After a brief sojourn to Mexico City, Dave Gibbons’ incredibly versatile Treatment franchise returns to the streets of Tokyo and onto the Madefire app in another action packed instalment. With stunning art from Kinman Chan and a script from Robbie Morrison, Treatment Tokyo is already one of the slickest and most impressive titles on the Madefire roster and this latest episode continues to raise the bar of what a digital comic can be.The idea of Treatment is simple, criminals are hunted down on live tv for the enjoyment of the masses. and its this simple premise that makes Treatment such a versatile property as it can be set in a variety of coutrnies without relying on a constant set of characters. Although this could be seen as something of a downside as it means we never get to explore the characters beyond the superficial.

After some early scene setting in previous episodes, #3 is all about action as Treatment officer supreme Kaidan faces down the Bosozoku motorcycle gangs on the streets of Tokyo. Inevitably this brings comparisons to the classic bike race scene in Akira and as Chan’s artwork flies in from all angles it makes for a superbly dynamic story. As well as the inevitable anime comparisons, there’s also a hint of Frank Miller’s Sin City in there (although it’s the movie not the comic that it owes most to), with the use of monochrome silhouetted splash pages for particularly impactful scenes.

As the creators at Madefire become more adept at making motion comics, so the titles become more sophisticated and Treatment Tokyo is really pushing the boundaries with every episode. While Liam Sharp’s Captain Stone is Missing moves closer towards fine art with some of it’s mixed media pieces, Kinman Chan is merging the lines between comic and animation and movie as Treatment Tokyo is more than just a few simple graphics that appear and disappear in sequence. Elements appear across the whole page, not just the part you are reading, as characters bisect the page, cutting swathes across it to give the motorbikes dynamism and stunning impact, which in turn gives the whole story a really cinematic quality. We’ve praised his smart use of layouts before, but this is so much more than just a flat page or a guided view style linear story. The use of landscape pages already breaks you away from a traditional comic reading mindset, and the use of space on the screen makes it so much more than just another flat comic with some clever transitions.

As is often the problem with Madefire titles though, this episode has appeared from nowhere and is over all too quickly. Really it’s  just a snapshot that doesn’t further the story beyond a few extra body count, but what a snapshot it is! In an ideal world we would have a regular schedule for the Madefire titles and know when they would be coming out so we could feel the stories build and identify with the characters. However for now, we just have to enjoy them when they do arrive (a bit like a sunny day in England) because Treatment Tokyo #3 is cracking example of how to push the boundaries of digital comics into a brave new world.

The Madefire team continue to push the boundaries of what a digital comic is with this action-packed new instalment of the Treatment franchise. Blending the line between comic, animation and movie, its just a shame its all over so quickly as this is digital comics at its very best.