Digital Comics: A New Breed Comes Into the Fold
(Excerpt from an article by Janet Hetherington)

Awakened Desire is aiming directly at female readers. © 2005 Arrow Publications,

Rejuvenating Genre
Dumesnil credits Scott McCloud's 2000 book, Reinventing Comics , as a source of inspiration for his film. In Reinventing Comics , comics creator McCloud examines how the resources of the Internet can provide new opportunities to jump-start a declining genre. In the book, McCloud outlines how hype, speculation and artistic burnout led to the decline of comicbooks, and then proposes 12 paths toward a new revolution of comics, including creators' rights, industry innovation, public perception, gender balance and diversity of genre.

Diversity is a key issue. In the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, romance comics - and other comics girls and women like to read - enjoyed healthy sales, but died off in the 1970s, leaving male-fantasy superhero comics to rule the roost. Today, girls and women are discovering some print comics in manga form, but publisher Pat White is hoping a new generation will discover contemporary romance comics on the web at www.MyRomanceStory.com.

"These romance stories are genuine, with a happy ending, although each one has an element of mystery or danger. We're approaching each story as a shorter version of an e-book, but more accessible and easy on the eyes," comments White, publisher of Arrow Publications, LLC .

MyRomanceStory.com launched on June 21, offering two fully illustrated stories for visitors to read online. "We've been working on this for over a year, with professional writers and artists," White says. The goal is for visitors to subscribe to be able to read future stories. "It will become like a book club, with four new stories a month," White says. While tame compared to a lot of content broadcast on television today, White says that the readership is for 18 years and over due to the steamy dating lifestyles of these digital comics' heroines and heroes.

MyRomanceStory.com is targeted to modern women with busy lives. "The idea is that if you're working at your desk, you can go online and get a little romance whenever you feel the need," White says. White noted that readership spiked after an active advertising campaign on Clear Channel radio urging women to "Take a Lunch Break."

The comics-formatted digital stories are supplemented by web features like love horoscopes, a "Body Beautiful" column tackling modern health issues as well as reader participation.

© 2005 AWN, Inc.

The complete article is available at Animation World Network .

(Please be advised that this is a link on a site, which is not affiliated with MyRomanceStory.com and may no longer be active.)

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