Bobby Chiu and Jim Bryson, the creative team behind the Emmy-winning animated comic book series Niko and the Sword of Light, have launched a new interactive project titled Magrid’s Magic Shoppe. The duo is funding this endeavor through a Kickstarter campaign, which concludes on November 6.
Magrid’s Magic Shoppe is described as the world's first infinitely zooming playable fantasy comic. The platform allows users to explore artwork panel by panel, uncover hidden details, and solve puzzles. Jim Bryson, the artist for the project, explained that the interactive comic blurs the lines between comics, animation, and games, fulfilling a childhood desire to explore the intricate details within comic pages.
Chiu and Bryson previously collaborated on Niko and the Sword of Light, an animated comic book app that was adapted into a series for Amazon Prime Video. That show notably became the first pilot to win an Emmy Award before its official premiere.
Chiu, who co-founded the interactive platform An Infinite Story, brings extensive experience from the film and animation industries, including character design work on Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland and founding LightBox Expo and Schoolism. Bryson is a founding member of StudioNX, a visual development studio that has worked with clients such as Marvel, Disney, Amazon, and Nickelodeon.
Beyond Magrid’s Magic Shoppe, the Kickstarter aims to develop An Infinite Story into a toolkit that empowers independent artists. This toolkit is intended to allow artists to transform their existing artwork into interactive and monetizable experiences without requiring programming expertise or significant studio resources. Chiu highlighted the difficulty independent artists face in making a living, stating that while there are more avenues to share work, monetization remains challenging.
Backers of the Kickstarter campaign can receive various rewards, including digital artwork, early access to the interactive experience, physical art books, signed collectibles, original art, and even the opportunity to be depicted as a character within the story.
Magrid's Magic Shoppe is currently available for support on Kickstarter.