PSN Comics – Now On Sale!

Video games and comics. Two things that I have spent literally thousands, upon thousands of both hours and pounds on. And that’s just within the last five years or so. You see I am a massive geek and nothing sends my Spidey senses tingling quite like games and comics. So, understandably, anytime I got to hop into bed with my two greatest loves, I jumped at the chance!

PSN Comics (make sure to update your PSP firmware to 6.20!) seems simply perfect for indulging me in my sordid little fantasies, with some hefty, solemn vows:

- Upon opening, the PSN Comics store will have up to 500 comics, with many free samples
- Weekly updates adding yet more good stuff
- So far 11 Publishers signed up offering you everything from big time superheroes, to childhood favourites and the most exciting indie productions
- Simple playback of MP3s while you’re reading, including the possibility of Comic commentary tracks!
- Simple interface including “Autoflow Technology”

Autoflow technology. It even sounds slick, which is good, because that’s kind’a the point. Autoflow allows for simple, intuitive, one touch control, that guides you through the comic panel by panel. The page glides and zooms as your natural eyeline would across the page as the creators intend. Throw in limited animations for page turns and screen shaking effects for explosions and fight scenes and Autoflow brings an exciting new dimension to reading digital comics. Of course, all of that can be turned off and you can guide yourself through every page and panel as you see fit, soak in some of the wonderful artwork.

While the PSP has had many detractors, some with very good reasons, the high contrast screen has blown me away from the very first time I turned one on all those years ago and it’s the fantastic screen that really is a perfect match for the PSN Comics, with vibrant colours really making every detail pop incredibly clearly.

On the run up to the opening of PSN Comics I’ve been lucky enough to talk to both gaming people and comics people, taking in all kinds of thoughts and opinions. I was able to schedule an interview with Sony PSN Comics Designer, Pete Stott, until we were rudely interuptted by his wife going in to labour! (Thank you Pete for your constant updates on Twitter @PSNComics and congratulations on a beautiful baby girl!). I was also able to talk to the delightful Nichola Wilkinson, Creative Director for Insomnia Publications, who obliged me in answering a few questions for Frugal Gaming.

Hey Nic, was it a difficult sell getting Insomnia involved in PSN Comics?

From which side?!

As a gamer, creator and reader of comics, never mind the publishing side, I was mad with excitement when I first heard about PSN launching a digital comics store. As soon as I heard that I wanted us to be a part of it.

Back in August Sony released a video demo and interview about the plans for the comics store. Immediately after seeing it I was asking our MD, Crawford Coutts, if I could investigate getting involved. He wanted to know why I was talking to him and not to them already!

So from our side, no, not a difficult sell at all!

But you really want to know about if Insomnia was a difficult sell to Sony, don’t you? Well, to be honest, although the process for acceptance is very detailed and the content review very rigorous, it wasn’t difficult at all. All the people involved on the Sony side were incredibly helpful and supportive, right from the first phone call to actually getting the files prepared.

I was extremely happy, though, to find that the comics store team had heard of our books and we had already been recommended to them as a potential publisher by comics readers on their own staff. That is an incredible testament to the quality of our creators’ sheer talent and dedication.

Is digital distribution something Insomnia had given much consideration too before this opportunity arose?

Technology has a huge impact both on the technical side of art and production, and in allowing people from all around the world to work together seamlessly.

The next natural step was to actually get the results of all that work easily into the hands of readers whenever they want it and wherever they are.

Personal technology like the PSP hopefully means readers will be able to enjoy a much wider range of creators, styles and genres than just whatever happens to be on offer in any one specific local shop, or even tempt in people who have never read a comic before.

We’ve been researching various digital distribution methods for a while, and we’ve made a lot of use of online comics readers such as myebook.com for reader previews, retailer samples and reviewers very successfully, but you have to be sitting at a PC to read these.

Has looking in to Digital Comics changed the way you work with in the medium?

Not really as yet. It’s still very early days.

Our graphic novels will be published in chapters on the PSN with the first of each being offered free of charge as a taster. Three titles (Cancertown, Cages, and Burke and Hare) will be on the virtual shelves from launch, with many more to follow.

As we talk to our readers and understand what it is they enjoy most about digital comics we will hopefully be able to improve our digital issues for them.

I hope we see creators inspired to suggest ideas for expanding their work within the digital world, not to mention the as yet unthought-of of new creative possibilities that working for a new medium will undoubtedly bring.

We will still look for the same core elements from our creative teams in terms of storytelling as we always did.

Digital comics have been around in many different forms, with varying degrees of success, what makes PSN Comics the right choice for Insomnia?

A large part of the discussions we have had about digital platforms is that there are many digital distribution channels that want content to be censored to ensure it is “safe for all ages”.

Our books are very different in tone, themes and content from a lot of mainstream comics and will certainly challenge the expectations of people who may only have encountered comics as “harmless fun for kids”. They are for readers over 16, over 18 in the majority of cases.

We would be doing a great injustice to the creators of our beautiful mind bending, skin crawling, heart wrenching books if we were to ask them to water down their original vision in this way.

With Sony’s PSP core audience being much closer to that of Insomnia , and the store using an age rating system similar to that used for games, this is not an issue.

It’s fantastic to see that sort of understanding and respect for the audience and medium.

Also we’ve been looking into what we can do with mobile apps along with many other publishers, but the screen size of most phones does pose some problems and means that we would have to look at how the pages would be presented, and whether or not that would adversely affect the experience of reading the story.

With the size and resolution of the PSP screen and the autoflow software that allows you plot the flow around the page, though, all of those things cease to be a problem.

Much of the initial media on the PSN Comics store is adaptations of existing comics, could you see Insomnia developing something exclusively for the PSN,
utilising the full technology?

While we are now offering digital editions, some of which will have “extras” that are unique to the digital format because of the tools specifically available to that medium, we aren’t looking at any “digital exclusives” at this stage.

For us the story is of paramount importance and the ability to offer hardcopy or digital versions just means that the reader can choose to experience it in the way they prefer.

We certainly do have plans for making use of the full PSN technology next year to offer options such as “creator commentaries”, interactive elements, soundtracks, interviews “behind the scenes” material showing how the comics come together and much more I can’t talk about yet.

It’s been so refreshing to see and hear just how enthusiastic people are about this and I really hope this will be a huge success, for everyone involved, but especially for the smaller, homegrown publishers like Insomnia. These are people I’ve met and bought books from at the small comic conventions around the country and it’s so good to see them being promoted on such a platform.

In fact, I’ve even been treated to chatting with one of the authours at the fore front of Insomnias success, the writer of one of my favourite books of the whole year (the first chapter of which is up and availble to download now, for FREE) Cancertown: An Inconvenient Tooth. So please, read through my interview with Mr. Cy Dethan.

Hey Cy, thanks for taking the time to answer my questions at this busy time of year! Has it been important to you as an English, independent writer to impress against the big American companies, or are you just happy to be involved at all?

There’s an incredible explosion of creativity in indie comics all around the world right now, with more and more people embracing the medium and finding ways to express themselves in it. The global nature of the PSN network offers a means of bringing some true hidden gems to the attention of people who may not otherwise get to hear of them. So, while I’m inarguably happy to be involved at all, there’s certainly no point in shying away from comparisons with more established brands on a stage like this.

Given the enthusiastic welcome that Sony has shown to independents like Insomnia, there’s definitely an opportunity here to demonstrate
the true breadth of the medium. As long as the essential quality is there, there’s nothing preventing the indies from standing shoulder-to-shoulder with giants. I think that’s something to be celebrated.

How do you feel on the distribution of digital comics as a medium and could you see them eventually replacing paper comics?

Personally, I think it’s just a question of offering a wider choice of platform. There will inevitably be people who definitely prefer one
delivery method over another, but I suspect most people will want different things at different times. From a creative standpoint, I’m
fascinated to see what new tools these developments will allow writers, artists and publishers to add to their collections.

Has the prospect of the PSN Comics made you want to pick up a PSP or check out any of the games?

I’ve actually owned a PSP for a few years now, and it sees a lot of use. I listen to a string of podcasts through it on a daily basis, and it’s
my primary source of train and hotel-room entertainment during comics conventions. As for games, I’m currently working my way through
Motorstorm: Arctic Edge, Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror and Resistance: Retribution – which is more colons than I’ve ever put in a sentence before.

The new video and comics download stores add hugely to the PSP’s scope for me, and getting to be a part of that is a massive kick.

Speaking of games, has there been any gaming storylines or characters you would have liked to have fleshed out some in comic form?

I have to say, I’d love to take a crack at Agent 47 from the Hitman games. That’s a character with a cool background and massive potential for development and exploration. There was a film adaptation, obviously, but it was pretty clear that they’d felt an obligation to make a big-guns-and-explosions action movie out of the game, which is understandable but a poor fit for the character (at least the way I
played him).

In a comic, I’d have liked to take him more in the direction of the silent, haunted assassin I know from the games.

As a gamer yourself, what have you been playing this year and what would be your pick as game of the year?

In terms of single player stuff, I’d have to rate Batman: Arkham Asylum as one of the greatest gaming experiences of my life. It’s a rare
example of subject, concept and technical execution all coming together perfectly. I’d also have to score Uncharted 2 very highly, for most of the same reasons.

As for multi-player, I had an unnaturally good time with Borderlands this year. That game pretty much came out of nowhere for me, and I
played through the co-op campaign with an enthusiasm that verged on obsession. I’m already considering playing through it again, which is basically unheard of for me.

So comic fan or not, if you’re reading this here on Frugal Gaming, I know you’re enticed by the word FREE…so go download the PSP Comics Reader now and I’m sure you’ll find something you like.

@Leenygma

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