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EXCLUSIVE: Award-winning film and TV composer, actor and rapper Common is adding another storytelling medium to his extensive entertainment resume — digital comics. The artist has joined

forces with digital comics publisher LINE Webtoon to portray the title character in digital comic book series _Caster_. The story, due out next year, revolves around a globe-trotting

antiquities dealer whose search for his next payday leads him into a world of international espionage. “It’s different than Indiana Jones,” said Common, who will also score the series. “What

drew me to him — it’s something about his taste and (his knowledge of) antiquities. It’s very unique.” The creative team at Noble Transmission — CEO Austin Harrison, author of the graphic

novel _Wild Blue Yonder, _Zach Howard, a comic book illustrator whose work has appeared in Marvel, DC and Dark Horse titles, and Mike Raicht, a former Marvel Comics editor and author of the

graphic novel, _The Stuff of Legend__ — _ developed the original concept. Harrison said he was inspired by an object he saw in San Francisco. WATCH ON DEADLINE “The character jumped into my

head,” Harrison said. “Caster chases down rare antiquities. But they’re not going to museums, they’re going to bidders who give him money.” Freedom Road Productions, a film and television

production company founded by Common and his long time manager and business partner, Derek Dudley, is producing the comic. LINE Webtoon provides the publishing platform. Its app — which is

available for Apple and Android devices — provides a daily dose of comics, from the humorous _My Giant Nerd Boyfriend_, to the action-packed _Rise from Ashes_. It publishes some 150 titles,

across a variety of genres, and distributes another 7,000 created by emerging talent. It attracts around 10 million daily readers around the world. Tom Akel, LINE Webtoon’s head of content,

said Common’s participation adds a new dimension to its digital comic offerings — music integrated into the experience. Hopefully, A-lister will further broaden LINE Webtoon’s appeal. “We

definitely think Common brings new audience,” said Akel. Caster is envisioned as a multi-platform character, who its creators hope will leap from the small smartphone screen to the wider one

in cinemas. G-Base, Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel’s production company, is on board to produce a live-action adaptation.