Anomaly Productions, an indie comics publisher specializing in digitally enhanced graphic novels, has released an app verision of Shifter, a sci-fi graphic novel with augmented reality technology that features actor Wil Wheaton and a cast of voice actors. Since its release last week the app has been the #1 selling book app in 25 countries.
Produced by the creative team of Skip Brittenham, Brian Haberlin and Brian Holgun, Shifter is the story of an unwitting character that discovers an alien technology that allows him to experience life through other living things, especially animals. Released in print in November 2013, Shifter is the second in a series of painted graphic novels from Anomaly Productions embedded with augmented reality and other digital enhancements that turn the book's story and imagery into lively, interactive 3D animations when viewed through an AR scanner app. (The creative team also includes artists Gierrod Van Dyke and Kunrong Yap.)
In 2012, the company also published the Anomaly graphic novel, a massive and epic 370 page comics sci-fi work that also makes extensive use of AR technology. (In addition to the Shifter book app, Anomaly Productions offers a separate Anomaly AR scanner app that allows the viewer to see the AR animations embedded in the graphic novel.)
The Shifter book app turns the graphic novel into a interactive graphic audiobook featuring a cast of voice actors led by Wheaton, best known for his roles on the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation. The Shifter app provides the first chapter of the book for free and readers can get a taste of the digital graphic novel, which features voice actors, sound effects, a musical score and a variety of pop-up supplementary info about the story and its characters. Readers can unlock the full Shifter e-book for $2.99 or they can buy each of its nine chapters individually for 99 cents each.
The app features 200 pages of comics material, 65 interactive touch points and two and a half hours of audio. Since its release, Shifter has been the top selling book app in India, Israel, UAE, Turkey, the Bahamas and Egypt. The book also registered at #3 in the U.S. and #4 in Canada.
Brian Haberlin, who created some of the art for the work and is a cofounder of Anomaly Productions, said “we’re committed to developing graphic novels that are more interactive and immersive than ever before. We’re thrilled at how well this highly cinematic and action-filled app has been received around the world, and can’t wait to welcome even more readers into the mind-bending world of Shifter. ”
