Interview: PJ Holden, Artist of Murderdrome iPhone Comic
One of the biggest tech stories this summer was the release of Apple’s new 3G iPhone and the subsequent opening of the App Store. The App Store allowed companies, publishers, game developers, and others to sell or give away for free their iPhone application through the App Store to consumers.
One comics company, Infurious Comics submitted the first issue of their iPhone comic, Murderdrome by Al Ewing and PJ Holden to be available through the App Store for free with the next three issues to be available for $1.99 US.
Despite having R-rated content available through their iTunes store, Apple decided not to carry Murderdrome due to the excessive violence and subject matter. News of this decision spread like wildfire with everyone from the Wall Street Journal to Fortune magazine to high-profile blogs and web sites covering the news.
Digital Comic News recently spoke with the artist on Murderdrome, PJ Holden about the history of Murderdrome, about the controversy surround Apple’s decision, and what lies ahead.
Most people reading this may already be familiar with your work on the FEARLESS mini-series which came out from Image Comics in late 2007 / early 2008. What else have you worked on?
Having baby number 2 (though, to be fair, my wife has done the hard bits). Took some time off to deal with that, then I’ve slowly started moving back into drawing. Right now, I’m doing some stuff I can talk about (more 2000AD work) and stuff I can’t (er… I can’t talk about it…)
For those who don’t know much about Murderdrome besides the controversy behind it, what is Murderdrome and who do you think the audience is for it?
Murderdrome is, a goofy comic about a future sport. Played straight faced but completely over the top and, pretty much in keeping with the British sensibility and black humour. Personally, I think it’s a laugh riot. As for it’s audience… as a rule I don’t set out thinking ‘who are the audience for this’ - in my mind, I’M the audience. As long as I enjoy it then, hopefully, other people will too.
What was the impetus to do MURDERDROME? What was it about the project which made you take it on?
I’ve worked with Al before, on the 2000AD strip DeadSignal, and I really enjoy Al’s writing - properly, sit down and enjoy it. I love the breathless energy and the goofy over the top that sort of infuses his work. Al asked, after DeadSignal, if I’d be interested in doing a webstrip. And I was, I figured, no pressure, just sit and draw something goofy, put it online and bingo. A Free comic.
Course, at this time I was mulling over the possibilities of the iPhone / iPod touch (I’ll just keep calling that combo an iPhone - but I mean both) and had worked out a way I thought an iPhone comic would work. After chatting with a programmer (Phil Orr, Blue Pilot Software) who committed to doing it, I told Al it wasn’t going to be a webcomic, it was going to be an iPhone comic. He was happy enough.
How long has Murderdrome been in development?
About two weeks. Once we decided it was for the iPhone it was just a question of doing it. No faffing around, just sitting down and drawing.
When Murderdrome was submitted to be available through Apple’s App Store, did you or your colleagues think it would be approved without any problems?
The Apple SDK is still fairly new ground, and, somewhat naively, I’d just assumed we’d be ok with our content (I was probably too close to it to get a proper feel for it). It was only at the final stages, when apple had removed some other apps from the app store, that I felt we might be on unsteady ground - but by then I felt a clock was ticking.
Did you expect the media frenzy which resulted once the news leaked about regarding Apple’s decision not to carry it in their App Store?
I anticipated… something… but I couldn’t have put my finger on it. In fact, when I emailed Rich the original story I wrote in the title ‘Potentially massive?’ - but there’s no way I could have imagined it would reach places like the Wall Street Journal (albeit online), Fortune magazine, and the hundreds of other English language sites (not to mention French, Italian and others).
Why the iPhone? Did you see it as a way to reach a bigger market than if it was done as a web comic as originally intended?
Webcomics don’t really excite me. I have problems with comics on a computer monitor; it’s just not an ideal medium for comics (plus the only people who read them are comic readers). Essentially I want comics that you can pick up and take with you or read on the loo. Plus, making money from webcomics seems to only come to a lucky few after years of hard work.
How were you planning on monetizing Murderdrome?
Issue 0 was a free issue. Issue 1, containing 22 pages of comic (plus the multiple layers of backmatter), would have sold for $1.99 from the Apple App store (as would issues two, three and four).
Besides the publicity which it brought you and everyone at Infurious (the company behind Murderdrome), has there been any new developments as a result?
Yes. But nothing I can talk about. Happily we’re in a place where the business plan is pretty much rock solid, so, no matter what new developments appear and disappear (and exciting things will evaporate just as quickly as they appeared sometimes) we’re going to be ok. We have a bunch of top creators lined up and champing at the bit to get something new on the iPhone and it’s one of the most exciting times, for me, to be in comics.
Do you think the public will get to enjoy Murderdrome in the near future?
I certainly hope so. There’s a discrepancy in the app store where a game can have a rating (and, therefore, be allowed with some pretty visceral violence) and yet a ‘book’ can’t. So, for example, a Quake game would be a allowed but a comic based on Quake wouldn’t. Personally, I’d love to see a dedicated comic section with ratings, otherwise, apple are turning down the opportunity to be the place where the next Frank Miller, Warren Ellis, Garth Ennis or Alan Moore might be found.
So where does Infurious and Murderdrome go from here?
Murderdrome goes into the drawer until we see a final answer from Apple (which has yet to happen). I don’t want to talk about what Infurious is doing next, but it’s both surprising and obvious - and could reinvent the comics market in a way that it’s hard to imagine.
Considering the fickleness of the direct market, do you see yourself moving towards projects like Murderdrome which are available exclusively as a digital comic?
Absolutely, in fact, Infurious will be NOTHING but digital comics and with creator owned work, creators will retain copyright and, if they so wish, they’ll be able to go off and find a traditional publisher.
While it is still too early to tell, do you see digital comics like Murderdrome to be a big part of how comics are created and distributed in the near future?
I think digital comics will be huge. There will ALWAYS be a market for print comics, and many people will hold out for a bigger screen than the iPhone offers, but the iPhone represents the best chance of a high quality comic reader with a built in distribution network. It’s going to be MASSIVE.
Many thanks to PJ Holden for taking the time to speak with us. You can learn more about PJ at his personal web site and you can follow him on Twitter.
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