Scott Kurtz C2E2 Interview

[Rob]

To be found hereabouts.

[Gibson]

I have difficulty watching interviews with webcomic creators now, especially the more successful folks, since the only thing I tend to be interested in is advice on how to succeed, or even how not to fail. Scott Kurtz is no exception, as his only real advice both in this interview and in the lecture I saw, is to invent a time machine. I mean, it's not the guy's job to help me succeed and he's never promised to do, so it's not as if he's letting me down, but where his experiences are so very different than the field we face today, I find I have little to nothing to learn from him. I suppose it would be different for someone who was a fan of his work, I'm sure the point of the interviews is to showcase for the fans and not for some guy trying to up his page views.

[Rob]

Webomics 2.0 baby. I've been saying it for awhile. Gonna keep saying it.  ;)

[JR]

I finally got around to watching this video (hey, man- it's been a crazy two-weeks), and I thought that it was a generally okay piece.  It is true that Scott Kurtz doesn't offer any advice for up-and-coming cartoonists on the web, but he did touch on a couple of interesting tidbits. 

Kurtz mentioned it here (and elsewhere) that the big comic-book publishers are sorta in the dark with what to do with the web.  "Do we offer the content for free?"  "Do we want to have only archived stuff available?"  It's almost as if they are lagging behind ten years or so.

Thanks for bringing this to light, Rob.  I appreciate all the hard work that goes into this site by you and everybody else.  Do I get a brownie points for sucking up to the administrator?

[Rob]

You get points. They are not brownie.  :o

[Gibson]

I think I might agree that certain print comics don't know what to do with the web, but I don't agree that the industry as a whole doesn't. Consider that Drunk Duck is owned by Platinum Studios and promotes the hell out of their own shit with it, and that Zuda is a division of DC. Other publishers have very wisely decided to stay away from webcomics altogether and stick to the web as a promotional tool for their print products. Some have fumbled around with internet content which amounts to bad animation, so those cats might not know what to make of the web. Print comics and webcomics are different media with different rules and different audiences, and comics are one of the few print media left that isn't struggling. Print companies who don't have a clear vision of how to make the web their own are better off keeping to a promotional website rather than moving content online instead of forcing themselves into a pointless scene just because the interwebs is where it's at!  

[JGray]

It seems to be Kurtz is saying the same thing he's been saying for a while now. Like Gibson said, Platinum has DrunkDuck. DC has Zuda. Marvel's dipped their toes into digital/online comics for pay (such as Spider-Woman, Agent of SWORD) and, from what I've heard, hasn't done too poorly. TokyoPop makes fantastic use of the web, especially for community building and promotion. I don't know about Dark Horse and Image.

[JR]

Does anyone out there seem to think that Scott Kurtz is becoming the face of webcomics?  Every time I look up, he's being interviewed about the art/business of webcomics.

[Gibson]

We need to get Gisele Lagace, Kate Beaton and Jenny Breeden out in front of cameras, fast!

[Rob]

I don't think Jennie ever gets enough attention. She's amazing.

[JR]

We need to get Gisele Lagace, Kate Beaton and Jenny Breeden out in front of cameras, fast!

I don't think Jennie ever gets enough attention. She's amazing.

I totally agree... especially Jennie.