December Zuda Wrap-Up

The calender has completed another of its inexorable turns, which means, as a new month arrives, so to does a new winner over at Zuda Comics. Every month we take a look at the ten competitors, weigh the pros and cons and discuss the possible winners and losers and then, when the next month begins, we watch as everything we said is shot all to hell by the power of the internet. So how did we do this week with our predictions compared to the actual results? Well, before we take a look, you can refresh your memory with a look at the first five entries... and then the second five. Go on, we'll wait.

Done? Man, those were lucid and insightful, huh? But how close did they come to hitting the mark?

Well, the winner for December turned out to be One Hit Knock Out. Yes, I actually got one right for once, as I said last month that One Hit Knock Out was "the leader in the clubhouse," which is a golf metaphor that can also frequently be applied to Tiger Woods, if you know what I mean.

Of course, not all of my comments were quite as prescient. For instance, I gave Jason and the Argonauts Redux a solid B on the strength of its art, which usually is the major selling point in this competition. Final rank: 10th. Ouch. Also surprising me was the 5th place finish for SubSuelo, which, while it didn't exactly light my world on fire, still figured for me to be a top three entry.

Instead, the second and third place strips were Villain (a minor surprise, mainly because this seemed a bit too familiar to get that many votes) and Unseen Tribe (a bigger surprise because, well, wtf?).

Still, the order of the entries for this month is, for me, pretty much a crapshoot, as there were a number of solid if uninspiring entries this time around with no real standouts. The question seemed to be whether or not the votes would go to a comic that had spark or one that was just solidly executed and it looks like, with the choice of One Hit Knock Out, the voters decided to go with inspiration over perspiration. I can't say it matters too much to me on a personal level, though, because for the second month in a row I have no real interest in reading any of these titles beyond the first eight pages anyway.

Hopefully the new year will turn that trend around and bring out a stronger crop of comics.


Tomorrow: Speaking of which, tomorrow we'll take a look at the new entries for January. See you then.