Online Comic Books coming to SXSW
Going to the show? Let me know.
My 2009 speaking and conference schedule will be kicking off in March at South By South West (or SXSW as it is more commonly called) where I’m hosting a panel discussion about Online Comic Books. Originally I had pitched two ideas, the first on Web Safe fonts; however, what the good folks in Austin eventually choose was a panel presentation to discuss how the comic industry is using the Web. I’ve long been fascinated by how graphic novels are (and are not) being successfully moved into the online world.
My own experience trying to bring sequential art storytelling off the page and onto the screen taught me a lot about the inherent difficulties. Balance and Grace (renamed from The Innocents) was a comic project I worked on with Top Cow Comics a few years back while I was the Creative Director of AOL RED. We were going to provide the online component for the print version of the book. Due to legal hang-ups, the online version was finished but never officially launched. However, we came up with the best online comic-book reader that I’ve seen.
I’m still putting together the panel, so I can’t make any announcements about who will be on it. I should have representatives from several of the larger comic companies, some comic book creators, and other industry pundits. We’ll start off by defining what is meant by “Online Comic Books” and possibly even try to come up with a better name!
If you have any suggestions for who you would like to see on the panel, please let me know ASAP and stay tuned for more updates: jason at brighteyemedia • com.