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Jeff Boison, former Image Comics Director of Sales and Publishing Planning, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer of Fragment Studios, an NFT token launchpad that “leverages NFT IP to create storytelling projects with community ownership opportunities.” Nope, me neither, but let’s see if we can get any clarity on this.
Applied Primate Engineering (A.P.E.) is Fragment’s genesis project, which “utilizes interactive experiences, puzzles, and mini-games to create lore and engagement around the Mega Mutant Apes of the Bored Ape Yacht Club ecosystem”.
Oh no, it’s those Bored Ape folks. Jeff Boison quit Image Comics very shortly after he published a variant cover to one of their comics featuring a Bored Ape NFT image that he owned. It caused quite the furore at the time. BAYC is the Bored Ape Yacht Club, seen as some of the worst NFT offenders. the blockchain service uses AI-generated cartoons of monkeys as items that can be owned, traded, and provide access to entertainment events, and generally spunking huge amounts of money up against the digital wall.
Fragment owns “five of the twelve Mega Mutants currently in existence”. What does this mean? Part of the spinoff Mutant Ape Yacht Club, these are linked to the universe being created by Yuga Labs. And apparently is created by exposing an owned Bored Ape to “mutant serum”. The Mega Mutants are just those considered to be the most highly sought-after NFTs. Look, I am out of my depth here, and in dire need of a life raft. Maybe they have one on one of these yachts?
“I’m incredibly excited to add Jeff to the Fragment team. His experience working with some of the most valuable entertainment franchises in the world will accelerate our mission of championing novel ways to tell stories and building immersive entertainment experiences using the revolutionary technologies behind NFTs and Web3,” said @ptmNFT, founder of Fragment Studios. Yes, that’s his name, asperand and everything. I know I am assuming gender here, I know, but I bet I’m right.
“The story, world, and lore that Fragment is developing – initially through the Applied Primate Engineering project – is a vibrant multimedia experience that incorporates art, storytelling, audio and extensive community involvement to create an immersive experience for fans,” said Jeff Boison, now Chief Operating Officer at Fragment Studios. “After nearly half of my life spent in entertainment and publishing, it is work like this at the bleeding edge of storytelling that excites me to no end, and the work we’re doing at Fragment is the most inspiring and groundbreaking of my entire career.”
He does know that not everyone will be blowing the trumpets of good fortune, however. “Established comic book creators are hesitant to experiment in Web3 due to a vocal anti-NFT population within the comic book fanbase. I’m hopeful that this sentiment will change, and I’ve already had several comics creators reach out to inquire about the opportunities NFTs afford creators and artists to receive a consistent stream of royalties and ownership over their IP. Sadly, these are two areas in which the comic book industry has been lacking both in transparency and equity. I’m hopeful more folks can become educated about and benefit from the elements within the blockchain that remedy many of the concerns within the entertainment industry.”
I am certainly willing to be educated. I am not, however, sure if I will be any the wiser.
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