Yet in the face of all this criticism, DC responded, I thought, very gracefully, offering transparency of operation and some compromises and revisions. They made good arguments about editorial oversight as a quality filter and suggested that real money for creators and a wider readership were fair compensation for what they required. And as DC's reward, they have not lacked for talented creators flocking to their doors.

The site works in seasons or cycles. Ten new series go up in a head-to-head competition every month, with fresh episodes of each being offered at regular intervals. Viewers register at the site and get to vote for their favorites, with special goodies accruing to each month's winner. (All the old comics are archived as well.) There's a blog and a couple of other features, but the main attraction is—well, free comics!

The current offerings are all science fiction or fantasy of one kind or another, in venues from outer space to zombie future to our present-day surroundings. Refreshingly, superheroes are minimized. But don't go looking here for the next Ghost World or Love and Rockets. That's a definite deficiency. The quality of the art and writing are uniformly good, with entries both above and below that average.

It seems to me that we can count Zuda as a mild success at this point. It hasn't revolutionized webcomics, but it's shown that old-school corporations have plenty to offer when they dip their toes into this big new ocean.