Nawlz

About

Nawlz is an interactive comic book … sort of.

(To receive this information in PDF format, please download the Digital Press Kit in our Press Section.)

Nawlz combines text, illustration, music, animation and interactivity to create a never before seen panoramic comic format—one that tells the story of Harley Chambers as he kicks through the futuristic City of Nawlz, engaging in overlaying virtual realities, mind-bending drugs and other strange techno-cultures.

Created by illustrator and interactive designer Stu Campbell (a.k.a. Sutu), and first launched in late 2008, the interactive cyberpunk adventure series has broken new ground exploring how the Internet can provide immersive story experiences. ‘Season 1: Distortion Reigns Supreme,’ consisting of 14 episodes/issues delivered throughout 2008-2009 (providing roughly 2 hours of reading/viewing), resulted in an FWA award and praise from thousands of viewers around the world. The highly anticipated launch of ‘Season 2: Real Werld Information Breakdown’ is scheduled for February 2010.

The Format

The experimental nature of its delivery format is what makes Nawlz most unique, with traditional comic panels replaced by animated frames that play out on a panoramic, interactive digital canvas.

issue_10 Unlike most digital comics that mimic the static panels and flippable pages of their offline brethren, each episode of Nawlz is a horizontal digital scroll driven by a Flash engine that allows viewers to dictate the pace, scrolling horizontally from left to right using navigation that easily identifies markers where story progress requires a click … surrounded by semi-hidden mouse-overs that lead to bonus animation.

To truly appreciate the experience, give yourself an hour or two with the first season. Plop in front of a big, fat monitor, jack your headphones and explore. It’s an entirely new way of engaging with a comic.

The Creator

Nawlz is the creation of Australian artist Stu Campbell (a.k.a. Sutu).

Stu is a self taught flash designer and animator. He cites major influences on his work as science fiction writer William Gibson and Japanese manga artist Katshuhiro Otomo.

Beyond Nawlz, Stu has created multimedia installations for the Australian National Museum, military pilot training programs, and illustrations for skateboards and snowboards.

The Story

Nawlz depicts a future world of youth culture where technology is so advanced that reality is augmented with holographic overlays and multi-sensory interactive experiences.

The title of the comic comes from the name of the city in which it takes place, the sprawling yet claustrophobic metropolis called Nawlz.

The story follows Harley Chambers, a young cyber-graffiti artist trying to ‘cast’ his ’sleeper real’ to cover the entire city. (A ‘real’ is a sort of technological hallucination, like a mind broadcast, creating a virtual environment that overlays reality, available for all to experience. Anyone can have a Real and they can customize and design it to look any way they want. The process of projecting thoughts onto a Real is known as casting.)

Harley’s Real is based on a recurring dream he had when he was a kid, and the visual style is something he’s been perfecting for years, over which time he has managed to cover most of Nawlz with it.
The story turns when he encounters a bizarre, tentacled Real that resembles his own work, setting him on a path to discover the powerful forces behind the hijacking of his vision. He’s harassed by increasingly bizarre Reals as he tries to unravel the mystery, including a puffer fish, a headless corpse, and, most ominously, and a giant octopus beast whose tentacles are wrapped about the city.

As the story progresses, Harley pushes the limits of mind control with experimental software, hallucinogenic drugs and surgical upgrades applied directly to his brain, all of which threaten to permanently dissolve the boundaries between his reality and his imagination.

Series Credits

Nawlz story, illustration, coloring, animation and episode/issue programming are by Sutu (Stu Campbell). Main console programming is by Wayne Harris.

Season 1: Distortion Reigns Supreme

Issue 01 – “On the Clip Trail”
Sound design by: Sinuso Dial AKA Matt Tierney from mattleaf.com
Particles by: Duncan Gates and Brett Coffin

Issue 02 – “Sleeper Background”
Sound design by: Joel Edmondson and Sinuso Dial

Issue 03 – “28 Clips in the trip”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath and Sinuso Dial

Issue 04 – “Hail the Jon”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath

Issue 05 – “Nawlz Recap, Clip #28″
Sound design by: Speakerwrath

Issue 06 – “Master Chameleon”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Cephalopod footage courtesy of Marine Biologist Roger Hanlan

Issue 07 – “In Search of the Lotus Seed”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath

Issue 08 – “The Life Real”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 09 – “Skyman’s Hand”
Skyman artwork by Hiro Tsuri of onethousandcans.com
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 10 – “Elixir”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 11 – “Gracelands”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 12 – “Walking Limo”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 13 – “Seeds”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Additional sound by Sinuso Dial
Technical Editor: David Magri
3D brain animation by Shane Gates of Virtuocity.com.au

Issue 14 – “Distortion Reigns Supreme“
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Additional sound by Sinuso Dial
Technical Editor: David Magri

Season 2: Real Werld Information Breakdown

Issue 1 – “Real Werld Information Breakdown”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Additional sound by Garbageface
Technical Editor: David Magri

Issue 2 – “Rapid Form Social Blitzkrieg”
Sound design by: Speakerwrath
Additional sound by: Sinuso Dial
Technical Editor: David Magri