Godkiller: Tomorrow’s Ashes debuts w/ digital+paperback bundle release
- Popular sci-horror transmedia franchise returns as comic series with unique digital/physical release model -
Halo-8 Entertainment opened up pre-orders today for the next mini-series in its popular GODKILLER franchise with a unique, new release model: readers who purchase the Digital/Physical Bundle will receive ongoing, monthly digital comics until the culmination of the story arc when they’ll receive the collected trade paperback. Breaking with current trends, the digital comics will be released as DRM-free PDFs and CBRs, rather than hosted in a closed-app environment.
GODKILLER-creator Matt Pizzolo (who also serves as President of Halo-8) developed the non-traditional release model for the recent OCCUPY COMICS anthology he organized, a Kickstarter-driven charity project that enables purchasers of the book to receive ongoing, short digital segments prior to the physical book’s completion.
“A lot of comics readers these days prefer to ‘wait for the trade’ before committing to a story, so this enables them to keep up with the new content as it becomes available while they wait for the collected book,” said Pizzolo. “This pairs the convenience of digital with the unique experience of holding a physical book, but brings digital upfront since it’s the fastest, most efficient way for readers to get content as soon as it’s available.”
The project reunites writer Pizzolo with illustrator Anna Muckcracker Wieszczyk (who recently drew Archaia’s LUCID and the OCCUPY COMICS promo image).
GODKILLER is no stranger to unique release methods. The first mini-series GODKILLER: WALK AMONG US debuted as a comic book but reached its largest audience as an “illustrated film” that married the comic’s sequential art with dramatic voice performances by a genre-star studded ensemble including Lance Henriksen (ALIENS), Davey Havok (singer AFI), Danielle Harris (HALLOWEEN), Nicki Clyne (BATTLESTAR GALACTICA), Bill Moseley (THE DEVIL’S REJECTS), Lydia Lunch (art-punk icon), Tiffany Shepis (NIGHTMARE MAN), and Justin Pierre (singer Motion City Soundtrack) with music by Atari Teenage Riot. The experimental animated film was distributed on cable-VOD to 80 million homes (through Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and dozens more) before hitting Netflix Streaming and Hulu.
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Though the illustrated film edition of this new GODKILLER series is already in production, Pizzolo hopes an aggressive digital comics campaign will cater to existing comics readers while also introducing the comic version to fans who discovered GODKILLER in its animated format.
“Obviously digital comics have the potential to grow comics readership beyond the core Cape Crowd in the way bookstores did with graphic novels and manga–but to an exponentially larger degree. All the innovative funding and production and release methods these days are really shaking things up… it’s telling that 2012 has already been called The Year of the Creator–there are a lot of opportunities out there for clever, innovative, and entrepreneurial creators,” said Pizzolo.
The new mini-series GODKILLER: TOMORROW’S ASHES vol. 1 “The Scars That Bind” is a 96-page collected book split into 3 digital issues. Halo-8 is charging $6.66 for the 3 digital comics, $16.66 for the collected book, or $19.99 for the Digital/Physical Bundle.
Tomorrow’s Ashes release schedule
Book I: The Scars That Bind
..Issue 1 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues Jan 24
..Issue 2 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues Feb 21
..Issue 3 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues Mar 20
..Graphic Novel – street date Fri Apr 6
Book II: Spiderland
..Issue 1 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues May 29
..Issue 2 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Wed June 20
..Issue 3 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues July 10
..Issue 4 – delivered digitally to subscribers on Tues July 31
..Graphic Novel – street date Tues July 31
Book III: For Those I Love, I Will Sacrifice
..dates/issues TBA
About Halo-8 Entertainment
Halo-8 Entertainment (www.halo8.tv) is a film, comics, & transmedia studio that marries art with technology, producing and distributing daring, creator-owned media. The studio is known for integrating film with tech innovations such as the “illustrated film” format designed for GODKILLER which Wired called “a horrific yarn of quantum physics, culture jamming, and conspiracy theory” and influential comics creator Ben Templesmith (creator 30 Days of Night) called “the new frontier of comics and animation,” for supporting outsider-culture documentaries such as the comics-writer bio-doc GRANT MORRISON: TALKING WITH GODS which Wired called “an instant classic” and Ain’t It Cool News called “bold, brave, and honest,” and for championing controversial documentaries such as the animal rights film YOUR MOMMY KILLS ANIMALS which Variety called “a miraculously evenhanded treatment of a snarlingly divisive debate” and currently holds a 91% positive ranking on Rotten Tomatoes. Upcoming releases include CTRL+ALT+COMPETE, a documentary about startup-culture and creative/tech entrepreneurship featuring Atari-founder Nolan Bushnell, Twitter-financier Mike Maples Jr, and The Guild creator Felicia Day; and WARREN ELLIS: CAPTURED GHOSTS, a documentary about the visionary, influential comics writer & futurist behind groundbreaking series Transmetropolitan, Planetary, Fell, The Authority, featuring interviews with Academy Award-winner Dame Helen Mirren, Avengers-director Joss Whedon, illustrator Darick Robertson, sci-fi hero Wil Wheaton, and many more.