In a world where mainstream comic book titles routinely top the digital download charts, one challenger has risen like David against Goliath to stake its claim: Robot 13 by Thomas Hall and Daniel Bradford has just become one of the first independently produced comics to push past the 100,000 download mark!

A true-blue indie label comic garnering 100,000+ readers is an unparalleled triumph for both independents and digital comics alike.  There are few such comics that make it onto Diamonds’ Top 300 for any given month, and none that rise above the 10,000 order mark.  Robot 13, on the Android market alone, Robot 13, with Android Market downloads alone, would be at the #2 position of Diamond Top 300 of June 2010! Which is unquestionably ground-breaking of for an indie.

“Robot 13 is a truly Independent Comics success story,” Blacklist Studios’ Co-Owner and Robot 13 Co-Creator Thomas Hall said. “Everything was done without Diamond’s distribution or outside funding, and was the product of two guys making Comics they wanted to see as fans.”

“Sure, we knew the book was pretty good,” Blacklist Studios’ Co-Owner and Robot 13’s Co-Creator Daniel Bradford continued. “But who could know we would get that level of interest? It was more than anyone could have expected.”

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Robot Comics’ Robot 13 app recently became the first comic app to be featured on the Android Market.

Developed by Robot Comics and featuring the indie smash success by Thomas Hall & Daniel Bradford, the Robot 13 app combines ground-breaking transition effects with vibration to create a truly unique reading experience for the end user.

After being featured, Robot 13 was downloaded more than 50,000 additional times by Android users in just a few short days.  These are some of their comments:

“Absolutely brilliant. Fantastic illustration and the way it moves from page to page is brilliant. Never seen anything like it before!” -Laura

“This is so cool. It’s the perfect balance between interactive and traditional comic book. It’s a lot of fun to read.” -Aaron

“Very cool I don’t really like comics but this is something I could get addicted to” -john

“Excellent way of writing a story. Love the extras like vibrations and zoom. Awesome. Purely Awesome.” -Cesar

Curious? Download Robot 13 #1, available for free both on Android and iPhone.

Over 40 free comics will be offered to users of the ARCHOS 5 internet tablet to inaugurate the Books & Comics category in AppsLib, the Android application marketplace for Archos devices.

The offering includes the first issue of all Robot Comics series and ongoings, and also complete stories and one-shots. These comics will span a variety of genres, for all tastes and ages: Valentine, the fantasy epic by Alex de Campi (Smoke) and Christine Larsen (Shrek), American Terror, the sci-fi war drama by Alterna Comics and Jeff McComsey, Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s Guest, illustrated by Steven Sanders (S.W.O.R.D.), or Jason James‘ ghostboy, an all-ages ghost story, are only a few of the many titles that will make Archos’ users rediscover the joy of reading comics.

Also offered, alongside the free comics, will be the free app Droid Comic Viewer, the leading Android comic and manga reader, which allows users not only to read Robot Comics releases, but also any comic in CBZ, CBR and ACV formats. Droid Comic Viewer has a growing community of more than 100K active users worldwide and supports all Android devices, from the affordable HTC Tattoo to the powerful Google Nexus One, and now the versatile ARCHOS 5 High Resolution Internet Tablet.

The added “Books & Comics” category of the AppsLib market creates a new layer of entertainment for the ARCHOS 5 internet tablet , which already supports a wide range of traditional media and games. Following this initial release, Robot Comics will start publishing free and paid comics weekly both in the Android Market and on AppsLib, for ARCHOS 5 internet tablet users.

About Robot Comics

Robot Comics publishes mobile comics for all Android devices, and also iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Nintendo DSi and the Amazon Kindle. It is one of first and few mobile comic publishers who offer titles specifically designed and formatted to be read on mobile devices.

Stephen Lindsey – creator of the fan-favorite Jesus Hates Zombies – teams with artist Rolf Lejdegärd to unleash his latest weird hyper-action masterpiece, Massive Awesome.  Originally published by 215Ink, Massive Awesome is a planned 4-issue mini-series of interconnecting one-shots starring a piece of bacon and a pickle.  Yes, you read that right.  So what’s so massive and awesome about it?  Did we mention the bacon is a commando 80’s action hero?  And that  the pickle thinks it’s a zombie?  And that they battle ninjas, robots, evil masterminds, and more?

It’s all-out action all the way with a free first issue, available now on Android and coming soon to iTunes!  Plus: the Android version comes packaged with an original, full-color Jesus Hates Zombies story, “Sorority Row”!  It’s mobile comic MAGIC!!!

Synopsis

A commando piece of man-sized Bacon and a Pickle that thinks it’s a zombie.  Together, they fight ninjas.  Lots and lots of ninjas. And robots. And evil masterminds. Must be read to be believed!  Includes an original Jesus Hates Zombies bonus story!  By Stephen Lindsay and Rolf Lejdegärd, produced by 215 Ink.

Download

Alternatively, search “Massive Awesome” on the Market.

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Jesus! Zombies! Werewolves! And now with 100% more Abraham Lincoln!

Alterna Comics’ Jesus Hates Zombies has been one of the best-selling comics on Android since its debut in mid-2009. Now the series makes a triumphant return to the platform with an all-new storyline starting with Jesus Hates Zombies #5: Jesus Hates Zombies Featuring Lincoln Hates Werewolves: Yea, Though I Walk.

Originally released as four graphic novels, JHZFLHW picks up where the original JHZ left off, with Jesus and his zombie sidekick, Laz, searching for a way to rid the world of the zombie plague.  When they look for help from Heaven, they wind up facing a threat even worse than the zombies!  And how does Abraham Lincoln and werewolves fit into this?  Oh, my, that would be telling.

Jesus Hates Zombies #5 will also feature a free preview of creator Stephen Lindsey’s new comic: Massive Awesome, starring  a commando piece of bacon and a pickle that thinks its a zombie squaring off against ninjas, robots, and more!

Download

Alternatively, search “Jesus Hates Zombies” on the Market.

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“It’s a thriller, expertly written and wonderfully illustrated…It’s amazing that [Lewis and Copland] are able to introduce the scheme, put it in motion, introduce complications, and wrap everything up in only sixty-six pages, but they pull it off by densely packing every page with story. The whole thing never feels rushed. The [three] issues form a complete story with a satisfying end. –Michael May, Comic World News

Writer A. David Lewis is no stranger to the world of comics, having penned the Harvey-Award nominated and Howard E. Day Prize winning The Lone and Level Sands, as well as the Paper Screen Gem Award winning Mortal Coils and the critically acclaimed Some New Kind of Slaughter. Now Lewis is teaming with rising-star artist Jason Copland (The Perhapanauts: Molly’s Story, Postcards, and Trickster) to bring mobile comics readers the action-oriented thriller, Empty Chamber.

“It’s a weird recipe,” Lewis says of the book. “It’s The Bourne Identity and Bourne Supremacy mixed a little with Goldeneye. And, from comics, there’s a bit of Whiteout, Queen & Country, Global Frequency and even Planetary thrown in (no wonder the Colonel’s named Ellis, right?). After working with Jason on Mortal Coils, I wanted to do a project that was not only fun and exciting, but would appeal to the sort of broad audience that enjoys 24.  In teaming with Jason Copland, I don’t think we’ve sacrificed intelligence or storytelling by any means.”

Empty Chamber is being released as a 3-issue monthly mini-series by Robot Comics. The first issue is now available for Android using Robot Comics new frame-by-frame reading experience and will soon be offered on iTunes and for the Amazon Kindle in both K1&2 and DX editions.

“When I wrote Empty Chamber, I was thirsty for some smart action,” says Lewis. “Adventure’s great, but only when it’s held up with a pretty intelligent structure. At the same time, nothing kills action quicker than egg-headed snobbery that flies over its audience’s head. Empty Chamber is an attempt to walk that middle route: It’s meant to be sharp.”

Second Generation Mobile Comic

Emtpy Chamber is a second generation mobile comic, blending together frame-by-frame animation, transition effects, vibration and custom screens to provide a brand new comic reading experience while also staying true to the traditional comic book form.

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A good, old-fashioned space opera. –Dave Sim

I love the cartooning. –Warren Ellis

Matt Dembicki seems to have a good handle on dialogue and knows how to keep the story flowing with just enough exposition peppered in-between the action bits. –Ain’t It Cool News

The art is original, the story is funny and captures the imagination, and there’s a lot of action. –TalkAboutComics.com

Ignatz-Award and Howard E. Day Prize winner (for Xoc and Mr. Big, respectively) Matt Dembicki doesn’t just write epic narratives about underwater ocean-life – he also writes about heroic, space-faring, sword-wielding pond life!

Robot Comics is proud to present Spadefoot by Dembicki and artist Andrew Cohen for Android and Apple mobiles. Spadefoot is a classic space opera following one freebooting royal toad as he stumbles upon a threat to the entire universe. An all-ages, fast-paced, four-part series that blends mainstream pulp with indie comic weirdness to produce something better than both. Spadefoot #1 is now available on the Android market and will soon be released on iTunes as well.

Second Generation Mobile Comic

Spadefoot is a second generation mobile comic, blending together frame-by-frame animation, transition effects, vibration and custom screens to provide a brand new comic reading experience while also staying true to the traditional comic book form.

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Robot Comics offers more than 40 free mobile comics for Android, iPhone, iPod touch and Nintendo DSi.

This May 1st thousands of comic book fans and casual readers will visit comics shops all over the USA and Canada to get free comics thanks to Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). Yet, if you’ve got an Android, iPhone, iPod touch or Nintendo DSi anywhere in the world, dozens of hours of free comic book entertainment await you, as close as your fingertips, with unlimited stock, and not just this Saturday.

From the energetic OEL manga Bear Beater Bunyan, to the nostalgic Craphound by Cory Doctorow, Robot Comics has dozens of free comics available every day. The first issue for all our series is free without exception, and we additionally have complete stories free of charge, such as Ben Powis‘ strange but beautiful Turtle Guitar, or Juan Romera’s sci-fi mystery, Misery Depot.

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One of the greatest independent hits and the most popular mobile comic for Android has a change of hearth. Starting this month, Stephen Lindsay’s “Jesus Hates Zombies” switches genres and becomes “Jesus Loves Zombies”, a romance comic.

“After Obama’s healthcare program got approved, it didn’t feel right anymore,” states Jesus Hates Zombies creator Stephen Lindsay. “I called [Alterna Comics' President] Petey and pitched him this idea of taking Jesus [Hates Zombies] in a whole new direction, and he told me I was insane. It was the same thing he told me when I pitched [Jesus] Hates Zombies, so I took it as a good thing.”

Instead of bashing their brains like usual, the new series has its titular character Jesus frolicking with zombies and turning them into a force of good through the power of love. “Jesus Loves Zombies” hopes to bring romance comics back into the spotlight, a genre that is not always popular with comics fans. “Twilight has shown us that romance and horror can blend well. Jesus Loves Zombies will definitely appeal to fans of Meyer’s saga,” says Lindsay. The new comic also introduces Mary Jane, Jesus’ main love interest, and a character that Lindsay believes will be a fan-favorite: “Fans won’t get enough Mary Jane. She’s addicting!”

About the relation with the previous series, “Jesus Hates Zombies”, Peter Simeti, Alterna Comics’ President, adds: “Forget about it. Readers should come to this series empty-minded. As a matter of fact we’re thinking of pulling a George Lucas and remove all the violence from the original series. If it worked for Star Wars it might work for us. Collectors be warned: those copies of Jesus Hates Zombies are going to become a rare item pretty soon!”

“Jesus Hates Zombies” has found new life in mobile devices, the Android platform in particular, through mobile comic publisher Robot Comics. Hermes Pique, its Director, feels confident that “Jesus Loves Zombies” will also be a hit: “We publish anything from Stephen blindly. Heck, we don’t even read the comics he sends us, we don’t have time for all his insane ideas. He could submit a comic about ninja bacon and we would publish it on the spot. This was no different.”

We asked the men responsible for the series for closing words:

Simeti: “I can see the money pouring in already.”

Pique: “This one will definitely be approved by Apple.”

Lindsay: “Zombie-love-making. ‘Nuff said.”

“Jesus Loves Zombies” is now available for Android devices, and will be soon available in print. Fans can download the Android version from this link.

Robot Comics is proud to bring Bram Stoker’s Dracula’s Guest to mobiles, adapted by Stephen L. Antczak and James C. Bassett, illustrated by Steven Sanders (S.W.O.R.D., Thunder Road) and lettered by Sean Taylor. Presented both as an illustrated short story and as an original comic book, this free version of Dracula’s Guest will provide a thrilling introduction to Stoker’s most well known novel.

Dracula’s Guest follows a curious Englishman on a visit to Munich before leaving for Transylvania. It is Walpurgis Night, and in spite of the hotelier’s warnings, the young man later wanders toward the direction of an abandoned unholy village, where a series of inexplicable happenings will give the Englishman a taste of what soon awaits him.

Included in a collection of Stoker’s short stories posthumously collected by his widow, Dracula’s Guest has puzzled readers and scholars for generations. Is it an early, excised chapter of Dracula? Or the basis of a much larger short story related to the novel? While its nature still remains unclear, the story remains an important part of the Dracula mythos -and, of course, a ripping good yarn!

Antczak, Basset and Sanders take on the challenge of presenting Dracula’s Guest to modern audiences by creating a faithful comic book adaptation of the short story. Currently available for iPhone and iPod touch, the adaptation will be soon be published for Android mobiles, Kindle and various other digital platforms.

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