREET CODE stories with the caveat that these anecdotal episodes would be about a New Yorker’s transition from Manhattan to Brooklyn and the impact that made on him and the people around him. Simple, huh? To make things complicated, I abandoned the traditional semi-autobio tropes that would allow readers to get inside the head of Jack, my STREET CODE avatar, and, instead, most of his job and romance related victories and woes would occur off-page and in the gutters between panels. It was a self-imposed experiment to tell compelling stories while breaking cardinal, narrative rules. I don’t know that I fully succeeded but it was important to me to make the reader feel as alienated as the protagonist while he endured this transitional hazing.

Awhile back, there was a month where I had concurrent web comics featured at Zuda, ACT-I-VATE, Marvel, SMITH Magazine, and The New York Times. I think it was “Pekar Project” editor, Jeff Newelt, who declared me, “The Dean of Web Comics,” but it wasn’t a title that could possibly sustain. Branding and monetizing web comics is still a tricky thing to insure and, since I’ve mostly made hay in the graphic novel industry between my creator-owned romance-noir, BILLY DOGMA, and my collaborations with Jonathan Ames, Inverna Lockpez, and the late Harvey Pekar [while occasionally dipping my commercial toes in franchise waters], my stuff tends to serpentine around what’s popular for general comic book audiences. A tough racket this comics making business. But, if there’s one thing I’ve come to believe, it’s good to be different. And, if Vertigo, my bread and butter publisher the last few years, has been dubbed “the HBO of comics,” then I posit that Zuda is “the IFC of comics,” where, like ACT-I-VATE, alternative concepts are refined online with the distinct intent to expose and develop fresh voices that could otherwise be lost in the gutters. And, now that we live in a world of social networking and easy applications that can download our comics into your phone, I’m excited to have STREET CODE be made available in a new form that helps support the livelihood of cartoonists.

[You can find STREET CODE on Comixology today. - J]

If you aren’t reading DEADLY by the immaculate Foz - DOO EEET! Here’s a little Pen & Ink fan piece I did in between pages:

“For me, the beauty of digital distribution is that you have this infinite shelf space, and suddenly anyone can find different comics that they might like. Superhero comics are going to do great, and they’re probably going to grow the market size in terms of more numbers in digital, but we also think there’s a huge opportunity for smaller publishers to connect to an audience….”

Read the rest at Comic Book Resources.

The people behind Sketch Maven interviewed Bobby and Peter Timony of THE NIGHT OWLS. In it, they discuss their work with Zuda, current projects, and dream projects. Bobby Timony also admits to being a nerd. Flabbergasting! If you haven’t done so yet, you can check out The Night Owls issues that have been digitized.

Sam Little (creator of THE HAMMER — which makes its digital debut on 8/25) sent us some NIGHT OWLS fan art. I think Bobby and Peter Timony will be delighted. Gargoyles and hot dogs FTW.

More free issues? Yup! That is how we roll.  Here is what’s on sale (and for free) this week from Zuda via the PSP, DC Comics and Comics apps:

BAYOU #7
Jeremy Love, Patrick Morgan
Lee enters Cotton Eyed Joe’s house in search of Lily and interrupts a perverse tea party. Lee and Bayou manage to find Lily – sort of. Before they can act, the two incur the wrath of the canine bigot, General Bog.

Price: 99¢

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BOTTLE OF AWESOME #3
Andy Belanger
Billy Butterman crushes a rowdy band of gay-bashers with some moves of which even he is afraid, steals a Rammy the Ram costume for some awesomely anonymous antics, and for the first time ever, gets attention from girls. However, things aren’t all peachy: Billy arouses suspicion from the dreaded Mr. Douche and his slimy goth rival, Asher.

Price: 99¢

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DEADLY #2
James Fosdike
Vaughn learns that hanging out with the mute boy jeopardizes his safety: Pricks and swarms of carnivorous toads stalk their every move for fresh human flesh. The boy won’t talk, but life grows in his wake – life that’s been next to impossible to cultivate before his arrival to the decimated land.

Price: 99¢

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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

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ONSALE NEXT WEEK - August 18:

HIGH MOON #7
DEADLY #3
SAFE INSIDE #2
STREET CODE #1

Behold — the only instance of Zuda-related clothing I’ve seen on the internet. DUAL hats. I found these on Mike Walton’s DUAL Production Blog. Dual is slated to drop on Comixology in mid-September. Meanwhile, one can check out the other Zuda titles available on the site.

Is it still Azure week?

Of course it is. It’s always Azure week. Because Azure is just that cool. Hey look, fan art:

Azure 3 is out now. Git along now to Comixology and download that bad girl already why doncha?