DARK MUSINGS #39 – Social Media’s Hype vs Reality
by Andrew Zar 5/14/12
Social media sure gets a lot of press – adding to the hysteria of how important it is. And with FaceBook doing an IPO, the pitch is higher and louder than ever. The hype is so deep that it all feels true.
But, my impression of it is mostly bunk. In fact, as you dig into many of the more “popular” trends in entertainment and news, it seems that the hype layer can be many distortion layers that cloud realty.
I present to you a small test case. DarkBrain has been working two social media channels very hardcore for several years now – deviantART.com and FaceBook.com. On each, thousands of dollars were spent to establish a fan base and then news and new content was added weekly, often daily, to both sites for years. So the effort to create a fanbase there has been extensive. (Note: I did try Google+, but after understanding their polices and lack of support for art was exactly on par with FaceBook, there was no business case to use it and it was dropped).
At the same time, DarkBrain has an opt-in mailing list on our own site. Efforts were made to drive people to our website, but the mailer has always been an opt-in . A campaign was effective in gaining membership by tying the mailing list to opening up uncensored content. That campaign ended early this year, so the mailing list is no longer required for that.
So, at the end of this work, the numbers showcase how effective each medium is:
deviantART: 4,700 followers
FaceBook: 2,300 followers
DarkBrain.com: 32,000 followers
The numbers alone are pretty impressively slanted towards our mailer, but then consider the opening of our new gallery on our own site. The social media channels were hit several days before our mailer went out. The graph above shows how the mailer does in relation to the social media work. Even more slanted than expected given the audience – the response from the mailer was far more effective per “follower” (in addition to being just substantially larger anyway). The upshot: the “followers” on both social media channels are mostly absent while the mailing list is hugely effective.
The numbers don’t lie, but you can of course do whatever analysis you like on top of that. Personally, I believe it shows the hype factor of social media and also how most adults with interest in our comics have left or don’t care about the social media sites at all. To me, that makes sense given how social media censors content and does not support art.
Anyway, thought you would enjoy this little insight to how things really work. My advice to other comic publishers is to make sure the majority of your efforts are on your own site and use social media as a minor channel at best.
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above graph shows our page view totals on our new Gallery we just opened.
DARK MUSINGS #38 – The case for Twitter and Tumblr over FaceBook, deviantART, Apple and Google
by Andrew Zar 5/10/12
A topic near and dear to me is fighting censorship. As a construct, censorship is used to deny ideas/art/thoughts/expression and to try to forcibly funnel people into docile, passive, compliant groups of sheep. It is a dangerous action that often starts out innocently, but ends up seriously abused.
And, in real terms, it is just unnecessary – adults really can make decisions on their own, they don’t need to be told what to do. In fact, isn’t that what being an adult is about? Why do we insist on trying to protect adults and take decision-making processes away from them – and then complain later that nobody takes responsibility for their actions?
And today an interesting event is transpiring with Twitter that is worth reflection. The event is that New York State has demanded via a court order that Twitter hand over logs of a user’s actions – the user happens to be an Occupy Wall Streeter that “the man” wants to punish. http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/09/tech/social-media/twitter-court-order/index.html Twitter, however, denied it! Their basis is using a recent Supreme Court ruling that using GPS data constitutes a search under the Fourth Amendment.
Pretty interesting, but look at the this statement carefully:
Twitter also suggested that Harris owns his own tweets and could therefore file a motion to quash on his own, despite the prosecution’s assertion of the opposite.
Ok, now that is a BIG deal. Very big. It is something most Internet users believe outright, but they are 100% wrong on most counts and just haven’t read the Terms of Service for most of the sites they use. Notably – FaceBook, Google, deviantART and Apple have created “walled gardens” that censor ideas and thoughts, but also own your content. They can’t play that both ways – either it is free-speech/free-expression and thus uncensored, or it isn’t. Be wary when they come out as “anti-censorship” (like the garbage over SOPA) – no, they are pro-censorship… but even more so, they are pro-whatever-makes-them-money-off-of-your-ideas.
So, consider this: we all, each of us, make the choice to use those systems. I assert you should pay attention and put your energies into companies who treat your ideas and thoughts as YOURS – not theirs. Yes, they want to make money OFF of your ideas, but say “fuck no” to letting them ALSO censor them. It is just beyond ridiculous.
The companies with the wrong approach: FaceBook, deviantART, Google and Apple
The companies with the right approach deserve your attention: Twitter and Tumblr.
Twitter and Tumblr are both high-profile sites with the correct Terms of Service as well as actual policies. They draw the line at illegal activity (as they must), but nowhere else.
And, guess what? The uncensored ideas coming from Twitter didn’t cause a global meltdown of morality. Adults didn’t need “protection” from these “evil” services and the world hasn’t ended even though Twitter is a household brand. Proving that the entire foundation for the censoring of ideas is just bullshit – and just an agenda to make the most possible money off of YOU – and, sadly, passive sheep that spend money is the holy grail they seek (and get).
Furthermore, you owe it to yourself to post on sites that are free-speech based… Here is how a LIKE you put on a FaceBook page could lead to you being fired – and that being held up in court. Because your actions on FaceBook are not protected speech – they are simply personal data you have granted rights to FaceBook for any use whatsoever and you have literally no rights left: http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/05/08/your-facebook-likes-can-get-you-fired/
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
Art above is a tantalizing shot of our witch Delphi in an upcoming magical DarkBrain series called The Witches Three: THE DARK AGES. Art by Nicolàs R. Giacondino. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved.
DARK MUSINGS #37 – Trolling is but a peek in the Mirror
by Andrew Zar 5/4/12
I’ve been a little shy on blogs the last couple of months – so here is a quick blog to comment on how some people approach the Internet. The Internet is a wonderful place to be whoever you want to be – to shed all your inhibitions and explore what you truly think and feel. It is transformative, rejuvenating and highly rewarding for many people.
Of course, this also lets people become aggressive, angry, disrespectful and hurtful. I watch a lot of artists online, literally thousands. And some get blasted by the most ridiculous attacks from people with specific and extreme agendas – dictating what is or is not art for everyone based on their own slanted preference. But aside from communicating their opinion (which is perfectly fine, if you ask me, it’s an opinion) - they attack with vigor and venom. In fact, every once in a while I see a journal or plea from an artist to stop attacking them and then defending their own art. That makes me sad, but there is a simple truth here:
Ugly internet attacks are nothing but a mirror back to the attacker. Yes, they are ugly and mean and dark – but they are also only a reflection of the ugly in the attacker themselves. The ugly is real, and it is their own burden to deal with. Reflection on that can calm me down when I see particularly spiteful or ignorant comments against an artist I admire.
For me, I work in the edge on purpose with my art – I try to invoke a reaction, to challenge the reader. I have no interest in making “fun” art that has no message, no meaning, and is just unicorns and rainbows. But, this means I will be inside – and outside – people’s objection line pretty often. Thus I expect much of the spirited comments I get from time to time.
I try to correct factual inaccuracies (like, no, I don’t spend 12 hours a day masturbating – I mean, if I could and STILL put out this much content and run my real life business – I would fucking admire myself like you couldn’t imagine) and especially challenges to the “credentials” of my artists (yes, they are very talented and experienced – even if you don’t like the subject matter, the craftsmanship is a very high standard).
But, hey, any reaction means I did well – even negative – it means I hit some button. Since that is part of the point, it’s all good! Even lengthy threads of discussion also mean the reader is engaged with the DarkBrain brand – which is also good. The secret is that the worst thing you can do to an artist is to ignore them. Let’s keep that between us, don’t clue the trolls in!
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
Art above is a tantalizing shot of our witch Morgan in an upcoming magical DarkBrain series called The Witches Three: THE DARK AGES. Art by Nicolàs R. Giacondino. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved.
DARK MUSINGS #36 – Read at your own pace now here
by Andrew Zar 5/2/12
From the beginning, DarkBrain was about a new way of “reading” comics – with voice and music and in a way more attractive to an audience outside of comic readers. We quickly gained an audience of over 70,000 people, most of whom identified themselves as “not comic readers” – which is absolutely wonderful.
In my early test runs with the format, I found that people would stop and watch and be entertained by the “comics with voice” – there is a huge draw for voice and music. I still firmly believe that if the comic industry wants to attract new readers, voice and music are an essential component.
Still, some people who did identify themselves as comic readers prefer to just read the story. Our first step to address this group was our “Quiet Brain” model – which displays the web comics without sound and at a faster pace than the normal web comic.
But, this month, we have taken our next big step – on the same day that the web comic is released with voice and music, we also release a downloadable version for the “read at your own pace” group! These new downloads are in our optimized for digital format – meaning they look great on desktops, tablets, and even big screen TVs! Just maximize and enjoy.
Our first web comic in this format is Locked Out #12, but now every new web comic release will also have the download on the same day – another evolution for DarkBrain!
Till next time,
Andrew
The above image shows the covers for Locked Out with art by Ed Silva, Henrik Horvath, Mostafa and Christa Rosenkranz. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved.
DARK MUSINGS #35 – Optimized Digital Comics
by Andrew Zar 4/4/12
We are just a week away from the launch of our first adult-only product line, DB Quarterly. So this is the “pre-game” place where anticipation roars around and makes itself known. The magazine is fully wrapped and is a gorgeous 180 page monster and I’m bursting to unleash it on the world!
DBQ #1 is the first DarkBrain download optimized completely for digital viewing in a new take on digital comics – designed to be viewed on many different platforms such as tablets, computers, and even big screen TVs.
The creation of our new format is really an evolution from work we have done in the last three years. The key strategy is to throw out everything you know about digital comics – what works and what doesn’t work – and instead create a digital comic FOR the platform… not to try to bitch-slap a printed format into a digital format. The fact that the new tablets can show a portrait page well is great, but that doesn’t handle big screen TVs or computer monitors at all – where seeing comics designed for portrait still fails miserably.
The basic view that rules most digital devices is a landscape, “high def” layout. A driver of this is that nearly all computer monitors are landscape as are all TVs and movie screens. Even tablets, although you can hold them in portrait now, you can also hold in landscape. So the landscape layout is the overwhelming primary viewing layout for digital consumption. (And, yet, you could dig for days and not find “digital comics” that show in landscape – while the “web comic” market has embraced and understood this fact for a long time).
Applying this strategy, we took DBQ and formatted the digital PDF to be landscape and to have all sorts of digital amenities such as viewing in single page mode and reducing the screen clutter of unnecessary menus – while also staying 100% inside the PDF format. Every page is the exact same dimensions so the reader can page through the file easily and comfortably. (While “2 page spreads” are neat in print, they are dreadful in digital). Also, all pages of DBQ have fonts large enough to display well even on the living room TV.
In addition, a linkable table of contents was added to the first page. The result is a something we really hope you enjoy. This new format is one we will be adopting for our other downloads as we move forward as well, quite a good evolutionary step forward for DarkBrain – and yet another example of how shedding the status quo (the deeply entrenched “print mentality”) can have amazing results.
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The page above is from next week’s DBQ #1 in our landscape, digital optimized PDF format. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Lines by Baris Yilmaz and Stéphan Lemineur.
DARK MUSINGS #34 – iNoCloud
by Andrew Zar 3/30/12
You don’t get anything for free, as the old saying goes. We get a lot of “free” stuff like FaceBook or Google, but the price is our privacy and personal information being sold in order to show us ads that (they hope) subliminally get us to buy products. I’m convinced at the core of it are small aliens who are orchestrating a hostile takeover… THEY LIVE! (If you haven’t seen that movie, OMG, go do it, it’s a timeless documentary of our lives…)
Like obedient little sheep, we keep marching to the piper that entertains us. Of course, deep down, we all know the deal… we just accept it – clearly we are ok with the price. But, keeping a little awareness is a good thing – because our behavior drives the system. WE are in control. We may be sheep, but if we change direction and march another way, the whole system will re-arrange itself to follow US. The illusion that we are not in control is part of the system – the part you CAN fight.
For me, I started to draw the line when iTunes came out. I already had a great MP3 collection before there ever was an iPod – and when that was offered as a way to “manage” my music, I laughed – why would I pay someone 30% to do what I already can do? Or, if you think about it, you are actually taking 30% away from the artists to give to Apple for no reason at all – it’s a music tax – and all that 30% does nothing to help create more music for you to enjoy.
And, should you care that 30% goes to a middleman? Absolutely – it empowers them and they will turn around and control you, this is a fact and the power of middlemen has a stranglehold on creativity and is deemed far more important than the creators.
So, to this day, I have 40 GB or so of paid music that I collected over the last 20 years, and not a single song was purchased via iTunes. I’ve never had any problems with my collection – and it is MY collection – and I know it will be with me on any device I use. I am not locked into the Apple “ecosystem.”
Even the “app model” I pay attention to. I make a point to buy all my Comixology comics directly on the Comixology website – which then is available on my tablets – without using the Apple ecosystem. What is the point of giving 30% to Apple for content they have literally nothing to do with? It’s just another tax – a payment we give someone, but in this case, for NO benefit.
So now comes the big play – iCloud. Basically the same model as iTunes – now Apple wants to get 30% of your movies, TV, books – everything. Google Play also comes out and wants the same. ARE WE WILLING TO GIVE THEM 30% of everything… REALLY? I presume yes – but count me out. I already know how to get books, movies, and TV, I don’t need iCloud, I don’t want it, I refuse to use it.
But remember this IMPORTANT fact: Apple and Google want to control your behavior. They have a heavily censored system in play – so you will not be able to do what you want to do, you will be cleverly shaped to fit THEIR needs, not yours. They do not support free speech, they aggressively ban art, they do all sorts of very, very nasty things and seek to absolutely dominate your will to serve their agenda and basically want every customer to be a 13 year old in morality.
If you want to buy into that, go for it, just do it with your eyes open and understand you are basically a child that needs the Apple and Google parent to keep the world safe for you.
Count me out. I-NO-CLOUD because I-Know-What-Cloud-Means
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above image is from the upcoming DBQ #1. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Lines by Renato Camilo & Dinei.
DARK MUSINGS #33 – Are you serious?
by Andrew Zar 3/12/12
One of the more interesting comments we got in a recent review was questioning if our work is “serious” or not. Because, obviously, work with sensuality is not to be taken seriously? Perhaps based on experience of the average “adult” work that shows erotic visuals but lacks a serious story or good dialog… or perhaps just based on a flawed social slant that categorizes nudity and sexuality as “wrong?”
But consider the amount of death and evil you see in a Law & Order, CSI, and especially Criminal Minds. That is serious work, it goes without question, nobody would dispute that. But really, the violence is so extreme that it doesn’t compare to “real life” in any serious way.
Consider the ratio of violence vs. sex in any person’s real life. On the whole, people have sex a lot more than they murder people. So, couldn’t the case be made that all the death shows on TV are clearly “not serious” compared to how things work in the real world. Yet, they are accepted while nudity and sex are completely banned from the same artistic level of expression.
This screwed up vision is prevalent in every form of art now – perhaps the most obvious being comics where a page in a Spartacus comic can be 99% blood… but thank goodness nudity is hidden from the children. Whew! In a way, aren’t we encouraging children to be evil, violent, sadistic murderers while saying that a loving sexual relationship is “bad.” It is… curious!
And, sadly, the prejudice is so bad that some truly amazing works of art are utterly ignored. There is a lot of really great graphic novel content that showcases sexuality, but has art and stories that are better than the drivel you see in the average comic or TV show. Like “Lost Girls” by Alan Moore, “Ironwood” by Bill Willingham, “Kristina” by Frans Mensink, “Druuna” by Paolo Serpieri, “Story of O” by Pauline Reage, “Twenty 2” by Erich Von Gotha, “Sally Forth” by Wally Wood, anything Giovanna Casotto created, and especially in the humor category such as Playboy’s “Little Annie Fanny” and Penthouse’s “Oh, Wicked Wanda!”
As with any and all other genres, there are good and bad erotic works – why judge an entire genre so dismissively? We don’t dismiss other genres so quickly or thoroughly. Instead – expand your mind, give it a chance, see what you actually think about the work.
So, my answer to the review question is: yes, DarkBrain is serious. And I hope that our work challenges the reader on this very subject. And, as DBQ prepares for launch with a big free issue, I throw the DarkBrain hat into the ring with some of our most impressive work, and most erotic work, we have ever done.
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above image is from the upcoming SORTAN-VALTA #1 to arrive in DBQ #1. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Art by Celestin Szabo.
DARK MUSINGS #32 – DARKBRAIN V6
by Andrew Zar 3/4/12
Been a while since my last blog, but only because of the massive site migration that was going on. DarkBrain V6 is now launched! This blog just highlights some of my observations of the migration process, for the press release with the summery, read here: http://www.pr.com/press-release/394568
DarkBrain V6 is our largest upgrade yet. Huge changes this round including:
On the backend, these changes were incredibly time-consuming to make. I purposely stopped counting the hours as it was just endless. For me, I find working on already-completed content to be extra taxing – I’d so much rather be working on new material. But it was all necessary to upgrade the overall DarkBrain experience considerably. After reading the comics in the new navigation, it really sinks in how much better they are now.
Also, these upgrades helped to finish my “de-evolution” of the technology so that it no longer uses Microsoft SQL Server at all. The system was designed too large, too robust, too expansive – I often have the “problem” of thinking way too big. The DarkBrain engine could be used by movie studios as an engaging, powerful storyboard system; by video game companies to flesh out game storytelling mechanics, and much more. As I now get to V6, I have a much more streamlined comic reader that suits DarkBrain’s needs better and drops a lot of the extras I just didn’t need. This also lets me change hosts, an important step.
When confronted with a multi-hundreds-of-hours project, I find it best to just get everything that needs doing in a list and hit the list from top to bottom. My normal broader view had to be put aside for a tactical, burn-through-it strategy. Then I hit that list obsessively. My best asset, finding creative solutions to problems, had to just idle out and the task master had to take over. This crushed my sleep pattern to less than 5 a night for an extended time, was just brutal. It is nice to be on the other side of this beast now.
I had one moment late in the project where my creative part of the brain finally resurfaced and I figured out how to reduce the labor on a repetitive task by 80% - which was frustrating to not have figured out sooner! Gah! Well, deadlines are a brutal, merciless king – and sometimes I have to just accept throwing labor into the shredder of work – it was more important to get it done than anything else.
But, in reflection, it is easy to forget that running a web comic site, especially with Flash content with music and voice, involves a lot of tech work – a TON. I’m glad I can do it all myself, the cost to outsource that would be so prohibitive that DarkBrain would have never existed in the first place.
Now, at the end of the chain, we have the DarkBrain Comic Reader v6.01. Loads of cool and important enhancements to enable the next round of awesome web comics.
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above image is from the upcoming Pissy Pussy Origins. Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Lines by Boyann.
DARK MUSINGS #31 – DIGITAL COMICS SHOULD BE 25% COST OF PRINT
by Andrew Zar 1/31/12
I tend to find myself watching the mainstream comic industry with a sense of longing – longing for it to wake up and become competitive. The recent push of “same day as digital” from the big 2 is good – it is a forward step – especially considering that embracing digital has been like pulling teeth. But I’m still shaking my head – how can they possibly consider selling digital for the same price as print? It is total sabotage of the concept of digital comics.
There is a basic fundamental truth: when you buy a printed comic, the lion share of the cost is the printing and distribution. But when you buy a digital comic, those costs do not exist! In nearly every other market that handles this fact, you see much cheaper prices when getting content digitally.
Compare, for example, purchasing a DVD for $15 or watching that same content on pay-per-view for $3. A similar principle is in play there too. Also, renting DVDs is another method that allows customers to view that content for well under $1 – and that method is just not available for comics. You can disagree and tinker with these numbers all you like – but customers understand this value proposition on pure instinct – they know what is “worth it” and what is not.
So, what is the magic number for a digital comic? A new digital comic from “the big two” runs around $2.99 for a 20 page issue. That is both print and digital. That price just doesn’t make any sense in digital format. I’d argue it should be $0.74 – but I can see the target of $0.99 as a likely rally point here.
If you take that concept a bit further, then a graphic novel that collects 10 issues (so 200 pages total) – the digital price target would be $9.99 instead of over $29. It becomes a little clearer in that context that digital comic pricing is out of whack. $29 for graphic novels in digital format is… well… ridiculous. At $10 it would be more reasonable… but I suspect $7.50 or less is the real target that the marketplace would actually embrace.
So, it is just a matter of time before the big 2 proclaim digital comics as “too small a market” to invest in – based on their “results” of selling digital comics. Just remember, if you setup an online movie rental system and charged $15 per rental, you wouldn’t get many sales. And, in that case, it isn’t the market that failed – it is you. The big 2 are not out to make digital comics work as much as they are out to make sure they don’t hurt the print market. And be very leery of decisions made about a market based on flawed strategy.
So you say to me: “put up or shut up!” Agreed! At DarkBrain, we just opened up individual digital sales of all our graphic novels for the first time! Also, our digital comics are at price points far cheaper than the printed versions (roughly 75% less). This way, digital consumers know the value is more in line with the costs.
And, guess what, the profit margins on each book are… practically the same! Because, you see, print and distribution is the largest cost of any book. That’s just a fact.
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above image is from our upcoming The Butcher series, Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Pencils by Renato Camilo, inks by Henrik Horvath.
DARK MUSINGS #30 – COMIC MEDIA IS LIKE A BRAIN INJECTION
by Andrew Zar 1/10/12
The above graphic is the last official “intro” segment by Beth and I for our comics (this one ran at the start of Grace Comes Home #9). A fun homage to a true inspiration of ours (Rod Serling as he intro and exited the amazing Twilight Zone television series episode). However, the intro and exit comics are not part of our 2012 lineup as we are going to focus on adding more real comic content instead. I’ll miss em already, and I hope you liked them while they ran. In future site updates, they will also be removed as the comics collapse into movie-like presentations as well.
Today’s blog, however, is about how truly powerful the comic format is. It is a method of conveying a mountain of information very quickly – almost like a Matrix-style injection directly into your brain.
Consider this: a comic of around 260 pages is roughly equivalent to a full-length movie in its scope and delivery – or a full sized printed novel! 260 pages is about 12 issues in an ongoing comic series. You can get the full movie (or book) experience in your head very quickly by injecting it as a comic. And at a faster pace than either movies or novels, for certain.
The reason is that the combination of art and words simply WORKS. It is powerful mixture that people of all ages respond to immediately. I believe it is this power that causes the comic format to be so heavily discriminated against. Although people of all ages respond will to good imagery, because it is just so powerful, it is immediately pigeonholed to be children-related.
This attitude was prevalent in TV as well, but it has been changing with highly successful series like South Park and Family Guy – clearly not children’s shows and each showcases some great writing and uses comic-style art to communicate quickly and without the costs of fully animated work.
Hopefully, that will start to change in printed comics too – but don’t count on it being anytime soon. The industry needs to grow some balls first and fight the rules in play that restrict them. For now, no such effort can be seen by any of the industry mainstream leaders. Apparently there is only “network TV” in the entire comic mainstream industry – not cable stuff. Sopranos, The Tudors, Spartacus, Rome, Weeds, Shameless, Dexter – this sort of content is not in mainstream comics today.
But, don’t let the status quo get you down. Comics, as a powerful media, can indeed be used to tell wonderful stories for mature readers… let’s just show ‘em all how it should be done, shall we?
Till next time,
Andrew Zar
The above image is Copyright 2012, DarkBrain, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Lines by Tony Lindsey, colors by Marc Bourcier.