- Bobby Chiu and Jim Bryson, creators of Niko and the Sword of Light, are launching a Kickstarter campaign for their new interactive comic book, Magrid’s Magic Shoppe, to raise $19,999.
- Magrid’s Magic Shoppe tells the story of a witch named Magrid who lacks magical powers and allows readers to interact with the comic book through a feature called infinite zoom.
- Chiu and Bryson aim to bridge the gap between digital and physical media by creating a unique storytelling experience that combines elements of comic books and gameplay.
The minds behind acclaimed animated comic book Niko and the Sword of Light, Bobby Chiu and Jim Bryson, are working together again to bring a new interactive comic book, Magrid’s Magic Shoppe, to life.
Before Niko and the Sword of Light was an Emmy award-winning series on Prime Video, it was #1 in the Apple App Store in its category as a unique animated medium for comic book lovers. Now with their new project Magrid’s Magic Shoppe, they are looking to bridge the gap between digital and physical media and are launching a month-long Kickstarter for the project to raise $19,999. Launching on October 6 and ending on November 6, the crowdfunding campaign is offering an influx of rewards including original artwork, signed collectables, and exclusive access to the interactive technology.
Telling the story of a witch named Magrid who wasn’t granted magical powers like her peers, Magrid’s Magic Shoppe is based on a childhood dream of diving into the hidden layers of a comic strip. As such, readers are able to use technology to interact with the comic book and discover hidden clues through a feature called infinite zoom.
Instead of flipping through layers of pages, infinite zoom tells the story from within the images, having the reader zoom in and discover more “pages” of the story hidden amongst the previous frames.
Chiu, who previously worked as a character designer on Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, is the co-founder of An Infinite Story, a creative platform where artists can bring their worlds to life onscreen using infinite zoom. They describe the platform’s mission on their Kickstarter saying, “A single artist can create an incredible image. A small group can make a video. But making something playable usually requires a team. That’s the problem we want to tackle with An Infinite Story.” Magrid’s Magic Shoppe is a part of the platform’s latest showcases to further the creation of this unique kind of storytelling.
Bryson is a founding member of StudioNX and has worked with large clients such as Marvel, Disney, Amazon Studios, and Nickelodeon. He is the main illustrator and mind behind Magrid’s story and Chiu is helping to make it the embodiment of that interactive childhood dream.
Bryson and Chiu acknowledge how integrated gameplay and technology are in children’s lives these days and the creation of Magrid’s Magic Shoppe is an attempt to give comic readers a gaming-like experience.
They explain on Kickstarter that, “As you explore Magrid’s world, you’ll tap on characters and objects to discover what they have to say. You’ll need to read their responses to follow the story, uncover clues, find items, solve challenges, and figure out where to go next.”
If the collaborators meet their funding goal on Kickstarter, both Bryson and Chiu will be able to focus on their strengths in this project. Bryson can work to further Magrid’s world full-time and Chiu can continue to work with An Infinite Story to further develop this interactive technology for more worlds, like Magrid’s, to be created.
