Comics tech: Zuda's live; MySpace's Coalition; Platinum doings

* Zuda Comics is up and live. The first thing that strikes me is the interface, which appears to have been well-thought out but still has some bugs to work out. The art looks great on my laptop in full-screen mode, but so far the keyboard commands for advancing through pages doesn’t work in this mode. Conversely, shortcuts work fine in the regular browser window, but the lettering on the image at that size is jagged and too small to easily read. Again, there’s a few bugs to work out, but the presentation overall is pretty good.

Meanwhile, Zuda has announced its first instant winner: "Bayou," by Jeremy Love.

* MySpace is hosting an interesting experiment called Coalition Comix, in which readers have a chance to shape a new comics project. Running the project as “MySpace Storymaster” is Mike Carey, a veteran comics writer currently guiding the fortunes of the X-Men for Marvel. According to the PR, Carey determines the questions that will be put to readers, who have a chance to influence the story “on the deepest levels.” Coalition is a partnership between the MySpace Comic Books site and publisher Virgin Comics.

* Platinum Studios has teamed up with Skyward Mobile to create Mobile Comics, which the companies describe as “a new application that delivers a never-before-possible comics experience to users over their mobile devices.” Platinum’s “Hero by Night” and “Kiss 4K” will be the first comics featured in the application, which works on multiple platforms and can be downloaded for free www.platinumstudiosmobile.com and at www.skywardmobile.com through Dec. 31.

Meanwhile, Platinum has terminated its involvement in the comics news site Broken Frontier. The site reverted completely to editor in chief Frederik Hautain, who explains things here.