Yesterday the news broke that Brian K Vaughan (Saga, Y: The Last Man) and Marcos Martin (Daredevil) had teamed up again to release a brand new digital series entitled “The Private Eye.” Besides the name and a few teaser images though, not much else was known…until today. Not only do we now know more about the title, the first issue is already available to download. The catch? Well that’s what makes the situation interesting. The comic is being released as a name-your-own-price, DRM-Free digital comic for the public to enjoy.
Before we get more into that though, what is The Private Eye about? Brian K Vaughan explained:
“It’s a detective story set in 2076, when everyone in the United States has a secret identity. Our protagonist is a member of the paparazzi, outlaw private investigators who dig up the kind of personal dirt no longer readily available through search engines. It’s a mystery with lots of masks, but no superpowers.”
So how far ahead has Vaughan and Martin planned this series out? Apparently they’ve already got an endgame planned. They just need the funds to get there. Instead of going through sites like Kickstarter though, they’re leaving everything up to the people and letting them decide how much they think the comic is worth with their name-your-own-price model.
“We know how the story ends, and we think it will take about 10 issues to get there. It’s just old-school comics, words and pictures, available in multiple formats and languages, yours to own forever, all DRM-free, whatever the hell that means, for any price you think is fair. Also, in the case you decide to pay anything, you’ll be given the choice to include a message to the authors. We may end up using some of those in our letter column next issue, so please, let us know if it’s okay to use your real name.”
In terms of whether or not The Private Eye will ever see a print release, Vaughan set the record straight:
“Sorry, we don’t currently have plans for The Private Eye to ever appear in print. We still love paper comics, especially the retailers who sell them, but this is something different.”
You can buy the first issue of The Private Eye over at the Panel Syndicate website.
