Glynn is quick to point out that it’s too soon to declare the end of the funny pages. They “have a hard time pushing the envelope with anything controversial,” says Glynn.īut even though newspaper editors “have loosened up from the Eisenhower era” (Glynn’s words) and allow more controversial matter than they used to, “on GoComics, we’ll still run something a lot of editors won’t,” says Glynn-whether that content be edgy or racy. Because of the broad nature of their markets, and the incendiary nature of today’s ideological climates, newspaper comics often play it safe. There have been famous incidents of papers not running installments of strips like Doonesbury, Bloom County, and The Boondocks. Online comics possess a distinct advantage in allowing a freedom of expression not often found outside the editorial pages. Sarah’s Scribbles(by Sarah Andersen), the “Heart and Brain” installments of Nick Seluk’s The Awkward Yeti, and Brian Gordon’s Fowl Language are all popular shares online. Whereas you used to clip comics you identified with out of the paper and tape them to your office door, now you can “broadcast yourself on a much bigger level,” says Glynn. It’s impressive that in this day and age a new product can have that kind of impact, and it gives us more data to convince editors to carry a comic.”Ī large part of the success of online comics can be attributed to social media. “It started lapping older, more established strips. “The audience for Phoebe showed up immediately,” Glynn continues. And it’s become one of the top seven debuts in our history. “In this case, it was backed by more than editorial hunch, by people actually responding to it. For example, after its initial success online, the innovative strip Phoebe and Her Unicorn, by Dana Simpson, went on to become a book series “and then we took it to syndication,” relates Glynn with emphasis. But the online format is reversing that formula. The sequence of comic merchandising used to be that a strip-such as Garfield, say-would gain traction in print and after accumulating enough material be compiled into a book. For example, the online format has produced a surprising new business model. However, the transition into more electronic forms does present vast opportunities-some unexpected. The squeeze on print newspapers has caused them to be less likely to take risks, limiting comic page real estate and making the entry point for new comic artists even narrower-a pinch that Glynn feels: “We used to launch three new print comics a year now we launch one.” It’s said that crisis and opportunity are the same thing, that how you look at a situation makes it one or the other. “Every piece of material we launch still comes over my desk.” (It also makes him a good-natured fabulist: his colorful alumni file claims that he was involved in Women’s Drill Team, Animal Husbandry Club, and Opera Workshop-all of which are rhubarb.) “I was involved in acquisitions very early on,” he says. Glynn’s affinity for storytelling makes him a strong judge of quality in overseeing the aggressive expansion of Universal Uclick into the digital world.
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