Digital Diary, week 2: Wallace and Gromit Digital Comics

In a fortnight that witnessed another outpouring of apps, app related paraphenalia, and plenty more products masquerading as apps, one set sticks out amongst the rest for its simplistic brilliance: the Wallace and Gromit Digital Comics series produced by Titan Publishing.

The set comprises one free app and four paid offerings (’The W Files’; ‘Parts and Labour’; ‘Big in Japan’; and ‘Where there’s Muck there’s Brass,’ respectively), all launched to celebrate the 20th birthday of the plasticine pair.

The free comic – transparently named ‘The W Files’, sees everyone’s favourite crackpot inventor and his canine friend come up against a group of alien interlopers.  Public spirited as ever – the pair set off in search of the aliens, kitted out with Wallace’s various bizzare contraptions, only to be mistaken for aliens themselves and interviewed by the military staff of ‘Unitwit’. 

The comic comes complete with all the accoutrements one might expect: thinly veiled parodic episodes, brilliantly understated lines and slapstick humour.  The app’s creators have taken advantage of the new promotional pricing function of the App Store with ‘The W-Files’- making it available free for a limited time.   The others – which offer variously a glimpse into Wallace’s mad world of inventions, a trip to Japan and a misguided attempt by Wallace to bring brass music back to the local community – are available at the lowest priced tier of £0.59.

Developed by Titan Publishing, the apps are amongst the first in a long line of comic book and graphic novel releases – a frenzy that looks set to throw up more exciting creative content.  Watch this space.