Copper topper Tom Brown takes comics to disc BY SAM PFEIFLE
	TALES FROM THE COPPER AGE BY TOM BROWN | AVAILABLE AT STRANGE MAINE, IN PORTLAND | 207.771.9997

To say that comic books are no longer kids’ stuff is to travel in cliché of the highest order. Still, they have remained largely unchanged for a long, long time. Sure, content has gotten edgier, artists have broken down and built back up the format of delivering stories, and we now call some of them "graphic novels," but, really, they remain what they’ve always been: pictures, often accompanied by words, which tell a story in book form. Hence, "comic books."

Gorham-based illustrator and comic-book author Tom Brown has finally pushed the envelope, however. With the release of Tales of the Copper Age, Brown has developed a brand-new way of reading comic books, by eliminating the book altogether. Copper Age comes as a CD, in packaging that is eight inches by eight inches, and includes three stories you can read via your PC (currently, no Mac version is available), through PowerPoint or a downloadable addition to your Web browser.

The stories are recognizable as "comic books": a wordless tale about a man with a moon-shaped head finding love; a ditty about a mythical fast-food joint where payment can be made in sonnets or songs; and a throw-back to Brown’s independent comics roots called New England Gothic, about a town on an island in Casco Bay that’s been inhabited by the Fog.

There’s a bit of fantasy, a bit of irony, some very good art, and a few one-liners that literary fans should appreciate. It’s also hard to read (the text is small, and at 72 dpi there’s not quite enough information for the eye to pickup, and there’s no zoom tool), and a little clumsy in the page turning. But you can see the potential. Oh, yes, the potential is great.

Brown can see it, too, and he has no illusions that this is the best product he can put out. Mostly, it came about because it was the only product he could put out.

"I wanted to do a color comic book and priced it out and there was no way I could afford it," says Brown. So, necessity being the mother of invention, "I found a way to do it on the browser." His long-range plans include getting local bands involved, pairing local music with the stories themselves to make comic-book reading a multi-media experience.

"That way we end up advertising with each other," Brown reasons, "and music and comics pretty much go together."

The question remains, of course, whether anyone actually wants to read comics on their computer.

"My research has been very informal," Brown admits. "My thought has been to do something that I would think would be great, make the best thing that I can make, and assume that it will be my job to find the audience, rather than tailoring the product to a particular audience."

He did a little interview with the guys who made Mystery Science Theater 3000. They said, "the right people will get it," says Brown.

People could also be attracted to the bonus features that come with the comic CD. In issue one, Brown has included jpegs that act as T-shirt designs and files you can use as desktop wall-paper. It’s only a matter of time before they also come with exclusive mp3s and more gimcracks than you can shake a stick at — stuff traditional books won’t be able to deliver.

However, Brown isn’t totally anti-traditional. He wants his product in stores, for instance, "because I prefer to shop in a store — there’s something a little bit cold about Internet shopping to me." And, he says, "I wanted to make sure it wasn’t cynical — that was very important, because cynicism gives people something to live down to. I’d rather make something that’s, if possible, ennobling."

He has, at least, made something that’s different.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at sam@phx.com