Kaitlin Grayson considers herself just an artist until she gets recruited by a strange man named Bartamus, who shows up at her place in the middle of the night and demands she use her skills to save his dying world. Soon Kait gets caught between two worlds, and if Bartamus’ world falls, Earth is next — along with untold other worlds.
In Maps & Legends is a contemporary fantasy digital comic with hints of science fiction and steampunk. Artist Niki Smith did the amazing artwork, and I did the writing.
The comic won the November 2009 competition hosted by DC Comics imprint Zuda Comics, and it ran on a weekly basis in 2010 until Zuda closed down. We re-launched the comic on September 1st, 2010, and the final issue (#9), went live on October 5th, 2011.
The Story
Kaitlin Grayson, a freelance illustrator and mapmaker for fat fantasy novel, finds herself driven by some strange compulsion to create a mixed-media map of a place she’s never been. A map that covers all four walls of the window-less spare room she keeps locked next to her tiny bedroom. She doesn’t know where the inspiration for the map comes from, but she can’t stop herself from carving up the walls for her map.
One cold night while Kait is finishing her map, a disheveled man named Bartamus bursts into her apartment, claiming that only she can save his dying world.
For Kait, things like this happen in the books she illustrates so often, she feels like she knows what will happen next. But she couldn’t be more wrong when she steps through her map and charges headlong into another world — a world that desperately needs her.
You can buy issues from these sites:
- Comixology (iPhone/iPad, Android Phone, Online Reader)
- Graphic.ly (iPhone, iPad, Windows Phone, Desktop Application, Web Reader)
- Weightless Books (Kindle, PDF)
- Amazon’s US Kindle Store (Kindle)
- Amazon’s UK Kindle Store (Kindle)
- Amazon’s German Kindle Store (Kindle)
- Barnes & Noble (Nook)
- Google eBooks (ePub)
- DriveThruComics (PDF Download)
- MyDigitalComics (PDF, CBZ, Online Reader)
- XinXii (PDF Download)
You can also buy issues 1-9 as a complete series (like a digital trade paperback).
Related Story
You can also read a short story that works as a prequel to the events of In Maps & Legends: “In the Process of Disappearing.”
This story is now available as an ebook.
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Hi Michael,
I tried to buy the comic through Comixology but couldn’t find it (maybe I was doing something wrong). So I bought it through Amazon UK for the kindle and set out to read it on the iPad Kindle app.
This actually proved to be impossible because the orientation of your pages is different from the orientation of your cover and when I turn the iPad to try and read it the whole thing reorientates itself so I can’t.
While this is a lesson learned for me, I think your other potential readers should be aware of this, too.
Steve
Hi Steve — sorry for the hassle with trying to read our comic! Thanks for letting me know.
One of the drawbacks of publishing on so many platforms is that we don’t have access to all the various gadgets, phones, and versions of those operating systems on those devices to test everything.
I don’t have an iPad, but here’s an article about locking the iPad orientation — not sure if it works or not, but….
http://osxdaily.com/2010/12/03/how-to-lock-ipad-orientation-in-ios-4-2/
Could you let me know if that works? I’d love to leave a note about this to our readers. Kindle and now the Nook have at least 4-5 apps for multiple devices, which is way too many to test. We just have to put our comic out there and hope for the best…
Also, here’s a link to the series:
https://comics.comixology.com/#/series/4946/In-Maps-Legends
And here’s the free preview link:
https://comics.comixology.com/#/issue/3564/In-Maps-Legends-Preview
Thanks! I hope you enjoy issue 1, and thanks again for letting me know!
Best,
Mike
Hi Mike,
I’ve just learned something I didn’t know about the iPad – thanks for the link; doing that made it work, though it’s not ideal.
Going to the Comixology link from my PC I realised what I’d done wrong. When searching in the comixology app I’d typed in “In Maps and Legends” and it’s down as “In Maps & Legends”. *slaps head*
Thandks again for the help. Now to read it properly.
Best,
Steve
And you’ve just nailed the biggest problem with digital comics — searching for them! There are some kinks to be ironed out there by the various distributors.
Glad it worked! Google is my good friend…
I like the comixology app but as you say, finding what you want is pretty hard. But I find that’s the case with the app store, too.
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