Tracking the Z-Cult...
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So I've been waiting for everything to clear over at Z-Cult before going nuts on my ranting about it (read my previous thoughts here, here, here and here....sheesh I'm long winded.)
Now I have a bunch of news to get out of the way regarding Z-Cult, DCP-ing comics, and the state of the downloadable comic book.
Most of this takes place before Thanksgiving when Z-Cult site operator Serj reported to his members that DC and Marvel had sent him letters asking for him to pull the trackers to their illegally scanned and uploaded comics. Serj responded with his site's methods of removing the trackers, which is basically confirm the comics are yours and we'll pull them, and waited for Marvel and DC to respond.
In the meantime Serg reported that SLG Publishing had contacted him and removed a previous ban placed on Z-Cult regarding tracking SLG books. Things were looking up...maybe some publishers were interested in the marketability of Z-Cult. But stop the presses. Dan Vado, president of SLG, wrote a letter to the Z-Cult members denouncing the letter regarding the release of the tracking ban on Z-Cult. Besides stating "...nor did anyone associated with my company in an official capacity, write the letter..." Dan also went on to say he was disgusted with the "poor excuse(s) for journalism", "News sites, and I use that term loosely since these fan-run, ad supported blogs are far from legitimate sources of news...", and "lame excuse for comics journalism sites". Well, I guess that includes this humble little blog. Sniff.
Here's a portion of Dan's letter as posted on Z-Cult (the typos are his not mine):
Hello to everyone on Z-Cult,
This is Dan Vado, president/publisher/owner of SLG Publishing. I am writing this to address the letter of support for Z-Cult which is circulating around and being attributed to SLG. While I am generally sympathetic to Z-Cult, I did not, nor did anyone associated with my company in an official capacity, write the letter that is being quoted very freely here and across the internet.
I honestly didn't know anything about this situation until late last night when, after a couple of ays of not checking email over the holiday, I noticed a couple of strange emails thanking me for my support. Most disturbing is that I am now being quoted in the lame excuse for comics journalism sites as having written this letter.
(portion of the letter removed for brevity)
I am disgusted, yes DISGUSTED, for the poor excuse for journalism that exists in the comic book industry. "News" sites, and I use that term loosely since these fan-run, ad supported blogs are far from legitimate sources of news, are openly quoting this letter of support on my part and only one (Comics Worth Reading) bothered to contact me about it, and only then to have me clarifiy my alleged comments and not to ask if I really wrote the note.
I am posting this mainly to set the record straight on the post being attributed to me and not to comment on this sites current beef with Marvel or DC. I noticed that a few people have gone to our site and made purchases and traffic at Eyemelt has gone up quite a bit in the last couple of days, so maybe this can serve as example of how supporting a site like Z-cult can lead to positive results. However I do not like the idea of people spending money under false-pretenses. You can use this letter as my admission to the positive value of exposure on this site, but please do not feel the need to go to Eyemelt or SLGCOMIC and buy things you do not want just because you want to thank us for our support.
However, I am really angry about the lack of of due diligence on the part of the sites operator in regards to the posting. It casts everything being done here under a negative light.
Dan Vado, SLG Publishing
Dan states that the "poor excuses" didn't even attempt to get the facts straight before reporting on the story. Dan, most of us where giving you kudos for thinking outside the box on this. It definitely made me take notice of your company.
To make a long story longer, apparently someone at SLG, a freelance writer, took it upon himself to give Serj the first letter without Dan's permission. So Dan, with "a load of egg" on his face had to admit that the letter came from someone he has "done a lot of business with over the years", that he shouldn't have been that quick to jump the gun, and that he was sorry for his comments about "lame excuse(s) for comic journalism sites." Here's an exact quote from Dan as seen on his blog:
"I made some pretty harsh comments about the quality of comics journalism. While nobody covering comics is ever going to win a pulitzer, in this case I have to take responsibility for being out of line."
That's the poorest excuse for an apology I've ever heard.
Now let me read again what Dan stated in this article:
"I noticed that a few people have gone to our site and made purchases and traffic at Eyemelt has gone up quite a bit in the last couple of days, so maybe this can serve as example of how supporting a site like Z-cult can lead to positive results."
Hmmm....ya think? But he's still upset up the "lack of due diligence" he attached to Z-Cult.
So that clears up the Z-Cult/SLG mess.
Now on to more news on Z-Cult.
In a letter dated November 27, 2007, DC axed Z-Cult as well. Reading through the letter it is clear that DC is protecting it's bottom line, as it should. They politely and respectfully requested the removal of DC trackers from Z-Cult and said they would be open to discussing the removal timeline since it's a big project. Everything sounds good, DC is doing what they must, in a classy way, and learned from previous publishers mistakes. What interested me however was this line in the letter:
"In the event DC Comics' position on this matter should materially change in the near future, I will let you know."
Whoa! What is that?! Now, you may be thinking, "Don't read too much in to that statement", but you have to. The entire letter is written as matter of fact. And then at the end they drop this line? "Near future"? "I'll let you know"? Does DC have something up their sleeve and are keeping this door open? Are they thinking about following something akin to my 9 Criteria for Distributing E-Comics? Well let me contact DC about it. (And no, not about if they are following my criteria, just if they are thinking about online options. I'm not that arrogant.)
Top Cow also got into the act and requested their comics be pulled. However, in a slick move they also stated they will provide Z-Cult with preview issues of some of their comics. See....these smart publishers are figuring it out. The more people that see the comics, the more people that collect them. Have I ever though about picking up an issue of Madame Mirage? No. And not cause I think it would be a bad book, but because I have a limited budget for comics. But if I was able to read some issue and enjoyed it? Would I start to collect it? Why yeah. Top Cow also stated they have their books available for download at Direct2Drive. But the books are old comics, such as the original series of Witchblade and The Darkness. And the downloads are $1.99 a piece! I could go to the quarter bins and get better deals then that for the actual print comic. So I'm not too excited about Direct2Drive.
So this long story comes to a close...for now. Say what you will about Serj and Z-Cult, but I think there's a case to be made that Serg and Shawn Fanning have a lot in common in regards to shaking up their respective industry and moving it (revolutionizing it even) in the right direction. Who is Shawn Fanning you may be wondering? The founder of Napster. Yeah.
Alright, the rant is over, you have your fix. As always feel free to send in your ideas for the Daily Rant topics or let me know it you want to be a guest on the show. And of course make sure to subscribe to our feed.
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