Digital Explorer
GOING DIGITAL AWARD-WINNING DIGITAL COMICS? After testing the waters of digital comics for a while now, I set myself what should have been a reasonably simple goal: read iPad versions of some of 2012’s best comics. 2012 was the first year of the British Comic Awards, but as a UK resident I’d already read many of the nominees. The big American awards ceremonies, on the other hand, normally contain an array of obscure titles not readily available in the UK, and that sounds like the kind of problem that should have a digital solution. My methodology wasn’t flawless – I scanned through the winners of Ignatz, Harvey and Eisner Awards in 2012, picked out the ones that appealed most to me and tried to buy digital copies. The Pterodactyl Hunters is billed as ‘a story of sibling rivalry and family tradition in a rapidly By Brendan Leach changing world’, and that’s a Published by Top Shelf pretty succinct description of a through Comixology charming narrative that says a Winner: Ignatz Award for lot about progress and familial Outstanding Comic tensions in a setting that could have degenerated into a joke in lesser hands. The sketchy linework, greytones and even the intimate setting all reminded me of the work of Dan Berry, though Berry’s output is generally more heart-warming. This tale of two competing brothers, hoping to rid New York City of a pterodactyl threat, is a compelling read, but none of the characters stand out as being particularly likeable. Instead this is a poignant story that would have had more punch THE PTERODACTYL HUNTERS IN THE GILDED CITY
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PM BUCHAN PM Buchan is the lead comicM book columnist for Starburst magazine and considers himself to be a vocal advocate for the BriEsh comic book industry. When not culEvaEng his obsession with comics he writes novels about the end of the world, watches horror films, and reads books about the Manson family. He now sincerely hopes that all his favourite comic creators will announce their plans to create work with the iPad in mind so that he can ditch his colossal collecEon of graduallyM decaying printed material.
INFINITY #3 • February 2013 • 18 of 57