With an increase in apps, there may be changes ahead for the print-comics industry as the medium moves into the digital world.

Even superheroes are having a tough time weathering the recession. To pump up sagging sales, beleaguered indie and mainstream comic-book publishers are turning to digital products to distribute their tales of misunderstood mutants, do-gooder vigilantes, and villains. For example, at the New York Comic Con in February, industry mainstay Marvel Comics announced that this spring, it will begin selling two “motion comics” (semi-animated comics)—Spider-Woman and Astonishing X-Men—via the iTunes Store.

With the growing popularity of mobile devices like the iPhone, Michael Murphey, the owner of Texas-based iVerse Media, couldn’t resist the opportunity to develop a bridge between the print and digital comic worlds. The company launched its first titles in November.

“We go in and take traditional print comics and original content, depending on the situation, and convert those into mobile-formatted comics,” Murphey told the Georgia Straight by phone.

Continued here:

http://www.straight.com/article-220328/digital-comics-come-calling-mobile-phones

AICN Comics 5/18/09 edition of Shoot The Messenger had this to say about Grunts:

“This massive collection of last year’s GRUNTS miniseries is definitely something fans of Garth Ennis’ war comics should seek out. Looks to be the perfect mix of military action and super hero sci fi. I hear that even a major motion picture is in the works inspired by this miniseries, so it looks like we’ll be seeing much more of GRUNTS in the future. “

At the risk of repeating myself: anthologies are a damned tricky business. There’s a certain level of risk involved versus the reward, as most work out to a mixed bag; only a small amount of the stories tend to be good, and most work out to be mediocre and all-out crap. So it becomes even dicier when a small indy publisher puts out an anthology; you’re bound to get a lot of product produced by younger, untested talents, and that increases the risk immensely. So along comes Arcana with what I believe to be its first anthological effort, and needless to say, I was more than a bit dubious.

Continued here:

http://reviews.comicswaitingroom.com/2008/12/30/dark-horrors-1.aspx

Sean O’Reilly is the founder and CEO of Arcana Studio. He originally formed the company to publish his own book, Kade, in 2004. Since then he’s gone on to publish a wide variety of titles including 100 Girls, The Clockwork Girl, and The Greatest American Hero.

O’Reilly has worked to expand his influence through creativity and innovation. He has created and produced a series of original animated shows for SpikeTV. Arcana was awarded The Shuster Award for Outstanding Publisher and received the Moonbeam Award for top children’s graphic novel. In addition, O’Reilly was named one of Vancouver’s “Top 40 under 40.”

Arcana reviews project pitches from established creators and is also open to unsolicited manuscripts. (Before submitting, be sure to review and heed their submissions guidelines.) The company publishes about 20 titles per year. When asked whether Arcana pays on the front end or the back end, O’Reilly replied, “Both, and honestly each deal is different. After five years we’ve seen and executed all types of deals, and we’re even willing to try some we haven’t done before.”

ComicsCareer.Com: What do you feel are the most unique or magical aspect of comics as an art form, and what are some examples of comics or graphic novels that make great use of that aspect?

Sean O’Reilly: I love comic books because they are fantastical journeys into a distant world with epic tales, unique environments and characters that have to be plucked out of the imagination. Not including Arcana titles, I love Blacksad, anything by Graeme Base and other creations that are so rich in imagery. I also love comics because the visuals can assist the story complimenting the brand and the example that quickly comes to mind is The Walking Dead.

ComicsCareer.Com: What’s the most important thing a creator should know about your company’s approach to new projects or new talent that’s not covered in the submissions guidelines?

Sean O’Reilly: We look for strong art, compelling stories and ultimately graphic novels. We aren’t pursuing floppy comics as hard as we once were and we are really looking for branded storyworlds where amazing adventures can occur within the project.

Continued here:

http://www.comicscareer.com/?p=1168

From the 5-6-09 Edition of CBR’s Permanent Damage:

ARCANA STUDIO PRESENTS

Arcana is quietly becoming the little publisher that could, carving out its own little niche of adventure, humor and kid friendly material. This handful of vignettes/chapters culled from recently Arcana publications, doesn’t present anything complete enough to be really satisfying, but the range is sufficiently broad to give a good picture of the company’s creative identity, and hopefully that will also be sufficiently appealing to a casual audience.