Monday 20 August 2007

Times reports on mobile comics

Today's Times newspaper carries a feature on mobile comics, and highlights ROK Comics' operation. "The comic book, a staple of British childhood for 90 years, is to receive a 21st-century makeover as the adventures of characters such as Dennis the Menace and Desperate Dan are sent frame-by-frame to children’s mobile phones," it begins, drawing comparisons with how mobile comics have developed in Japan. (Papyless, a Tokyo-based specialist in electronic books, made $17 million - £8.5 million - in the year to March, more than double the previous year).

DC Thomson are among many comics publishers looking for a means to deliver comics to mobile phones - the very service ROK Comics offers comics companies worldwide already being exploited by the Daily Express, the Daily Mirror, Look and Learn, Broken Voice, Markosia and others.

Comics writer and columnist Rich Johnston, who specialises in the comic books industry and writes a regular column, Lying in the Gutters, for comics news site Comic Book Resources, tells the Times he predicted that mobile phones would become a popular medium. “The principal audience for comic books is young people, who are much more used to reading things in digital form,” he says. “Screen sizes are getting larger, and devices like the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP are ideal for viewing images on.”

The feature mentions ROK's offering of Look and Learn Ltd's Robin Hood and Mike Colbert's Crazy Mary strip.

You can read the full feature online here (subscription may be required after seven days).

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