Broken Frontier

www.Clickwheel.net, the distributor of online comic books or ‘webcomics’ for iPod, believes the recent Apple iPhone launch will bring about a revolution in how consumers enjoy comic books.

Available via the iTunes Store and the Clickwheel website, the Clickwheel collection of bespoke and commissioned comic books have been downloaded to iPods since 2006, but it is only now with the advent of the iPhone and it’s unique interface that online comic books will come into its own.

Will Simons, Creative Director of Clickwheel.net said, "With the iPhone, we’re looking towards a format and interface that's closer to the art of the comic book, with pages that can be 'turned', or 'leafed' through, with a flick of your finger, or zoomed in on. It's a completely different experience that could prove the tipping point for an industry looking for new ways to connect to its readers. And I'm not just talking about comic books either - it could well be the device that takes book publishing to new levels."

Clickwheel.net was acquired this year by Rebellion, one of Europe’s largest videogames developers and owners of the UK cult sci-fi comic 2000 AD .

Will Simons continues, "With Rebellion on board, our offering of premium comic content has increased massively offering consumers a wonderful collection of stories and to coincide with the iPhone launch, we’ve commissioned 3 brand new collections including the 10 Seconders which appeared in 2000 AD this year."

Webcomics have a young following usually aged between 16-25 who actively search out exciting and innovative entertainment via online or mobile. The market is growing year-on-year with tens of thousands titles already available online. Clickwheel has begun commissioning work from webcomic creators, offering exclusive work from popular creators, available only via Clickwheel.

Will Simons concludes, "Over the long-term, our goal is to become a leader and innovator in premium digitally delivered entertainment, with the web as our main platform and we believe the success of iPhone will help play an important part in this and the market as a whole."