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10 Questions With … Danny McLaughlin

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : March 6, 2013
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Category: Digital Comics

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Today we’ve got 10 Questions with Danny McLaughlin of Uproar Comics – the team behind the excellent Zombie Hi

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

 

I’m Danny, Creative Director/Editor/Writer for Uproar Comics! Not sure where to start on what I’m working on, but here’s the tip of the Iceberg; Writing/Editing/Lettering on Uproar Comics Award Winning flagship comic “Zombies Hi”, working on the Uproar DEC (Digital Experience Comic) Exclusive to iPad, writing a story called “The Ballad of Half-Hung MacNaghten” which will be drawn by the awesome Adam Pescott, and also a few more things in the works besides social networking and marketing etc etc TL;DR Loads of comic stuff haha

 

 

2. What drew you to digital comics?

 

 
I was really an advocate of the printed comic until I read Y: The Last Man on the iPad then me and Kevin from Uproar starting chatting about the possibilities of a kind of hyperlinked comic etc from there the DEC was initially born. We wanted to create a reader that would make it possible to not only read a comic but to experience the world with extra content, unlockable bios and games inside etc Page count doesn’t matter on the digital frontier so we could make it as big or as small as possible! Actually the possibilities are unexplored as of yet. Digital Comics aren’t just digital versions of the comic, they should be interactive, atmospheric, multimedia etc, we are at an exciting transition of visual literature.
 

 

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

 

 
Webcomics, this may sound counter intuitive, are already defunct because a lot of them are free. I can get loads of free comics on the web, which hinders my decision, so I just go buy the ones I can get somewhere else. Somewhere deep down I think, like downloading an album illegally: I ignore it, I buy it, I’ll listen to it over and over. Which is really bad because there are loads of great talent out there producing loads of great work. My bad for not reading the free stuff. But I gotta say Digital Comics.
 

 

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

 

 
Simple answer: we are yet to find out what actually works, but the obvious is accessibility and value for money! Can’t shy away from those realities!
 

 

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

 

 
Can they? They will! No doubt about it. Who uses a Gutenberg Printing Press this day and age??
 

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6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

As I have said- We at Uproar are applying a new innovative thinking towards comics. Not just comics but story telling with art and sound and games and video and animation and interactivity! At the minute we are smashing together the elements to see what happens! But alongside the digital we still have the printed version which will at some point be used with a tablet and use augmented reality for the comic to come to life in a way nobody have ever seen! Watch this space is what I’m saying… 

 

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

Weirdly enough- the smell! They don’t have any! The smell of a printed book takes me back to my childhood days. But that’s nostaligia on my part, the next generation of kids and adults wont ever have held a print comic in their hands and will never have that feeling! I’ll still be taking in years to come about the smell of the old print comics… *sniff*…. Ahhhhhhhhhh the good old days lol
 
 

 

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

 

 
As I said I don’t read webcomics, but recently I had been reading all the old Alan Moore series of Swampthing. Y: The Last Man (which is awesome by the way) Walking Dead and loads other random Marvel and DC issues.
 
 

 

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

 

 
Very hard to tell- but the DEC is the what will be the Future…
 

 

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

 

 
Uproar… ;)

10 Questions With…Stephen Coughlin Writer Of Sanctuary

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : February 18, 2013
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Category: Digital Comics

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Toda’s 10 Questions are with Stephen Coughlin who is the writer of Sanctuary - available from SLG:

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

 

My name is Stephen Coughlin and I’m the writer/artist of the digital comic, “Sanctuary”, published by Slave Labor Graphics.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

 

I wasn’t really drawn into digital comics. My publisher was looking to try publishing digital comics as a way to save money on publishing print comics. Chris Wisnia (Monstrosis) and I were the guinea pigs and it turned out to be a really exciting experience. As great as is it getting people to try digital comics for the first time, I am excited to see Sanctuary published on paper. There’s something about seeing on the bookshelf that’s really exciting. Now, I only buy digital on my Kindle. Having less long boxes of comics that I’ll probably never read again saves a lot of space in the apartment, which my wife appreciates.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

Webcomics seems to me to be the eventual successor to the daily comic strips and digital the future of paper comics. I guess whichever you prefer.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

I think digital comics are a great way to introduce a younger audience to comics without making them go and find a local comic book shop. You can upload a few issues of any comic now into an iPad, Nook, or Amazon Kindle and just hand it to your kid. It doesn’t get much easier than that and it’s usually cheaper.


5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

I know a lot of die hard comic fans will say paper can never be replaced and I agree, but there are a lot less comic book shops then there used to be. I think part of the reason is the people who started collecting in the 80’s and 90’s boom are getting bored with what’s out there. For me, the formula being used by DC and Marvel is just getting too predictable. I see this same belief on a lot of message boards from long-time collectors and fans. I’ve seen Batman fight the Joker so many times that it’s all become a blur now. Killing off characters, bringing characters back from the dead, reboots, D-list characters getting their own series, costume changes, etc. I read a lot more independent publishers now just to get something fresh. I did like what Bendis did recently with All New X-men. It was really gutsy to go back in time and bring the old X-men back to see what had become of their future selves and how disappointed they all were.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

At the moment, it’s rough. Die hard paper fans don’t want to give up on collecting their comics and refuse to go digital. They don’t understand that going digital is just another way for comics to evolve and survive. The publishers really cater to both. They put out the digital issues online and then collect them on paper so both kinds of readers can enjoy. The comic industry has to evolve and reach out to younger readers or it won’t be around in 30 years. Digital is a good way to start. The average comic book reader is 40yrs old. In 30yrs, that person will be 70. If you don’t want to buy digital that’s fine, but don’t trash the idea of finding new ways to attract new readers. They are the future of the industry and might have a lot less local comic book shops than there are now to shop at.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

Convincing my mother to get a Comixology account so she can read my comics.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Right now, I really like the Batman Beyond digital series that DC is putting out. I know I said I don’t read superhero comics, but this really caught my eye. They combine it with a Justice League Beyond series that’s really written well and Norm Breyfogle’s art is just fantastic. I read a lot of what Slave Labor puts out, too. Model A, Heart of a Corpse, Monstrosis, and Pinocchio the Vampire Slayer.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

I’m hoping that the quality gets better. Some people complain about the images moving and the inability to see the complete page. I’d like to see more motion comics, choose-your-own-adventure comics, and maybe some 3-D stuff. I’m hoping that the artwork gets better every year. When you look back at some of the art of the early days of comics, it looks kinda silly. When more realistic art styles showed up in the 60’s and 70’s, the drawing improved, but the poor coloring was still there (don’t get mad at me, but the books of Neal Adams’ work throughout the years that were digitally touched up look bad). The 90’s were the beautifully painted covers and variant issues by different artists. In the 2000’s the coloring went digital and the page quality was improved. I don’t really know what’s coming next, but it’s exciting to not know.
10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Isn’t it obvious? Me. J

10 Questions With…Ash Pure Creator Of The Lion & The Unicorn

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : February 15, 2013
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Category: Digital Comics

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Some more questions and answers – this time with Ash Pure who has created a next generation digital comic – The Lion & the Unicorn!

 

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1.       Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

My name is Ash Pure and I’m an alcoholic. Sorry wrong meeting. I create comics (that means words, pictures and everything in between, above beyond and around). I’m currently working on The Lion and The Unicorn, a digital comic and surrounding story world which exists exclusively on Facebook. www.Facebook.com/TheLionandTheUnicorn

2.       What drew you to digital comics?

Having worked in the digital arena (cool – like in Tron? No, like designing websites and that) since graduation in 1999  and having made comics since I was a child it was a logical step. Plus I’m always attracted to the potential of new storytelling platforms.

3.       Webcomics or digital comics?

Facebook comics!
Okay that’s just me (Plus I’m pretty sure every time you say the F word Mr. Zuckerberg gets a pound, so enough of that) the honest, albeit annoying answer is – I like good comics, comics that play to the strengths of their medium. Web comics are great for that weekly hit, but there’s no quality control – a good and bad thing, if you want a more coherent package, something deeper, and I do, digital feels like the way to go.

4.       What do you think works with digital comics?

For me they work best when they’re doing things that you can’t do on paper, and I don’t particularly mean audio-visual things, I’m more interested in the potential for playing with narrative structure, for breaking it out of a traditional linear form. I also think they have the potential for infinite exploration, getting lost in a world that can be forever expanding. Because digital’s not set in stone, like print, because it’s iterable, expandable, stories and universes can grow and evolve in new ways. That’s really exciting.

5.       Can digital comics replace print comics?

Why should they? They are both great platforms. You will never beat the immediacy of print; the tangible, beautiful object, something you can hold, touch smell – the collectors item, the pop art masterpiece. Digital comics have to play to the strengths of their medium, and that doesn’t mean some half baked animation (I want my animation full baked). They shouldn’t try to emulate animation and nor should they reproduce the printed page, there are other strengths to the digital platform which we’re just beginning to explore… Watch this space.

6.       How can print comics work with digital comics?

The print comic is real, it’s out in the world, in the comic shops and at the conventions. It’s job is then to hook you, to draw you in. The digital comic can then take you deeper, give you more. It has to be it’s own, unique experience though, it has to be able to stand alone as well as work alongside the print comic.

7.       What don’t you like about digital comics?

I really don’t like the panel view you get on most comic readers, where you slide from frame to frame. The page was composed as a whole and should be viewed as a whole, really it should be viewed as a spread. The two pages open side by side making a 3rd whole, that is as important a composition as a single panel. That’s why I completely reformatted The Lion and The Unicorn for viewing on screen.

8.       What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

I think Nawlz by Sutu is the best example of what I’m looking for in a digital comic, there’s so much rich content, so much to discover, a whole world to get lost in.There is audio and a sensitive use of animation which in this case genuinely serves to enhance the experience –  http://www.nawlz.com/

On the other hand we have Wormworld saga by Daniel Lieske – a beautifully executed, simple scroll comic. – http://wormworldsaga.com/

I thoroughly enjoy Atomic Robo by Brian Clevinger and Scott Wenga three editions of which I got for free on Comixology. It’s a traditional print format comic which I like to read on my tablet, one page at a time! http://www.atomic-robo.com

ComicDuJour.com is a  great series of daily updated web comics. http://www.comicdujour.com/

And JL8 by Yale Stewart, tales of the Justice League at Kindergarten is simply perfect. http://limbero.org/jl8

9.       Where do you see digital comics going from here?


10.   Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Daniel Merlin Goodbrey – Check out his genuinely interactive hyper comics with a ‘ multi-cursal narrative structure’. Now that’s deep.  http://e-merl.com/hypercomics

Sutu The creator of Nawlz has announced the finale of Nawlz so look forward to what comes next. http://www.nawlz.com/hq/

Mark Waid is going in the right direction with his Luther PDF http://markwaid.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Luther-Final.pdf

www.Honigstudios.com I’ve got a good feeling about these guys…

And The Lion and The Unicorn tablet app, which I’m currently developing, will deliver everything I’ve been saying I wanted in this interview. Watch this space.

10 Questions With PJ Holden

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : January 10, 2013
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Category: Digital Comics

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Here’s 10 Questions with PJ Holden Comic artist!

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

PJ Holden, I’m a comic artist. Currently working on Numbercruncher, being printed by Titan Comics and Department of Monsterology for Renegade Arts Entertainment.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

Lack of space, mostly.

3.  Webcomics or digital comics?

Digital comics. I’m an occasional visitor of webcomics, but I like art and webcomics – with a few exceptions – are much more about jokes than the art.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Easier to say what doesn’t work, I think. Double page spreads don’t work, Tiny lettering doesn’t work, and, well, aside from that, it’s mostly open to anything.

5.Can digital comics replace print comics?

For some people yes, for others no. I don’t think they’ll ever entirely displace print comics, but as devices get smaller/lighter and start being give to children for christmas (next year, for example, my 8yr old and 4yr old BOTH want their own kindle Fires) then I think we’ll see print comics change to work better within the digital medium, and, as newer distribution models kick in – digital first and print collections, for example, seems to be the one a large number of publishers are circling around – we’ll start to see the print market change so that it and the digital market can coexist.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

In the short term, offering free digital codes for print comics can help keep the market going, changing the size of lettering/removing double page spreads to help comics appear on both print and digital and having starting to improve the print comic experience would be great. I’ve seen comics where every other page is an advert, totally destroying the narrative flow of the print comic, and yet the digital comic doesn’t have those ads littered throughout.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

I like digital comics to read, but not to collect – there’s almost no satisfaction knowing I have a digital issue of a comic, over knowing I have a print version. For example, I have a Dark Knight Returns, bought in 1988 – and it’s scuffed and a bit musty smelling, but it’s enormously satisfying knowing I still have it. But I also have a digital collection of it but I couldn’t tell you if it was even on my ipad or on the cloud – I know if I want to read it I can download it anytime, from the enormous digital library.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

2000AD, The Phoenix, Locke and Key and whatever takes my fancy.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

In an ideal world we’ll start to see digital comics start to do things that only digital comics can do, specifically enhanced backmatter – things like wikis built into the comic, video interviews, podcasts, etc, all within the actual comic itself. Maybe including pencilled art or unused / unseen art. I’d also like to see things like text to speech added to comic readers, possibly a kind of panel highlighting (different from the panel by panel reader – this would show the whole page and highlight each panel as they’re supposed to be read) to help kids, non-comic readers figure out the grammar of comics as well as those with learning or sight difficulty.

And why we’re wishing for the impossible, I’d like all publishers to make extant digital comics DRM free so people can manage their own digital collections if they wish.
I’d like to see all of that, but I suspect what will actually happen is the digital market will become coalesce around one company, with a very restricted comic reader (because adding features takes time and money and can’t be easily scaled for volume). At some point DC/Marvel will want to move their comic reader platform in house, causing headaches for people with a massive digital marvel/dc catalogue (either because they will remove their digital comics from other distribution channels, or readers will now find themselves with a collection split across two different comic readers – causing OCD panics). Possibly causing the implosion of any monopolised digital distributor. Causing everyone to suddenly realise that the comics they’ve been buying where, in face, only rented for the duration of the company.

That’s all speculation, and probably just a horrible worst case scenario.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

More publishers to go either exclusive with digital distributors or to find new, smaller distribution companies who are able to offer them a better deal or better facilities than the current big player in the market.

10 Questions With… Nick Defina Of Septagon Studios

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : January 9, 2013
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Category: Digital Comics

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Here’s 10 more questions with a digital creator. Nick Defina of Septagon Studios is behind the excellent Archeologists Of Shadows, which I have reviewed Volume 1 and 2!

 

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1.  Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

My name is Nick Defina and I am a co-founder of Septagon Studios Inc which is a publishing company that focuses on unique comic properties. We are currently publishing Archeologists Of Shadows, a Sci-Fi – Fantasy – Steampunk digital graphic novel series, you can learn more about the series and us at www.aoscomic.com

 

2. What drew you to digital comics?

We started looking into digital comics when the popularity of mobile devices and ebooks started growing in the mid 2000’s. We noticed that there were some advantages to digital comics such as lower production costs, increased world wide distribution potential and the ability to read your comics anywhere.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

Both are great. Webcomics work well for building readership and connecting with fans. As a reader of Webcomics, it’s fun getting small installments of a series on a daily or weekly basis. Digital comics or digital graphic novels are great because the technology and accessibility is continually improving. You can instantly own and read almost any comic you want in just 1 or 2 clicks.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

I believe any genre works with digital comics. The best device to read a digital comic would be an iPad or 10 inch tablet.

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

I don’t think digital comics can replace print comics. There will always be a place for print comics and print graphic novels. Having a print graphic novel is like owning a piece of art.

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6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Currently Marvel is offering a duplicate version of their books in digital format. It’s a great incentive to encourage digital comics but you also get to have a print copy for your collection.  More and more publishers are embracing digital comics to build readerships and gain exposure for the print versions of their books.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

I like almost everything about digital comics. I think the only drawbacks today are Digital Rights Management and the absence of feeling the actual book in your hands.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Some of my favorite digital comics/webcomics are Deadpool, Immune, The Sandman, Axe Cop, The Oatmeal, Gates Comic and Box 13.

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9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

There is a bright future for digital comics. The tablet market is increasing by the day. A lot of people are rediscovering comics through electronic devices. Eventually everyone will have some sort of a smartphone or tablet and this will only grow the popularity of digital comics. I also see digital comics evolving and becoming a more interactive reading experience which may include sound, video and animation.

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Some companies to watch out for are Comixology, Iverse and MadeFire. As the digital comic market grows and technology continues to improve exponentially, anything can happen. Maybe it’s just a matter of time before we will be plugging digital comics directly into our brain….but I will stick with my tablet for now.

10 Questions With… Sam Medina of Jake the Evil Hare

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 14, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics, Webcomics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)


Sam Medina, and right now, I’ve got 3 irons in the fire: Jake the Evil Hare, Darkfell: Return to Moonshadow, and Katarina the Dragonslayer and the Secret of Kilara’s Keep (a novel)

2. What drew you to digital comics? 

Well, I was kind of too poor to try going directly to print when I started, so it seemed like a good idea at the time ;)

3.  Webcomics or digital comics? 

Both! JTEH and Darkfell both started as webcomics, and have since made the jump to digital, with collections coming out in print as well.

 

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Almost anything! As with every form of literature, it’s the story that matters most, though great art always helps.

 

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

They can, but as long as people still want a physical book in their hand, they’ll be around. Indeed, I recall an artist’s surprise when he found out that the Wonder Woman print comic was losing money. His editor said to him something like, “It’s all about selling Underoos.” So there is that element of print comics, that they serve as brand placement for merchandising, so that may well help to keep them around, too.

 

 

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Pretty easily. The same files I’ve used for the digital versions are used to create the print, so it’s pretty seamlessly on that end. The digital versions are also a great way to advertise the printed editions.

 

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

The biggest challenge for me has been distribution. I haven’t liked the way that the best distribution channels treat the independent creators like second class citizens. I won’t name any names, but there’s one distributor who doesn’t care how popular Jake the Evil Hare  is online, they won’t touch it with a ten foot pole, because they prefer the larger indy studios. I am, however, determined to see Jake succeed with or without them ;)

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Hmm.. Quite a few… Phineus: Magiciain for Hire, Epic Fail, Life After Death, Off Season, Mohagen, Out There, Bug Pudding, The Bean, Twilight Monk, Vinnie Vampire, and a bunch of others I can’t remember at the moment.

 

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

I think we’ll see an attempt by the big media companies to take over the game, much like what’s happened in digital novel publishing, except that I suspect they may have a harder time in the attempt. Sure, they have a presence in digital comics, but they’ve remained within the box of conventional publishing, so when they finally make the decision to stop treating it as a sideline, it might be too late, and that’s a very good thing. I think we may see a bigger effort from the indies to pool their promotional efforts as digital comics makes further headway into social media, as well.

 

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

I think we can expect great things from Dan Butcher of Vanguard. I first came across his work when I was on WeVolt, and he’s really grown as an artist and storyteller in the last few years. I think he will one day be one of the true masters of comic art. I’d also keep a steady eye on Carlo Ostrout of Life After Death. He’s shown a lot of improvement since he started that comic, and has a great sense of timing with his humor… I think his comic could become really popular as he develops his style.

10 Questions With Topi Koivisto of Tunnel Ground Inc

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 13, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

My name is Topi Koivisto, graphic designer, comic artist and illustrator.I’m also co-founder of Tunnel Ground inc. and one of the creators of the Tunnel Ground comic. Currently, I’m working on the next installment of the Tunnel Ground series. I also do graphic design and illustrations part time for some select companies at the moment.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

Actually it was my dad, Tarmo Koivisto. I was inspired watching him making pictures with wacomtablet and cintiq. After getting apprenticeship contract I was able to work with professionals in work-life and start making digital comics. I have to say that after my first digital sketch, I was addicted to creating digital art.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

I don’t read that many web comics, so my opinion might be slightly biased towards digital comics. It seems that the line between digital and web comics is becoming a bit of grey area. But like I said, I don’t read that many comics on the web. :)

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

It’s handy to have all books in one place and they don’t take up much room, as with traditional comics, which start to take up a lot of space if you have lots of them. Also, there’s the universal functions most devices have, where you can share information about the comics with your friends, have page bookmarks etc… Also, “printing” in color is somewhat more cheap with digital comics than traditional.

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

Printed comic books are masterpieces of art for every fan and collector. You can touch and smell it, feel the paper. Even bite it if you like :) Digital comics are constantly living and future will show how popular they are. I think both are important and they’ll don’t exclude each other.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Well, you can inform the readers of the cross platform comics, and have different material as a bonus on the digital comic side, for example.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

I still miss the old school feeling when reading digital comics. You can’t touch the paper. As a finnish person, I can say that you can read old comic books even in the sauna! (Of course digital comic too but there can be a risk to break your device :)

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

I thoroughly enjoyed Gone with the Blastwave web comic, one of the few web comics that I read. Funnily enough I haven’t read that many digital comics, since I have migrated over from the traditional side quite recently.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

I think there will be even more interactive comics that you can customize. Editing can change some of them more movie like and reader can decide alternative endings or scenes to story etc. There should be many ways to decide your own preferences when reading your comic. For example some people like sound effects or music, some don’t. Touchscreen works well and there will be lots of new ideas in the future on how it’ll affect digital comics.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

The big players are always interesting to keep an eye on, Disney, Marvel, DC and the likes. Smaller
companies are more likely to invent, large companies are likely to set standards. So keeping an eye on both
is always smart.

10 Questions With Russell Willis of Panel Nine

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 11, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I’m Russell Willis, the publisher at Panel Nine. I’ve had two decades of experience in creating digital media, and just over the last few years have produced the #1 podcast, audio book and iPhone and iPad apps in Japan, where I’m based.
Panel Nine specialises in graphic novels and comics for the iPad and have released “deluxe digital graphic novels” with Eddie Campbell, David Lloyd, and Hunt Emerson. Our software has been designed to be the easiest-to-use, most responsive comics-reading software platform around, and most people who use it agree. In fact many reviewers have described it, essentially or in those words, as the “gold standard” of digital comics for the iPad.
In addition to the graphic novels we’ve released, we’re also publishing a bi-monthly iPad magazine about digital graphic novels and comics, called INFINITY (the name being from the fanzine I published back in the 80s). The latest issue has a round up of digital comics news plus reviews, interviews and a great article on Crumb, Griffith and Spiegelman by Alan Moore. Reading it on the iPad is optimal
but we also have a PC version:
We’re currently preparing for the launch in January of the iPad version of Britain’s weekly kids comic, The Phoenix, which is absolutely great…
and whilst I can’t talk details just yet we’ll be releasing well over 50 graphic novels on our platform next year.
 

2. What drew you to digital comics?

I’d been involved in digital publishing in Japan for 20 years, from CD-ROMs through to iOS apps and a client wanted to have their content as a comic — I knew that we could develop an iOS comics reader that was superior to stuff that’s already out there… and realised that graphic novels could reach a much large mainstream audience through digital, and wanted to be part of getting great material into the hands of a real mainstream audience. What the “comics world” currently calls mainstream – the superhero nonsense – should be relegated to the fringes and stuff like that of Art Spiegelman, Eddie Campbell, Raymond Briggs, Alison Bechdel should be the mainstream. We hope to play a big part in that in the coming year.


3.  Webcomics or digital comics?

Tablet-based comics. We’ve had webcomics for the PC for nearly 20 years and it hasn’t led to a significant improvement in either the industry or in comics going mainstream, although webcomics are fine for short daily instalments.
The iPad-like tablet is the real game-changer. If the software is done right (and often it isn’t — see a comparison of platforms at https://vimeo.com/43772561) then you have the ideal immersive user experience and you have the availability and commerce issues solved. You still need to deal with discoverability, though.
I’d give it two years for the vast majority of homes to have at least one tablet. That’s where graphic novels and comics are going to be read.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Like everyone, “motion comics” with cheesy animation is not relevant.  What Madefire and Tall Chair are doing is intriguing and as long as they ensure the reading experience isn’t a passive one (which they seem to be doing).  Their platforms work for comics created with them in mind. For us though, we are presenting comics that are made for print and our software platform is able to handle ones which use the unique storytelling devices that digital can provide. The work by Mark Waid and Balak at the Thrillbent site is a good current example, even though Thrillbent is optimised for web rather than tablet viewing.

5.Can digital comics replace print comics?

In most cases it is inevitable. The blip we are seeing where digital appears to be helping print is a short-term thing due to factors I discuss in the next issue of INFINITY, but it’s a dead certainty that the “local comics shop” is going to be hit very hard by digital in the next few years. I’m not that interested in the fate of the superhero market, but I do hope that local comic shops see this coming and morph into something that can sustain steadily decreasing sales of print material.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

There will always be things that print can do that digital can’t and vice versa. Chris Ware’s Building Stories is an example. Generally I think people will read digitally and buy expensive souvenir, gold-tipped, signed copies of graphic novels as totems they can put on their shelf to show their good taste to their cat and other visiting dignitaries — like I do!

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

I don’t like it that a publisher who wouldn’t dream of releasing their books on crappy paper with the equivalent of mimeograph printing do the equivalent of that with digital. iBooks and a number of “anyone can do that” custom made apps are example. All digital is not equal and savvy publishers (and creators) will start caring about the user experience they are offering to their readers. Most comics-reading platforms are frustrating in one way or another, and I hope what Panel Nine is doing helps raise the bar about what is acceptable.
8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Lots. Most recently lots of stuff by David Hine (Bulletproof Coffin, Storm Dogs) but also The Boys, Jeff Lemire’s Essex County and Underwater Welder.

Apart from the odd short strip, I find reading webcomics that aren’t formatted for the tablet a pain, so I only sometimes take a look.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

HTML 5 may or may not work for digital comics on the tablet. Issues of availability, commerce (mostly solved) and discoverability (a constant headache) will be addressed.  People will realise that comics need to be read on platforms created for comics reading. Digital will expand the market for grown-up graphic novels, and Panel Nine will be there as that happens.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

From a technical platform and publishing perspective, well… us! From a creative perspective… well every talented comics creator out there will be looking to be involved in digital.

Links to Panel Nine’s apps:
INFINITY – Digital Graphic Novels and More (FREE!)
The Certified Hunt Emerson
Dapper John by Eddie Campbell
Kickback by David Lloyd

10 Questions With…David Lloyd of Aces Weekly

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 10, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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Today with have 10 questions with industry legend – David Lloyd!

1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

David Lloyd – widely known for V For Vendetta, and now contributor to, and publisher of, Aces Weekly, an EXCLUSIVELY digital online comic art anthology magazine, featuring some of the finest creators in the world.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

The ease of production – just put the pages together and send them out to subscribers. No printing, warehousing, distribution, wholesale or retail costs to expend. We go straight from the creators to the buyers at the touch of a button.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

My definition of digital comics encompasses webcomics – don’t see the difference unless you’re referring to those restricted to websites as ours currently are. Other differences can be whether we include or exclude exclusivity to the digital form – many comics that appear on screen initially are previewed for printing several months down the line ; ours aren’t, you only get it by subscribing. And then there are some comics that are portrait in format, and a simulated flipping of pages reveals them page by page, whereas our pages are suitably landscape in format and tailored to the screen ratio of iPad, tablet, laptop and PC. And then some are ‘ motion comics ‘ whereas we’re in the business of just putting fantastic comic art on screen instead of printing it on paper.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

The means of delivery is it’s greatest strength as far as we’re concerned, though I use digital/computer-created effects in much of my work, and the efficiency and speed involved in using digital colour and lettering is another plus. The use of motion in much digital comic art is something that doesn’t work for me – from an aesthetic and storytelling point-of-view – in any of the examples of it that I’ve seen. But there may well be examples of such comics around in which motion does.

David Lloyd portrait

5.Can digital comics replace print comics?

Yes, they can and they may well do that, in the same way that online newspapers and ebooks may eventually take over from print editions.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

I’m not sure they should or need to, except that many readers enjoy the experience of reading print comics and find it difficult to transfer, so perhaps if separate, exclusively digital, comics stories featuring print comics characters can be initiated, they’ll act as an encouragement for new digital readers.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

As I said above – all those digital motion comics that I’ve seen leave me cold and are neither good animation nor good comic art.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

The ones we produce and publish for Aces Weekly.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

To be the future – and hopefully always in a form where the art of them thrives as much as their ability to entertain.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

All the great creators we have published already, and those who are lined up for publishing in Aces Weekly, including Kyle Baker, David Hitchcock, John McCrea, Phil Hester, Lew Stringer, Mark Wheatley, Yishan Li, Herb Trimpe, Paul Maybury, Billy Tucci, Bill Sienkiewicz, Marc Hempel, James Hudnall, Carl Critchlow, Kev Hopgood, Steve Bissette, Val Mayerick, Henry Flint, Dan Christensen, Shaky Kane, Dave Hine, Colleen Doran, Dylan Teague… and many more, who are accessible via www.acesweekly.co.uk and can be seen more of at www.facebook.com/acesweekly.

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!

10 Questions With Dave Gibbons

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 9, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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Dave Gibbons - Artist, writer

1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I’m Dave Gibbons, well known comic book artist & writer. I’m currently working on Secret Service with Mark Millar and I’m also working on properties for Madefire. In particular ‘Treatment’ which is a concept which I came up with last year. It appeared as a brief comic book episode – we are now expanding and expanding on the Madefire platform.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

I’ve always been a geek, I’ve always loved technology and I’ve been using computers to produce comic artwork for the last 20 years. It’s been obvious for quite a while that printed media are going digital. Obviously ebooks are huge sellers now and I think that comics initially as a way of accessing printed comics and lately in producing  original work for them are heading in the digital direction.
I am  finding it very exciting, I’ve always been the kind of person who wants the next thing, the next issue or the next wonderful tool to do artwork with and digital comics seem to me very much like an exciting future.

3.  Webcomics or digital comics?

I don’t understand the distinction – I see the way to go the way Madefire are going, which is to make episodes available in the app store. I think that’s the most convenient and easy way to get access to the material. Something about having to sit in front of a computer monitor that doesn’t actually quite feel like a reading experience – while holding a phone or an iPad or some other tablet does feel like that. So if that’s what you mean by digital comics – then yes!

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

The same thing that works with print comics. First you have to have a good story, then I think you have to have artwork that makes the story attractive and tells the story well, but with digital comics particuly those on the iPad and other tablets you have something that you can’t do with paper – you can use the interactive capabilities of the tablet by changing the orientation, by tapping the screen, by swiping, by zooming in. I think it’s all the things that work in regular comics but with a whole layer of enhancement. I think that everything you do must be in service to the story. I don’t think there’s any point in having things move just to have them move. I think you actually have to be imparting some story information and dramatizing the story and not distracting from it.

 

5.Can digital comics replace print comics?

I suppose they can – whether I would like to see it happen or not I don’t know. There’s still a charm about printed material. I think that even if, episodically, comics are presented  digitally, there will always be people who will want to have the thing as a hard copy. It’s almost like the model for regular comic books – nowadays they are publishing a monthly pamphlet and collecting 4 or 6 issues into a trade paperback you can have in your bookshelf.
I think those bookshelf items will always be desirable, but it may well be that people will move away from the now somewhat expensive monthly print episodes and go towards digital. I think even more so  now that digital comics are available on the phone. If you want to look at them on an iPad or another tablet, you have to invest in that hardware. I think nowadays, a lot of people do have smart phones, and I think if you can deliver the material to them on their smartphone that they’re going to be carrying them with them all the time while they’re waiting for a bus or sitting on the train or whatever it may be. I think that’s when the market will really open up.

 

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

I expect I’ve answered that in the last questions. I think they can work side-by-side. I’ll be really sorry if comic shops went out of business. I can see that a lot of them do depend on that regular monthly issue and I would like to think there is a way they can morph into something different – a place where you can buy trade paperbacks and I can see that most are doing so already and transferring to selling memorabilia and collectibles that are related to comics, movies and games

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

I don’t think there’s anything about digital comics per say that I dislike i think that we’re in the position at the moment of it being like the wild west where we know there’s gold out there, but we’re not quite sure where it is!
I think that the Madefire platform is a really good attempt at solving that problem. I think that we’ve got some tremendous people working on it, some tremendous backers. I think that we’ve got a presence and branding that makes us very visible, but it’s going to be interesting at the end of the day  - we’re all breaking new ground, settling new lands to find out how things do shake down. I think we’re in an evolutionary process at the moment – things that I don’t think do work are limited animation – I learnt this from my experience doing the Watchmen motion comic, which although it had some wonderful people working on it, it was ultimately an exercise in what didn’t work as what did work.
I think that the things that I don’t like about digital comics will fall by the wayside as we move forward.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Obviously I read all the Madefire things. I do like thinks like Bottom of the Ninth, Operation Ajax – I think that’s fantastic. I don’t read a lot of webcomics as such I have looked at the first issue of Aces Weekly, which is the brainchild of David Lloyd and quite liked that. I really haven’t looked at webcomics – my focus is what we are doing with Madefire.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

That’s kind or hard to predict. If you knew the answer to that, then you’d have it all sown up! I think it’s going to take a while for them to get established in the market. I think that they can only expand and improve and find a wider audience. I think once you’ve got hooked on them, then, in a way, there is no going back.  I find that when I’m on Comixology and sites like that, they re-purpose print comics – I’ll find that I’ll go on there to download an issue that I’ve heard a lot about or if I can’t get to the comic shop I think as people increasingly do that it will be done more and more.
I’m particualy interested, as a collector to get every comic that’s every been published available. I’ve got some comic reading apps on the iPad and I’ve got some old, out of copyright series from the 50′s that  I love and they look great and revitalized on the screen of the iPad. So I think there’s a market for the old stuff as well, but I think that to a degree that it’s unpredictable. I think that if it does take off, it will do so in quite an explosive way, I can see it becoming big quite quickly.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

I would like to think that all the popular creators will have a presence in digital comics. I remember when we first started using computers to produce digital artwork the problem that we used to talk about was that the people who had the artistic vision didn’t have the technical knowledge, and the people who had the technical knowledge didn’t have the artistic vision. I think that once digital comics become more prevalent and creators can see the possibilities the more of them will be attracted to them, and have stories that they want to tell in this new medium. I suspect that the real superstars of digital comics are unsuspected and may not even be born yet. I certainly think that we’ve got a really interesting time with people like me making the transition from print into digital. We”re beginning to get our feet wet and paddle in the shallows of it all. I think that there are some exciting times ahead. I’m certainly do everything in future with an eye towards digital. I’m really excited to see how the field expands.

10 Questions With…Liam Sharp of Madefire

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 8, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I’m Liam Sharp, the founder and CCO of Madefire, which is a digital storytelling platform. I’m an artist with 26 years to my name in the imaginative arts, but I’ve written too – including comics and a novel. Right now I’m writing MONO, and writing and drawing Captain Stone is Missing… for Madefire. I’m also working on a couple of other VERY exciting projects we have coming up featuring a couple of the industry’s legitimate legends! Can’t say more than that!

2. What drew you to digital comics?

Ben Wolstenholme (co-founder of Madefire, and CEO of Moving Brands) and I realized the industry was ready for a new take on storytelling a few years ago, and the advent of the tablet computer sealed the deal. What we were wanting to do was use all the assets a tablet, iPhone and iPod had to offer but keep it a reading experience – not a passive watching experience. We wanted readers invested and participating, and that became the mission.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

Neither! Madefire motion books are a completely unique experience to either of the other options! :-)

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Sound, limited motion, interaction, live lettering, Easter eggs… the sky’s the limit! Must be ‘reading’ not ‘watching’! Key!

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

They shouldn’t ever aim too. We all love, and come from, print. To paraphrase Douglas Adams – you shouldn’t mistake the plate for the food…

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Episodic digital first. Print collections to follow…

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

What’s not to like? In scope it’s limited as a medium only by your imagination. And I love the fact it can also be completely grass-roots…

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Bottom of the Ninth was amazing!

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

Forward!

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

I’m biased, but there’s an AMAZING Neil Googe ‘Treatment: Mexico City’ story coming up, and Dave Lupton – who drew Metawhal Alpha – is doing a dark seasonal story for us that is fantastic. Very different takes on digital storytelling, but both wonderful. I love that Dave’s traditional approach to art really works in this new medium – which you might not expect!

 

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!

10 Questions With…Cy Dethan of Cancertown Fame!

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 7, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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Cancertown 2 Cover. Copyright Cy Dethan and Graeme Howard.

1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (/2 questions in 1,
I know!)

I’m Cy Dethan. Right now I’ve got several books on the go with Markosia, including punk-parapsychological espionage thriller Phantom Lung & the Garden of Dead Liars and a supernatural comedy/horror book called The Case Files of Harlan Falk.

I’m also writing Blood Cries Out, the first full-length expanded universe story for Barry Nugent’s Unseen Shadows transmedia project and I’ve just started the first script for a very exciting all-digital project that I can’t talk about for a publisher I can’t yet name.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

Necessity. The future is upon us.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

I think they answer very different needs. My heart will always be with full-length comics, but I do have a hard time getting through a week without a quick webcomic fix.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

I think the digital format plays very well into the strengths of comics as a medium. It has a lot to do with the immediacy and dynamism of the form, for me.

Phantom Lung Concept Sketches by Simon Wyatt. Phantom Lung and The Garden of Dead Liars copyright Cy Dethan and Simon Wyatt

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

Possibly, eventually – if that’s really the goal. I’d hate to think that the end-game for digital comics would be that limited, though. The more significant challenge, I’d like to believe, is to exploit the potential in the format that is specific – or even unique – to digital. Creator commentaries, for example, may have shown us the tip of that particular iceberg.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Certainly, they can complement each other. As I say, though, I think the loftier goal is to find ways to harness the strengths that are unique to the form.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

It can be painful to read a digital comic that is ill-suited or poorly formatted for the device I’m reading it on. You occasionally find that the people responsible for translating a book from print to digital have given no serious thought to how readable the end product is going to be. That’s getting rarer, thankfully, but it does still happen.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

About half my monthly comic intake is digital, I’d guess. In terms of webcomics, I’m partial to things like Looking For Group, Luke Foster’s Moon Freight 3 and Sam Medina’s Jake the Evil Hare. I’ve also recently discovered Jamie Smart’s Corporate Skull, which is glorious.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

There’s no stopping it now. It’s already out there.

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Anyone who stands in our way.

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!

10 Questions With…Darren Davis of Bluewater Productions

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 6, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I am the Darren G. Davis, publisher of Bluewater Productions. We developing fiction series with such people as William Shatner, Adam West, Logan’s Run and more! We also have a couple lines of biography comic books. As of this year we have been putting our back catalog of 800 titles up on different digital sites.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

It is the nature of the beast. With comic sales getting lower we had to push some of our titles to digital only.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

Digital comics. I am not that familiar with webcomics as I should be.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

At this point, I think they are convenient and very accessible. They also have figured out day and date with the print versions.

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

I think that print books will became more print on demand. If you look at the models for Warner Bros. Home Video they are now releasing DVD’s print on demand. It will soon be the same as printing becomes more expensive to do. Look at books like “50 Shades of Grey”, that book started off digital and became a phenomenon – then went into print. As much as people with balk at them, they are here to stay. There is a reason “Borders” went out of business. Also Barnes and Noble mentioned that because of the sales of “50 Shades of Grey” helped them stay in business. It is also the same with newspapers. I think the graphic novel market should stay in tack for a while but the floppies are dying out.

I saw in the newspaper a pre-school holder for the IPAD. This shows me they are trying to get real small kids into digital. So when they grow up they will not really know the difference and gravitate towards the digital. Digital will replace print in time, just as television replaced radio as the main form of entertainment. Print will have to adapt and then only way for it to do it is print on demand.

Comic books have a stigma too them as well. Just like “50 Shades of Grey” people can sit in Starbucks and read their comic books without being judged. “50 Shades of Grey” is mommy porn that people are reading for the same reason.

Once I saw that school and libraries jumped on the band wagon….they are here to stay. I was a reluctant reader in school and I have read more books since I have gotten my Kindle than I have read in 5 years. They can be a tool that can be used for good.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Really only by being print on demand.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

There is nothing like holding a comic book in your hand. Also the collectibilty is going to be an issue with comic books with the digital world. Also I do not see Jim Lee signing a Kindle. I also think they work better on an IPAD because of the size. There are pirate problems that people have with some of the sites that issue PDF’s to people. Some of our titles can be downloaded on these sites.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Now that DC Comics got their way back tot the Kindle with the “New 52″, I am trying more of them than I did in print.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

I think their will be more competition with digital. More places are popping up each month to compete with the existing ones.

10.Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

I think everyone will bite the bullet and have to make it a priority part of their business.

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!

10 Questions With…Antonio Bifulco of Aces Weekly

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 5, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1.  Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I’m Antonio Bifulco and, in the last years, I’ve worked on several projects in both Italian and American market as penciller, inker and colorist for comics, book and cards illustrator and concept artist for movies and video games. Right now I’m splitting my time between various projects but the one I’m more pushing myself on it’s, surely, my contribution to David Lloyd’s Aces Weekly: Gabriel – Warrior Exorcist by Giuseppe Rungetti and myself.

2. What drew you to digital comics?

As a reader I’ve started to follow web based comics by some year reading some funny strips that, helped by the digital medium, become very popular such as Pandalikes, Cyanade&Happiness or The Oatmeal while, as a creator, I’ve already produced some comic pages destined to the digital reading such as The Gutters or The Ruthless just to name a few.

3. Webcomics or digital comics?

Two names same guy; maybe the term “webcomics” may look more tied to the internet and website itself while “digital comics” may sound more simple as just a digital reproduction of something that’s usually on paper.

 4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Quality, reliability and availability. Delivering a comics page or an illustration on digital format means that the artist has not to worry about print or paper quality, the reader has not to worry about humidity, sunlight or smoke or dust or bookworms. The creator/publisher has not to worry about delivering costs or difficulties. Just to say one: if you’re a reader looking for that book someone published 5 years ago you’ve just to download it and not worry about missing stockage and the images will be as good as the first day ’cause it’s on screen and not on paper that, maybe, got ruined by a flooding in the warehouse.

5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

Can digital music replace CD’s? And can CD’s replace LP’s? And can photos replace painted portraits? I don’t think that something replace something else, I tend to think that something new becomes more used and something old becomes less used until the newer one becomes the only one used and the older one becomes vintage (just like arcade Games or tube based radio). Just some years ago the Kindle seemed an heresy and now a lot of people don’t really miss paper books and enjoy the digital format as much or even more the paper one.

6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

Just not making any competition out of it: if someone wants the printed version of his favored digital book maybe can order it in the printed size and finish he mostly prefer or maybe we can have printed editions as preview or promo of what will be available digitally. There’re literally thousands ways to use digital and printed in the same “team”, it’s just up to us to think in the right direction and “out of the box”.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

The much bigger predisposition to be pirated… oh, maybe its just I don’t like pirates in the first place, so nothing about the digital comics itself.

8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

A said above I, mostly, follow, in non particular order: Pandalikes, Cyanade&Happiness, The Oatmeal, The Gutters and many more, there’s an infinity or awesome stuff out there in the web at just a click away.

9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

In the right direction, I mean, internet’s becoming each day more widespread, there’re everyday more people relying they work or free time on internet and digital applications like iTunes, Netflix, TomTom or to communicate their products like youtube, pandora or soundcloud; people who didn’t know anything about TV’s now know the difference between HD Ready and Full HD and, giving money to the average person, he’ll probably buy an iPad. Again, I’m quite sure everybody loved horses back then but now we use cars as transportation, it’s just evolution and that’s not good or bad, it’s just due.

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Aces Weekly, of course but, basically, any product out there. If you’re at a buffet and don’t know the dishes you just have to try it, if you don’t like some you just have to not try it again but, always, worth the try.

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!

10 Questions With…John Freeman of Rok Comics

Posted by :Michael Nimmo On : December 4, 2012
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Category: Digital Comics

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1. Who are you and what are you working on right now? (2 questions in 1, I know!)

I’m John Freeman, Managing Editor of audio comics publisher ROK Comics (www.rokcomics.com/www.booksthatrok.com). I’ve been working on our Beatles Story and OG Niki music comics today, about the eponymous rap artist, and looking at a couple of new projects I can’t talk about at this point except to say that they will significantly add to our growing digital-only comics list

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2. What drew you to digital comics?

I have files on my computer going back to 2002-3 when I first started looking at digital comics. Experimentation took off when I moved to ROK Comics in 2008, where we created a platform for the upload of creator-owned strips which along with some licensed comics – Roy of the Rovers, for one – we offered a WAP-based comics service to a variety of telecoms around the world. The service ran largely abroad – with significant pick up in India and Pakistan, where mobiles, not PCs, are consumer access point to the Net.
We’re now creating comic apps with added audio soundtracks, animation etc – but for me the actual comic is the core of every offering.

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3. Webcomics or digital comics?

I don’t see the difference. The web and mobile devices are simply another way of reaching the comic audience – and, hopefully, growing it.

4. What do you think works with digital comics?

Availability, reaching a global audience, and they look great – no worries about bad printing!

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5. Can digital comics replace print comics?

They’re an extension of the form, not a replacement. You can do things in print that you can’t do digitally and vice versa. If you are creating a good comic people want to read then the “bells and whistles” as I call them, don’t matter.

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6. How can print comics work with digital comics?

If your web or digital comic is a success I’m sure print publishers will be interested in creating more permanent collections, perhaps with added extras that are only available as hard copy. It’s clear there is still a fondness for the tactile nature of print for many.

7. What don’t you like about digital comics?

You’re battling for attention in a very crowded marketplace which some major players are seeking to dominate by saturating that market with whatever they can, some of it below par – just like they did in the direct comic sales market, to the detriment of our industry in the 1990s. And you’re not just battling for attention with comic publishers. For example there are what, 18,000 book titles on the UK iTunes store aimed specifically at children. Getting your project attention is a major part of the battle to achieve a good sales volume.

You’re competing not just with other comics, but free comics – by that I mean comics being put out for free by creators and publishers trying to build brand, not pirated scans – and with other medium vying for consumers money in the digital marketplace. That’s a major issue for digital publishers large and small that print doesn’t have – if your consumer walks into a comic shop it’s (usually) to buy a comic, not a game, a soundtrack or another book genre. Online, you’re up against them alll.

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8. What digital comics/webcomics do you read?

Our own, obviously individual comics like 2000AD, the Dandy and STRIP Magazine, some Marvel and DC titles, independent material via container apps like Lush, publishers like Tabella, Panel Nine is putting out is excellent. I’m looking forward to reading Egmont’s Charleys’ War collections.

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9. Where do you see digital comics going from here?

We’ll continue to see a lot of experimentation to push the comics form – interactivity, apps that play to the strengths of specific devices to engage readers – there’s no end of things that can be done, providing you have the budget or dedication. But the bottom line is that you still have to produce good, well written as well as well drawn comics to grab your audience – and be able to promote them. You can throw every gimmick in the world into the mix but it won’t make a badly created comic better.

10. Who do you think we should look out for in digital comics?

Us, I hope! :)

There are a huge number of publishers out there doing great stuff, from the big guns like Marvel through to start ups like Madefire and Panel Nine.

 

“10 Questions With” is to be a interview session with digital comics creators – there’s a lot of great people I’ve got lined up and I hope you enjoy seeing what the creators are interested in.

 

If you are a digital creator and am interested in participating, please contact me!