Dear Fanboy Comics Readers:
With the biggest pop culture event of the year – San Diego Comic-Con – just one day away, the top comic book publishers in the industry have made a very exciting announcement regarding their plans for digital comic development. Having recently partnered with digital studio Madefire, publishers including IDW, Top Cow, and BOOM! Studios have decided to launch their bestselling titles as motion books.
The digital landscape of comic books is changing rapidly, and this new development will undoubtedly provide groundbreaking and exciting new ways for readers to enjoy their favorite stories.
The creators behind Madefire will be at SDCC this week (Booth #4902, 4904) to provide interested readers with more information, and Fanboy Comics will be there to bring you with the latest developments. Until then, please see Madefire’s official press release below for further details.
San Francisco, California – July 16, 2013 –Groundbreaking. Innovative. Original. All these terms could be used to describe either the cutting-edge digital studio Madefire or their new partners: IDW, Top Cow, Boom! Studios, and iTV. In signing a new partnership, these trailblazing companies are going to be setting a new standard for digital storytelling in the 21st century.
“Madefire has created some amazing original motion books and animation tools,” shared Jeff Webber, IDW’s VP of Digital Publishing. “They’ve taken everything they’ve learned and developed over the past year and applied it to creating new experiences with some of our top comic brands. The motion book versions of Star Trek, My Little Pony and Transformers comics will reach a whole new audience.”
The deal consists of IDW, Top Cow, and Boom! Studios bringing the trademark Motion Book experience to a select group of their most popular print titles—including Boom!’s Next Testament and 2 Guns and Top Cow’s The Darkness—and releasing them through the acclaimed Madefire iOS app and on the web exclusively through deviantART. Taking existing print titles and creating a new, immersive digital reading experience will be a first for Madefire but it’s a treatment they think fans will enjoy.
“A primary goal from Day One has been to work with the top publishers in the print and entertainment space toward adoption of the Motion Book experience,” notes Madefire co-founder and CEO Ben Wolstenholme. “To launch with an elite group of publishers out the gate is tremendous and speaks volumes to their visionary approach to storytelling.”
iTV will be testing the platform with an original, digital-first series by Des Taylor called The Trouble with Katie Rogers exclusively on Madefire.
“Ever since I bumped into the Madefire stand at San Diego Comic Con 2012, I haven’t looked back! The Motion Book tool gave me the freedom to create Katie Rogers how I want the reader to experience it and I am seriously considering creating other titles in my portfolio on this platform.” Raves Des Taylor, creator/writer/artist on Katie Rogers. “The only restriction is your mind.”
Further information regarding release dates and additional titles to join the burgeoning line to come. For Motion Book demonstrations of each title, be sure to visit Madefire’s booth (#4902,4904) at San Diego Comic Con July 17-21.
About Madefire
Founded in 2011 by Ben Wolstenholme, Liam Sharp and Eugene Walden, Madefire provides artists and writers a publishing solution for iOS and web reading allowing them to build their stories in an exciting new format called Motion Books. Madefire is backed by Toni Schneider at True Ventures, The CEO of Automattic makers of WordPress, with angel investors including Sina Tamaddon, former Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Inc–both of whom are on Madefire’s Board of 
Advisors. The Advisory Board also includes industry leaders Mike McCue, CEO and Founder of Flipboard, Dave Gibbons, co-creator of Watchmen, the bestselling graphic novel of all time, and Bill Sienkiewicz, widely recognized as one of the greatest innovators of sequential art. For more information go to madefire.com.
