Sentaidash
How many artist are interested in doing this?
Yes it is important to find a genre that all artist will enjoy doing if it's a long series, unless of course the comics are a collection of short stories. Like for every month it would be a different genre just so we get the feel for other genres.
Financial help would be amazing. With regards to the short stories, they can be printed into issues that could be sold (if this becomes successful) as another source of revenue and as well as getting the artist art out there.
Including you I've had 5 so far show interest, though 3 of them seem to have lost interest or don't seem quite ready to really commit to anything just yet which is understandable.
I haven't quite settled on the exact formula to follow. I want it to be fluid and consistent in whatever we do settle on but until we do that I'm not really sure how it will be approached. It really depends on the artists, I'm keeping this vague for now so there's room to negotiate and come up with something that's agreeable for everyone involved.
I do know that for it to be successful and gain loyal readership the overall story/world should stay consistent as opposed to a bunch of stand alone short stories. I'm thinking it would be best to create a shared world, with vague and flexible mythologies that any artist can inject their own OC into or continue telling the story with previously established characters or even a conjunction of the two which would probably be best. Ultimately it's up to the artist, save for the few "ground rules" I will establish to help eliminate disconnected storylines/pacing.
For example a world like "The Land of Ooo" from Adventure Time where tons of fans/artists have been inspired to create their own OCs and continue telling their own stories by adopting the universe to foster their own ideas. Except the world we create will be specifically unique to this comic circle and not one borrowed from another fandom.
Eventually if this project proves successful and I'm sure eventually it will once we get the ball rolling I do hope to branch out with the merch. I'm a hobby screen printer
(so making custom printed Tee's would be a breeze) and I have experience working with manufacturers who produce plush/vinyl figures. So that can also create a really fun alternative source of revenue for the participating artists. Similar to that of Threadless/Patch Together. I'm also currently studying computer animation so my ability to make 3D models of all the characters will prove useful and translate very well to action figures.
The main reason I'm mentioning this so heavily is because I've seen far too many
(and in my naive years joined many that ultimately failed) hopeful projects similar to this that don't take into consideration the amount of hard work and time that goes into donating one's time and skills to things this. Which is why 99% of them attract artists that opt to flake out, lose interest, or get snuffed out before the original idea gets off the ground.
Who knows maybe this could blossom into an open team of new media artists and we could have a booth at cons XD
Enough day dreaming though, I don't want to get ahead of myself. I'm just trying to illustrate how this project could become something more than it is now. Which is just an idea. But also, to show how dedicated I am to this, and that it's not just a fluttering thought. I know how frustrating it is to get excited over propositions like this one only to be disappointed when the original creator poops out before even attempting to follow through.
So what genres are you interested in? Are there any webcomics that inspire you?
Sorry for the TL;DR btw, I tend to ramble =X
I've always wanted to participate on making a comic but never really started one.
(...)
I would be glad to work together on one //// 
