Hello. My name is Kurt, I live in East Williamsburg, Brooklyn, I’m a Virgo and love sandwiches.
I’m also the co-creator and writer of Power Play, a new creator-owned digital comic series available via Comixology. If you have an iPad, Kindle Fire, tablet, iPhone, or one of the other various smarttech devices that accesses an APP store, you can download an app called Comics by Comixology which will allow you access to a TON of awesome FREE comic books.
If you are without said device, worry not, just drop by Comixology’s website and read it at work, I mean, on your home PC or laptop.
Most of these are print comics that have been scanned in and meticulously “directed” by the fine folks at Comixology who are now part of the storytelling process. One of the best examples of what is capable with this new medium, is the comic I created with Marvel artist Reilly Brown: POWER PLAY.
We formatted this comic to be digital first, thinking of what was possible when you applied the technology to sequential art, but made it in a way that the fades and pans and zooms could add to the story, not merely be a function. Once we started thinking along those lines we quickly developed a whole new toolbox of tricks and effects that could enhance the action, add beats and effectively create a sense of surprise!
With our approach the readers’ vision is limited to a panel at a time, giving more a cinematic sense, a widescreen action to it. This allows us to put the reader where we want and move them around, even though they still control the pace which, at its heart, is the essence of reading comics. But now we can build up moments with more depth to the scene. Trust me when I say that talking head panels are much more effective when faded through with subtle character expression changes.
That’s the dry, techie side of POWER PLAY, but what’s the story? What’s it all about? What’s up with the squid guy?
Power Play is a comic about New Yorkers with superpowers. All across the five Boroughs random folk find themselves with the ability to create ice, control flame, turn into beer…no, seriously, read the first issue. When these Tweens all meet up they hold underground competitions spun out of their YouTube channel and social media network. If you’re one of the few who’s got a gift, or even if you’re a weirdo with an obsession and drive, then you can try out for the Power Play League, fight for your neighborhood, and bring home the Unlimited Bar Tab Trophy!
Enter our hero, Mac Washington, a listless slacker NYU student with no purpose or direction. He sucks at sports, hasn’t settled on a major yet with only a few semesters to go, and can’t hold down a job. He makes a few bucks volunteering for medical experiments, clinical trials and psyche studies, but usually blows that on comics and pints at Crocodile Lounge (free pizza = dinner). Luckily he has his gang of friends who help him along, when they’re not messing with him.
That all changes when one day, while avoiding kids with clipboards asking if he has time to save the Earth, he’s struck by lightning running down a loose wire from the construction at Union Square. Suddenly he finds he’s able to become whatever substance he touches. Now, he can literally be anything he wants! When he enters the competition he’s gotta figure out what that is, from his superpower to his life.
Power Play is shot on location in New York City and Brooklyn. All the panels displaying a scene in either location is drawn from reference of that actual location. So when you see the Queensboro Bridge you’re seeing it as it is, only with people firing lasers and flying low across the East River. Each contestant is a send-up of the various neighborhoods and the characters that live there, and even the storyline itself is an homage to New York history, the Battle of Brooklyn.
It’s comedy, sports, superpowers (minus the superheroes), it’s college students throwing illegal parties in warehouses, and the monsters of the city coming out to do battle with one another. It’s the dawn of a new era of comic books and this is our love letter to the greatest city in the world.
The free preview is now available, as are the first full three issues.
I hope that you read and enjoy. If you love comics, NYC, technology, or just good old fashioned fun with some of the most kinetic and styled artwork, Reilly Brown on top of his game, then give it a read and let us know what you thought!
Thanks!
Kurt Christenson
