The last year has seen a lot of great innovations for digital publishing, from a focus on digital-first titles at DC Comics to the innovation of Marvel's Infinite Comics. But one young digital publishing company that's headed up by some very notable comic book names, Madefire, is trying to push innovation in digital storytelling even further.
Their "Motion Books" format incorporates animation and sound design that is at the reader's control as far as pacing goes, so as to completely immerse them in the experience. For an example of how it works, check out this video:
Thus far, creators like Dave Gibbons, Brian Bolland, Steve Niles, Bill Sienkiewicz, Mike Carey, Haden Blackman, and many more have contributed content to the app, with some exciting new projects on the way. And the best part? In addition to the free Madefire app, everything is totally free-to-read.
We talked with co-founder and comic book veteran Liam Sharp and Madefire editor Ben Abernathy -- who spent ten years at DC Comics handling books like Ex Machina, Astro City, The Authority, and Red -- about the Madefire experience, what it offers as a storytelling format, and what they've got coming up in 2013.
IGN Comics: In the simplest terms, what is the goal of Madefire?
Ben Abernathy: To deliver hands-down the best digital reading experience.
Liam Sharp: That’s really key! Reading, not watching. We don’t want our books to be passive, but rather something you interact with…
IGN: So why go this route of "motion books"? What does this format offer, storytelling wise, that traditional publishing cannot?
Sherlock Holmes: The Greek Interpreter
Sharp: Other companies nailed the basic comic-on-an-iPad format—and given the route all other media are going it was inevitable, and practical too. You can take a thousand albums, novels and comics on holiday with you now! But we thought—you know, why treat a mobile device like a piece of paper? It’s much smarter than that. And once you go that way, and start thinking about the options you might like if more options are available to you, a new medium starts to emerge.
Sound was a real eye-opener—and you can turn it off if you don’t like it. You also don’t need the top left to bottom right linear progression as story points are revealed in layers. The panorama tool puts you right inside a picture!
And as a creator myself I found all these new possibilities really exciting—and surprising! Dave Gibbons coined the term ‘we’re creating a new grammar’, and it really feels like that. Every day there’s another surprise.
IGN: Coming from traditional comics, what kind of adjustment was involved with working in this new format?
Abernathy: Honestly, from an editorial perspective not terribly much. There were obvious aspects that I adjusted to like the review process at each step of a motion book and even production issues like file delivery and specs, but at the end of the day it’s storytelling, words and pictures—which is where I came from.
And the transition was eased a bit, too, in that while my first 9 years at DC were spent with WildStorm, the last year-and-a-half was in the DC Digital Group so my head was already thoroughly inundated in that space.
Sherlock Holmes: The Greek Interpreter
Sharp: For me it was like having a new tool box—it opened up everything. We were also lucky to have Kinman Chan join us on the incredible Treatment: Tokyo book he drew. His background wasn’t in comics, so his process went straight from his film work to this revelation of layers.
He broke down our understanding of traditional comic storytelling in one fell swoop. In many ways we have to un-learn everything we have become adjusted to if we are to really make the most of this new medium.
Sherlock Holmes: The Greek Interpreter
IGN: We're seeing companies like Marvel explore the digital canvas a bit more with their Infinite comics. Do you see what they're doing as competition, or are you guys striving for a different audience?
Abernathy: I’m excited with what they’re doing and what they’re pushing the storytelling to become. There’s definitely audience crossover but for our Madefire “Studio” content I don’t see it as a competition for the same group of people and, really, the platform is significantly different.
The Motion Book is more immersive, using sound and limited motion to create a very different reading experience all together. Ultimately, their material is so different from ours and the audience for digital content so vast there’s an appetite for all manner of story.
IGN: Other publishers have been releasing their digital books in print as well. Any plans for that here?
Abernathy: That’s a great question and one we’re asked frequently. It’s something we’ve definitely discussed internally and my personal desire would be to release as collected editions, bypassing periodicals, but we’ve got a ways to go until we’ve got enough content to flesh out a book… but I expect more serious conversations on this point next year.
Sharp: Yes, we’re all from print backgrounds, so we’re very keen to see that down the line. The book of the motion book! It’ll be interesting to see how we reformat the work into something for print…
War in Heaven
IGN: How did the creators you work with get involved with Madefire?
Abernathy: The creator base we have and launched with was all Liam. I’ve brought a few people in the door but he’s really been the driving force to date.
Sharp: I’ve been drawing and writing comics for 26 years, so I know a lot of the industry stalwarts! And I had some help from our official Madefire ambassadors — Dave Gibbons and Bill Sienkiewicz. And the honest truth is — they jumped at it!
Creators are, by their very nature, visionary. And having all this new stuff to play with—it’s exciting! And it’s challenging! I think every creator likes a new challenge. We’re storytellers, and it doesn’t really matter what the medium is if we have the right skill set for it. Our books are still primarily all about the words and the pictures, and that’s the stuff comic people really know about.
The Engine: Powered by the Stars
IGN: What's the genesis of a project like, from initial idea to execution of all the "motion" aspects?
Abernathy: It’s remarkably similar to a print book in that it begins with an idea. Developing the concept into a script and finding the right artist(s) to produce it. There are certain delivery specs that separate a motion book from a print book, but the delivery of assets then go to the Builder who, using our proprietary software, produces a first “Motion Book” build that evolves into what you can read on the various platforms now.
Sharp: You do start to evolve your thinking once you have the hang of it! There are so many things I haven’t done yet that I’ve figured out in concept but haven’t executed…and I think we’re going to see some amazing innovations that none of us have predicted. It’s really in the hands of the creators — writer, artist, builder — to push at the boundaries. It’s still very much a pioneering space.
IGN: One of the biggest things about the app is that the stories are free of charge. Why go free-to-read, and how do you monetize something like this?
Abernathy: We were funded initially for an adoption approach and we’ve been very fortunate to offer our content for free on the iOS app to date (it’ll be a year next month). We do have a plan on monetizing our content so it won’t always be free and there are other avenues for future revenue, including Third Party/User Generated Content and the ultimate release of the Motion Book Tool, which is the proprietary software that we build all our episodes on.
IGN: You're announcing two new books, War In Heaven and Sherlock Holmes: The Greek Interpreter -- can you talk about how each of those projects wound up at Madefire?
Abernathy: I love the Sherlock Holmes catalog and this wasn’t my first go at Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s greatest creation — I edited the pair of Victorian Undead series at DC that pitted the great detective against varying forms of the undead.
I always had a deep desire to produce adaptations of his short stories, though, and it was one of the earliest ideas I began lobbying for when they brought me on board. The length was a perfect fit for a Motion Book episode and I felt like there hasn’t been a definitive digital version… yet.
Sharp: I’m just still pinching myself to be working with one of my all-time favorite artists, Bill Sienkiewicz — so influential! His work has informed so much of my own over the years, as you can see in my Captain Stone is Missing… Motion Book.
I’m also a fan of the original Arthur Conan Doyle books, so it’s doubly exciting. This is also pushing deeper into the illustrated text area as a motion book, so less of a comic book vibe.
War in Heaven is by Ricardo Pinto — a truly ground-breaking author. His trilogy The Stone Dance of the Chameleon is vast and extraordinary — and Adrian Smith — a brilliant illustrator of the epic. And that’s what this is — an epic story! When we saw the pages we were blown away — they’re extraordinary! Very unique and powerful. It’s a modern retelling of Paradise Lost, with a dark, contemporary twist. Amazing work.
Prospero Rising
IGN: Both of those new books are adaptations or reinterpretations of classic literature. How does the motion aspect of Madefire help present these stories in a new way?
Abernathy: The way I see it, it’s a way to introduce an immersive reading experience to a whole new audience of digital readers.
Sharp: Yes, that the thing — it’s really immersive. You’re drawn into the worlds these books present — especially if you’re wearing headphones! You get pulled in. It’s a pretty intimate experience in that way. And there are possibilities with timings and emphases that weren’t available to writers and artists before. It’s a wonderful platform for classic material.
IGN: You have some announcements on some of your on-going titles, too, right?
Abernathy: We do! There are some exciting things in the works:
- The Heroes Club: We call this one “Madefire Kids” internally as it’s a tale of adventure and horror featuring the core Madefire “Universe” characters as pre-teens: Captain Stone, Mono, Charlie Chance, and The Engine. Madefire’s never looked so cute! And it’s the debut of a fantastic new artist named Ileana Gonzalez--she’s a force to be reckoned with!
- We produced and printed a Mono novella called Prospero Rising that we’ve given away at conventions and we’re now adapting it to Motion Book format. It’s quite exciting as it’s going to be a more prose-driven tale with illustrations by the incredible Gary Gianni and a cover by the amazing Greg Staples.
- The Engine: Powered by the Stars is written by Liam Sharp and illustrated by Federico Dallocchio and will take the story of the Engine to the United States for two hilarious episodes.
- We’re very pleased to announce the coming release of Dave Gibbon’s original Treatment story that first appeared in Dark Horse Presents, into Motion Book form. And this is only the beginning of Dave’s work in the Treatment realm as there’ll be more news on what Dave’s planning for the world very, very soon…
- Additionally, we have a number of other Treatment stories in the works with some terrific talent. Treatment: Seoul has Robbie Morrison and Denys Cowan telling a tense, violent story in the capital city of South Korea that features a deadly robot. Then, we have Fin Cramb, Sean Watson, and Dan Brereton telling a brutal, heart-felt story with Treatment: Edinburgh that will show a behind-the-scenes look at the dark Treatment production process.
Sharp: Having these stories available to the deviantART community, too, is a real coup. With more user generated stories that are creator-owned coming out of that space also... Well, it's exciting! I think we're going to see a whole new batch of innovative iterations that cover all kinds of subject matter, both popular and niche.
It's going to be a hell of a year for us!
The Heroes Club
Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. After Man of Steel comes out, his life will lose all sense of direction and purpose.
Source : ign[dot]com
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