We’ve always been highly interested in the world of indie comics here at AiPT! (take a look at our new Indie Comic Corner section of the site for all our indie content in one place!)—sure, the major publishers may get all the attention and glory, but with the sheer number of high quality artists and publishers out there, you’d be remiss to keep your consumption of comics limited to the Big 2. This rings true in nearly any aspect of nerd culture, for the record; indie video games, movies, wrestling promotions…they’ll all offer a highly creative, specialized experience that you just won’t find in their mass produced, mainstream counterparts.
Our goal with Publisher Spotlight is to remove some of the work you normally have to do to discover these hidden gems. So with the inaugural edition, let’s take a look at a small publisher, founded by two brothers, who are putting out some absolutely stunning work.
Enter Radco. Radco is a comic book publisher first and foremost, but with an emphasis of what they call “transmedia storytelling.” This plays to the strengths of founders Ben and Jon Conrad’s backgrounds in film, design, and animation. You’ve seen their work without even knowing it, too; Ben Conrad’s work creating the title sequences in movies such as Zombieland has netted him multiple awards.
A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
But being a comic-centric site, let’s get back to that. One of Radco’s biggest upcoming comics projects is an adaptation of the critically acclaimed horror film A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night. The comic miniseries will serve as a prequel to the movie. Radco says of the series:
…follows ‘The Girl,’ a centuries old vampire as she stalks (and skates) the sordid streets of Bad City, a fictional Iranian ghost-town, all the while dealing with the existential crisis of immortality.
The series will consist of six issues, which will then be collected into a graphic novel in October 2016.
Bad Summer
If you’re a faithful AiPT! reader you know we took a look at Bad Summer a few months ago and absolutely loved it—our own Dave Brooke described it as “highly relatable and compelling.” For the uninitiated, here’s Radco’s breakdown:
BAD SUMMER is an environmental horror story written and illustrated by ED LAROCHE about a heatwave in Los Angeles that constantly increases in severity. The story follows Alain and Shar, a struggling couple in the Los Feliz neighborhood of Los Angeles, whose resolve will be tested as the rising temperature pushes everyone around them to the absolute brink of sanity.
We loved the comic and are very much looking forward to the film adaptation, which is currently under development.
Future Content
Those are some great comics, but what’s truly exciting about Radco is the whole “transmedia” part I lightly touched on earlier. Ever wanted to experience your comics in complete virtual reality? Radco is planning on releasing VR content for Oculus Rift based on Girl and Summer.
Comic books as a medium has dipped its toes into ‘transmedia’ experiences in the past few years, with Marvel offering extra content through mobile apps with their Marvel AR program (among other things), but to actually experience a comic book in full 3D, 360 degree view could very well change the industry.
You can get in touch with Radco on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
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