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storytelling, Titanium Comics is breaking super ground in
more ways than one. One of the first comic companies to sell
their published work using Bitcoin is now offering limited
editions of Issue #2 - using ascribe.io - from their series The
Arcane — and they’re super stoked about it. We sat down
with the guys behind Titanium to get a little sneak peek into
this latest issue and to find out why ascribe works for them.
Alright, let’s talk first about The Arcane. You’ve got the
wild west, the occult and epic battles between good and
evil. What is it about this narrative that draws people in?
First, superheroes as a genre dominate comics, so with
western comics being less in the public’s eye, we wanted to
surprise fans from another angle and environment that
superhero-type stories could be told.
Second, basing a story in a Wild West setting is a lot like
basing one in Science Fiction, you have a lot of room to play.
Expanse environments, new frontiers and less restrictions
overall. Finally, fans are going to be in for a treat as this is
not just an occult tale, it will challenge some very concrete
ideas we have about religion, but I don’t want to spoil it, so
you’ll just have to keep reading, but I can say this...excited
fans will say at the very least, “Wow!” “No Way!” And that
in itself is grounds to keep following.
What can readers expect from Issue #2?
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Readers should be holding on to their hats and saddles!
Lucifer is getting closer to obtaining what he’s after. As a
bonus, it looks like Lucifer will also get the young Phelan,
who like our story’s heroes, displays his own unique powers.
But you can bet your digital copy of the Ascribe / Titanium
Comics Arcane Limited Edition Digital Package, the Arcane
Brothers aren’t going down without a fight that even comic
fans won’t remember to forget!
The characters in The Arcane are all so incredibly unique
and interesting. You’ve even created some video features
about a few. Why develop such intriguing characters?
The comic book industry is filled with so many interesting
and fascinating characters. These many characters have
backstory and/or costumes which really make them staples.
Believe it or not, it was a natural part of our story to create
characters of this caliber. It really wasn’t about competing
with what’s out there, as much as it was creating characters
which felt organic to the story, mood and intention we have
for readers who come to our comics.
The comic book has recently gone through a resurgence in
popularity, why do think that is?
We owe a huge thanks to comic book visionaries who have
written and illustrated some really great stories over the
years. I think what we are seeing today is due to comic book
teleplay and screenplay evolution. Comic book television
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shows and movies have come a long way since the 90’s. They
are hitting some missed notes from earlier years. Each
giving the other more examples and tools to use to entice
fans further. And let’s face it, new and old fans alike don’t
want the fun of these adventures to end. So, how are we able
to continue in between next week’s episode and the next
sequel at the box office? With comic books. Movies are
renewing and sustaining existing interest and creating new
ones. The Walking Dead, The Flash, Iron Man, The Avengers
are some examples of this.
Strides in the digital hardware landscape also have
something to do with it. Tablets in the mobile computing
environment foster their own unique and still fairly fresh
experience fans get to have. From sound, color and
resolution improvements to touch screen
functionality.These all play a role in our increased
engagement with comic books.
Creating comics is more than story telling, there is a lot of
creativity that goes into creating just one issue. Can you
describe that process?
I think this is an area that not only some fans may not know
a lot about. There’s a lot involved in creating a comic for
public consumption. A publisher or solo creator has multiple
people and processes to handle. Not to mention handling
finance. But in defense of multiple creative types, there is no
one way to accomplish this. There’s a number of steps from
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crafting the story to illustrating pages to getting it
published. If I were to describe it all in detail, it could easily
be a small college paper. There are so many areas and people
involved including communicating post production needs
with printers, secondary markets, getting ads and social
media information together, payroll, and on and on.
What do you enjoy about the process?
One thing I personally enjoy, is that Titanium Comics often
approaches comic production in a similar way to movie
production. This means there are management and producer
meetings and brainstorming sessions on everything from
how the story and characters are woven into the comic to
how we will promote the comic. Illustrations, scripts and
other adjoining materials almost never go right from one
talent to the next, they are typically collected by the
production managers, evaluated and then pushed back out
there into production hell. This might be a slow or
amateurish way of doing things, but it guarantees the look,
feel and energy we want our comics to have for our readers.
You guys have a very strong team. What’s your secret?
What is most important if you are working with a team of
creators on a comic book is that you work as a solid team;
one concise voice. Keeping in mind that although the
featured artist may make the most, the book hasn’t sold
until it sells out and above all associated cost. So although
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one talent may think they make the process work more than
the others involved, the truth is, everyone involved is equal
in the success or failure of the comic and/or series. If
teamwork and a desire to make the whole work a reader’s
delight isn’t at the forefront of everyone’s mind, it really
doesn’t matter who the artist is or how brilliant a story you
have is, you’re going to fail. Work as a team and treat the
comic and/or series and others involved as an integral part
to winning, because you all are.
How does ascribe help you deliver your work?
Well first, we want to thank you guys and girls at Ascribe for
sharing such a phenomenal architecture with our industry.
It also doesn’t hurt that you’re big comic fans. Features of
the Ascribe technology allow us as creators to have a few
things not traditionally found in this or other segments of
the entertainment industry. The Active IP protection makes
protecting our work a whole lot easier. Once creators
“Ascribe” their illustrations, static images, prose, video and
audio to the Blockchain, they will have decentralized and
timestamped records verifying ownership. Not only will they
have this information, but the whole Blockchain will have it
and maintain it for the owner. It’s just that simple. This
means we can spend more time creating and less time
paying out precious production dollars on an archaic IP
protection process which does little to really “secure” our
assets.
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A super bonus for us is that Ascribe’s technology allows us to
create and manage special and limited edition digital
collections, not previously possible when publishing a
digital comic. Consumers are used to receiving additional
items with their print comics in a sealed bag. Now, we can
create a similar experience with digital products. Another of
ascribe’s technology IP management features will be
integrated into a new product our parent company is
developing for comic fans and creators alike. More on that in
the future, so stay tuned!
What are the benefits of unique limited digital editions in
the comic book world?
It is very difficult to issue a digital comic and make it rare.
Just the ability to add one of anything to the internet makes
it available to everyone. For the most part, the less rare the
less the value for a comic collector. Unique digital limited
editions preserve value on digital goods the same way they
would with rare print collectibles. It allows publishers the
opportunity to include video, audio, static images and
written works to those packages. Very similar to Blu-Ray
and DVD special edition content. Obviously, in
manufacturing and print of physical goods, the less units
you produce, the higher your cost per unit. So for comic
publishers, reducing the cost of production, assembly and
order fulfillment, those saved dollars go back into our comic
production budgets where they belong. Blockchain
technology has the ability to disrupt naturally occurring
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omnipresence online. Creators using the technology can
place specific, and intentional limitations on digital comics,
to make those goods limited like the physical goods markets
have done traditionally. It’s exciting being a comic publisher
knowing creators who are publishing actively in the digital
space can create a number of unique digital merchandise
packages to excite and satisfy fans.
How can Ascribe help foster more growth in the comic
industry?
Three ways come to mind:
One, keep evolving the technology and how we can
approach, interact with and benefit from the Blockchain.
Two, Education. Comic publishers are notorious for the
“how it’s always been done” mentality. Don’t get me wrong,
if we didn’t follow some very necessary processes of
duplication we couldn’t make comic books and graphic
novels. But it’s time for the 2,500 plus creators and
independent publishers to follow Titanium Comics lead by
looking at technology and other industries as viable partners
to grow.
Finally, keep working with Titanium Comics. We love both
the technology and comic book industries and we are just as
committed to publishers as we are comic book fans. With
that being said, we have specific plans to bring technology
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and new products directly to comic publishers and
consumers through very creative strategies. We are
committed to change how a large portion of creators and
publishers interact in this space. We want them to relate to
what we envision the near future of the comic book industry
will be. No bragging here when I mention “what we
envision,” but this is a big deal!
What are the future goals for Titanium Comics?
Titanium Comics is working to expand its comics line into
less published but extremely exciting genres; continue the
storyline of The Arcane and other original series; and, take
on some fun and enjoyable children’s projects.
Technology is important to us, so we are constantly in talks
with developers. We’re committed to creating ways to
integrate relevant software and hardware solutions into our
storytelling and content distribution process. We will
continue to foster industry relationships and make
meaningful appearances at comic conventions around the
US in the next year. We are lucky to have a global presence.
We are on several social media sites in mainland China and
one fairly new trendy site in Indonesia. With that, we intend
to increase our outreach to as many international comic
book communities as possible. Places which host heavy
mobile use and are already aware of Titanium Comics. And
lastly, we’re looking forward to making some big
announcements early next year that will amplify our
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mantras to creators of all sizes when we say “Own It!” or
“Own It People!”
"Why do comics and bitcoins seem to go hand-in-hand so
well?"
Bitcoin as a digital cryptocurrency has a tough uphill battle
— not that it will lose. Bitcoin as a technology, now that’s
the ticket! Bitcoin represents a development code, or series
of codes depending on how you look at it, and set of
applications just barely scratching past the surface of what
they can do. With the Blockchain acting as a decentralized
database and possessing accounting functionality, comic
book publishers who are publishing digital content are in for
a wild ride! These technologies allow us to protect comic
production assets, establish independent crowdfunding
activities directly through our own dedicated fanbase, create
and manage our own unique reward and buyer incentive
programs, basically allow creators the power to become a
one-stop shop.
The best way to describe it is this: imagine renting a
warehouse space for your business, but it literally comes
with a printing press, attorneys, employees, and a number of
other must have service providers. That would make renting
an office and starting a business easy and highly valuable all
in one. Blockchain software and code become the
middleman for revenue and business activity transactions,
never keeping a share, but putting your cash to work for you
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more efficiently, helping you manage your online and
physical company locally and globally on your own. I’m not
just talking about storing data in the cloud here; I’m talking
about websites which build themselves, comic books which
will have revenue value all the way down to the individual
panel in ways most of us, fans and creators alike, never
imagined. So the long pole in the tent is comic publishers
who barely live above the employed poverty line, will be able
to control and drive their brands to new unfathomable levels
of success. Using this technology resource, comic creators
whether now or as it evolves into new developments, will be
on a similar footing as global Fortune 500 companies. And
there are still a number of evolutions the technology can
progress to that aren’t generally known yet.
To learn more about Titanium Comics visit
http://www.facebook.com/ti.comics.
Enter your name in the form below and we will transfer
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