The Zuda Comics postcard program was a wild marketing and promotional experiment. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves.
What Was Zuda Comics?
Zuda Comics was an original digital comics imprint of DC Comics. It debuted in 2007 and by 2010 it was was all but defunct. However! The imprint achieved some amazing things in its short life. Some of the more popular series won awards and recognition from the comic industry’s Glyph Comics Awards, Harvey Awards, and the American Library Association. It also helped pioneer new page formats, creator contracts, and other behind-the-scenes changes within DC Comics. Alas! All good things must come to an end. DC Comics closed Zuda Comics when they moved from New York to Los Angeles in 2010. There are plenty of stories about DC Comics’ relocation and they’re full of the weird, ambitious, short-sighted, and petty political things you’d expect – and some you might not. But that’s for another time. When DC Comics moved they shuttered the Zuda Comics website and ceased publication of all ongoing series.
Why Is This Relevant?
Before starting Union Combine I worked at DC Comics. In fact, Zuda Comics was my project! My Zuda Comics colleagues were among the most progressive, creative, and dedicated people with whom I’ve ever had the privilege of working. The team carried that same innovative spirit beyond DC Comics and went on do do amazing and interesting things after they left. Zuda wouldn’t have been possible without the likes of Dave McCullough, Kwanza Osajyefo Johnson, Nika Wagner, Maria Cabardo, Jesus, Reyes, Mike Zagari, Michael Wright, and Jessica Numsuwankijkul – not to mention the dozens of artists, writers, and creators that actually made the comics!
Postcards?
Back to the Zuda Comics postcards! In addition to being a comic storytelling imprint, Zuda Comics was also one of DC Comics’ first global talent search programs. Zuda Comics relied heavily on user-submitted content. We wanted to publish new ideas from new creators. The postcards were an effort to help people understand that this wasn’t about Batman or Superman but about, well, just about anything else. Zuda stories came from the outside instead of inside DC Comics. To promote this idea we handed out hundreds of blank, postage-paid, cards at comic-book conventions. Amazingly, it worked! People would draw on the cards and mail them back to our office. We then published the postcards on the site for all to see. I mean, not all. Some were really bad. Others were…inappropriate. However! Presented here for you now is a cross-section of some of the best of the great Zuda Comics postcard collection!
