Thursday, May 20, 2010

Cloud 109 - Working Up A Page Part 2

Just a brief hello to let you know that we've put up the second installment of working up a Cloud 109 page on our blog. Nine days out of seven we tend to contextualize what inspires writer David Orme and myself by posting work which we love and which we hope you will love.


The rationale is really that when we first launched our Cloud 109 blog last October it was just to promote a comic which no mainstream UK publisher would want to touch. Our agenda was simple, we were looking for a publisher of vision and drive who was committed to the same kind of comics that we are committed to, failing that we would just complete the fershlugginer thing, beholden to no committees and free from the kind of contractual shackles that have become the norm over the last twenty years.

That being said, we rapidly concluded that running a blog on a comic that was still in production on a daily basis was going to be nigh on impossible - but what if we regarded the blog as a virtual comic shop?



You know the kind of place you wander in because you're looking for a back issue of Hellboy that eluded you a year or so ago and you like browsing anyway. So you step into this promising looking place and suddenly it's not just Hellboy but there's all this other stuff some of which you've never really checked out before and there's some new titles including (yup you guessed it!) Cloud 109.

Now you might not be into Cloud 109, you're really into Jordi Bernet, or perhaps Al Williamson's EC work, or perhaps Alex Sheikman's 'Robotika' is what you're keenest to check out. It really doesn't matter, we just want you to enjoy yourselves and we have in the process at least flagged up our existence to you a bit like the way that Derren Brown plants subconscious triggers in the minds of his audiences.


So that's the intent that drives the blog but today as I've mentioned we are picking up on the second and final installment of the production process behind each page of Cloud 109.

6 comments:

  1. It's always fascinating to see how you and David put Cloud 109 together. Btw Peter, I'm getting an iPad in a few weeks so I hope you'll be talking to John Higham's programmer friend from India about putting the completed Cloud 109 in the App Store? I can't wait to see Gina and co in full glorious AppleColor!

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  2. God - you're getting one that soon Dave! Jon will be green with envy when he hears, he was asking the other day if you'd got one yet.

    Undoubtedly a good move as apart from the wow factor, I think actually having the kit in your hands makes the whole process of launching books as apps seem just that bit more tangible.

    My main reservation is the cost - actually more expensive in Europe than in the U.S., which is what happens with so much software too, but aside from that really a beautiful bit of kit.

    There was a very interesting discussion on Radio 4's Media Show yesterday with Alan Rusbridger saying how appealing and immediate in terms of rolling news The Guardian is on the IPad.

    But yes David and I are intent on getting Cloud 109 onto Apps as soon as we've completed Book 1.

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  3. I'm lucky enough to have a friend who's going to pick up one for me in the US. And the cost would have put me off even so, but it turns out Roz had been tweeting everybody saying how nice the iPad is, so she couldn't really complain when I said I was getting one ;)

    Btw Peter, bear in mind there's a 10 Meg limit on apps (I think) for iPhone, so you might need to cut Book 1 into a couple of installments. Not a problem for iPad though, I expect.

    Wrt print versions, Lightning Source are quite a bit cheaper than Lulu, I'm told, though there is an initial set-up cost of 40 quid or so.

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  4. Aha! Nice move Dave, I think if I get one it will probably have to be Stateside too. I really do think that the cost needs to come down before IPads take off in the UK - but only a matter of time.

    Many thanks for the Lightning Source tip, I'll check that one out shortly as we're going to need some more printed up as all the last lot have now gone.

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  5. Fantastic work, looks and reads so nicely, and the continuing online updates will help to build a huge demand for the printed format! keep going guys!

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  6. Many thanks Lorenzo. I'm counting down the days to the launch of "Lore of the Rings".

    The teasers look lovely - bit concerned about that sausage though.

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