Broken Frontier

So, I think by now it’s fair to say that the direct market isn’t the best place for a new title or a new creator to make any headway in the comic industry. And coming to this conclusion usually brings us to the Internet as the best alternative to the direct market, at least for now.

But no sooner do we arrive at this solution than it presents us with its own problem; to charge or not to charge: That is the question.

Is it nobler to sell digital downloads at bargain prices or to simply offer the content for free in hopes of attaining advertising revenue or to at least build a readership for future, long-term success?

Well, it’s going to take a lot more than just pondering these questions to come up with an answer. What we need is for some original and inventive start-ups to start experimenting with new ideas until we get something to work. This is quite a lot to ask from those willing to take the risk, so I’ve been doing my best to look out for those who are trying something new, and support the ideas that I like.

This was why at this past year’s San Diego Comic-Con I was very enthusiastic when Brian Leung, a software engineer by trade, approached me with his plan to start a new website that would host comics available to read for free, and would generate income for the publishers through advertising revenue. Since I had already been a part of a few similar programs with mixed results, I was happy to offer my advice even though I thought it was a long shot for Brian to actually get something up and running any time soon.

So it was to my great surprise when he emailed me in December to tell me that his site, Kidjutsu.com was live.

And as an added bonus, I was quite please to see that the approach Brian was taking with Kidjutsu was to bring more readers into comics by appealing to kids. I don’t think I need to elaborate on how this is something vitally needed in the comics industry.

I also couldn’t help but think that Kidjutsu’s manga aesthetic couldn’t hurt in transitioning all those manga fans over into other styles of comics.

The name Kidjutsu is a combination of “kid” and “jutsu,” a Japanese word meaning “skill” or “technique.”

When I asked Brian about the site, he said that Kidjutsu.com had two goals:
1) Introduce kids to comics
2) Share profits with creators

“Kids don't read comics anymore and it's a real shame.  They play video games and surf the web now.  The explosive success of Naruto is an indicator that kids' enjoyment of comics is timeless.  It's just that the direct market has stopped serving kids,” Brian tells me.

So how will Kidjutsu manage to serve these kids that the direct market has left behind? Well, being on the Internet and being free is the obvious answer. But Brian also realizes how important technology is to the equation:

“Performance is not an interesting feature to talk about but it's absolutely critical when trying to win the tween/teen audience.

“The Kidjutsu reader is probably one of the fastest comic readers out there.  I've also designed the backend so it can host tens of thousands of comics at the same time without any significant slow down. 

Another feature that is new is the embeddable comic reader widget.  I want future readers to spread the comics virally for us.  I built this sooner rather than later because I wanted to give Kidjutsu creators something they can use outside of Kidjutsu.”

For those of you interested in seeing what the Kidjutsu embedded reader looks like, here’s an example from one of my comics that I have up on the site.

This embedded reader is a pretty useful feature. It allows creators to make use of this easy to use comic reader program and place it on many other sites. By the same token, fans or supporters of the comic can also embed this comic in their own sites or blogs, allowing them to share the comic with their web contacts. Rather than only referring to a comic they’ve read and enjoyed and having to give directions on how to find it, they can place it right there for people to read it instantly. In this way, it emulates the old tradition of passing around a comic amongst friends.

But for all this technological advancement, we’re still left with one big question. How is Kidjutsu going to fulfill that second goal of sharing profits with creators? The answer is that it’s still a work in progress. The first step is to get the system running smoothly and build a consistent readership in order to attract advertisers.

The goal is to become profitable by this summer. Brian can’t make any specific plans, but he believes that the possibility is out there.

“I definitely see a lot of potential especially if we can open up a new mass market,” he says. “It's hard to make predictions, but I'm pretty confident that the future profitability of the web will overshadow the current profitability of the direct comic book market.  It's a hard nut to crack but I'm optimistic someone will do it.  No clear winners yet, but I'm hoping there is room for a few.”

###

Tyler Chin-Tanner started his own publishing company, A Wave Blue World, and writes and draws layouts for Adrenaline, its flagship series.
© 2008 Tyler Chin-Tanner.  All rights reserved.
Email: tyler@awaveblueworld.com
www.awaveblueworld.com