Graphite Comics, creator of the free comic reading app that launched earlier this year, announced the first of its Graphite Original series, “Spark,” from Eisner-nominated creator Ryan Benjamin. The series, written by Hannah Benjamin with art by Asia Ladowska, “follows the journey of a talented young artist named Spark as she navigates her way to becoming a professional in the comic book industry and comes into her own as an adult.” According to the press release, the story explores the conflict between letting her inner “spark” shine while facing the daily hurdles of becoming a professional artist.
In addition, Graphite also announced that it’s adding two popular webcomics to the platform: “PvP,” the Eisner award-winning series by Scott Kurtz, as well as “Heart and Brain” by Nick Seluk. Kurtz will also add “Table Titans” to Graphite. The two join several other creators in adding their content to the app, including “It’s Weinye” by Weinye, four series by Instagram star Chris Hallbeck, “Cubicles” and “Shiver Bureau” by Walter Ostlie, “Ah, Mince!’ by Plamadon, webtoons “Mermaid’s Dagger” and “Crimson Strings” by Useros, “Rock May Rock” by Nicky Soh, “The Dummy’s Dummy” by Mocha, “Last Chase” by Eggpuranto, “Star Crossed” by Eggpuranto and Daikon, and “RaphComic” by Raph.
Finally, Graphite also announced the launch of the beta of its self-publishing platform for creators, which includes revenue share. Self-published titles can come from a range of formats — comics, webtoons, webcomics, or manga — and will appear throughout the app depending on genre, format, and age rating, utilizing Graphite’s A.I.-driven discover system to push series to potential readers.
According to Chief Content Officer Tom Akel, “Creators are the lifeblood of this industry and the future success of platforms and publishers is tethered to theirs. A core principle of Graphite is that it’s our responsibility to provide creators with the right platform, tools, and opportunities, all while preserving creators’ rights. Today’s launch of our self-publishing platform is another step towards fulfilling that promise.”
