The Carrier, an original graphic novel written by Evan Young and drawn by Luiz "Lula" Borges and Will Walber, is a graphic novel iPhone application developed by brothers Evan and Geoffrey Young of StopWatch Media.
The release of The Carrier as an iPhone graphic novel marked the first time that a complete creator-owned graphic novel has been published exclusively in a digital format for a mobile device in the United States. Essentially, it takes the print-centric, paper-first philosophy that has been driving American comic books for generations... and shreds it.
Gone is the model that has served comics for so long: that digital editions of comics support their print counterparts. Here now is a first step toward the future of mobile, digital comic book media: comics contained in a native mobile application, published in digital format first, unavailable in print, and supported by today's cutting-edge technology.
Gone is the comic book direct market and industry sales model that has created an insurmountable barrier to entry for independent creators. Here now is an entirely new model, tapping into an enormous and growing mobile market, with none of the old guard distribution and retail barriers to getting your work out there and into the hands of your audience.
As a graphic novel, The Carrier is a globe-spanning action & espionage story about a man who has a briefcase attached to his wrist, but he doesn't know how it got there or what is inside it.
As an iPhone app, however, The Carrier is a multimedia experience that unfolds in real time over the course of ten days. Simply put, if something happens at 3:21 a.m. in the comic, you read it at 3:21 a.m. in real life.
Additionally, The Carrier also includes a ton of extras that are delivered through email, or by using geo-location services, or through Push notifications – all of which tap into the iPhone's innate and innovative new technological capabilities.
For more information, feel free to visit The Carrier's download page for instructions on downloading and installing the app, read our announcements in The Carrier's press release page, or follow The Carrier on Twitter.
If you have already installed The Carrier and have begun enjoying the experience, visit The Carrier's extras page to see what you may have missed... or what you have in store.