Friday, September 21, 2012

The Atavist Releases Stowaway, an Enhanced E-Comic

Atavist No. 17, Stowaway, by Josh Neufeld and Tori Marlan, is an enhanced nonfiction e-comic that traces the 12,000-mile journey of an orphan from Ethiopia to America.

NEW YORK ( Sharewellnewswire.com ) September 19 , 2012 - Reporter Tori Marlan teams up with renowned cartoonist Josh Neufeld to tell the story of an Ethiopian boy’s daring 12,000-mile journey alone to America. Stowaway (www.atavist.com/stories/stowaway) follows Fanuel on his odyssey from the streets of Addis Ababa to the deserts of Mexico through the Atavist’s immersive storytelling technology, which includes sound, video, and interactive graphics. Fifteen-year-old Fanuel dodges authorities while relying on complete strangers as he struggles to find a mysterious woman in Seattle named Sofia. This is the first Atavist story to be available for purchase on the Web. The full mulitmedia version of the story is available for the iPhone and iPad, through The Atavist app in the iTunes store. 

Told in Neufeld’s unique graphic style, Stowaway delves into unchartered digital longform territory. Atavist’s software team created a custom Comics Reader—inside The Atavist iOS app—which includes panel-by-panel navigation, a soundtrack, and the traditional extras features for which Atavist is known: interactive maps, timelines, and animations. It’s all in the service of bringing the reader into Fanuel’s uncertain journey across three continents. 
 
Marlan first met Fanuel in 2006 while doing research at the International Children’s Center in Chicago, and eventually reported out the details of his journey to the U.S. With a background in investigative print reporting, she was new to nonfiction comics, but felt strongly that a graphic approach would bring Fanuel’s story to light in a unique way. Her collaborator and longtime friend Josh Neufeld is an award-winning comics artist and author of a number of acclaimed nonfiction comics, including AD: After the Deluge. “I think people are finally realizing that comics is a medium and not a genre, and that you can use comics to tell any kind of story,” says Neufeld.
 
Atavist (www.atavist.com) was founded by Evan Ratliff, Jefferson Rabb and Nicholas Thompson, who teamed up to create a publisher that would explore the new frontiers of the digital world. “Expanding into nonfiction comics is all part of our mission to push the boundaries of digital longform journalism,” says Atavist CEO Ratliff. “We’re honored to have the opportunity to publish the work of the amazingly talented Josh Neufeld and Tori Marlan.”
 
Neufeld and Marlan are available for: 
 
Interviews (written, broadcast, podcast) Guest articles Live appearances 
 
To learn more about Stowaway, visit www.atavist.com/stories/stowaway
 
Twitter: @theatavist
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Contact Info:
Gray Beltran
(718) 522-7871
gray@atavist.net
http://www.atavist.com
The Atavist


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