AS THE iconic duo of Wallace & Gromit recently reached their landmark 20th anniversary, it is only fitting that the colourful inventor character and his trusty canine partner should become pioneers of an exciting new technology - digital comics. "What a cracking idea - and no mistake!" as wacky Wallace might say.

The digital comics based on the globally-loved Wallace & Gromit are now available from Apple's App store. Each one is a complete Wallace & Gromit adventure and packed with bonus features on the inveterate inventor and his faithful animal companion - who usually makes sure he comes to no harm from his owner's hare-brained schemes.

The comic's editor Ned Hartley said: "It's really exciting to see Wallace & Gromit at the forefront of such a cracking new technology. Although I secretly suspect that Wallace would be more comfortable with the type of apple that comes with cheese."

Titan Publishing's Wallace & Gromit comic has taken the iPhone app charts by storm and made it to number one in the UK free books app store, a first for a British comic. The digital adventure has also risen to the number-three spot overall in the free apps chart.

With more than 170,000 downloads of the Wallace & Gromit free app around the world, it's not only the Brits who can't get enough of Aardman's dangerous duo - it also made the number-one free book download in Australia, New Zealand and Finland.

For those new to the popular pair, Wallace & Gromit are the main characters in a series consisting of four UK animated short films and a feature-length film created by Nick Park and his team at Aardman Animations in the UK. All the characters are made from modelling clay on metal armatures and filmed using stop-motion animation. Simply described, Wallace is an over-ambitious yet well-meaning inventor and a cheese enthusiast (especially for slices of tasty Wensleydale taken with his favourite cheese crackers).

His patient companion, Gromit, is an anthropomorphic intelligent dog. Wallace is voiced by veteran actor Peter Sallis. Gromit remains silent, communicating only through facial expressions and body language, making his thoughts perfectly clear to almost everyone.

Because of their popularity, the characters have been described as "positive international icons of modern British culture and of the British people". BBC News has called them "some of the best-known and best-loved stars to come out of the UK".

Their genius - and that of Aardman Animations - has been recognised and honoured many times. The short films The Wrong Trousers, and A Close Shave and their full-length feature The Curse Of The Were Rabbit received Academy Awards. The first short film A Grand Day Out was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film but lost to Creature Comforts, another animated creation of Nick Park.

Titan Magazines is the largest publisher of licensed entertainment properties in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. Its current titles include: CSI Magazine; Lost Magazine; Heroes Magazine; Star Wars Magazine; Supernatural Magazine; Star Trek Magazine; Stargate Magazine; Torchwood Magazine; Smallville Magazine; Batman Legends Comic; Simpsons Comics; Futurama Comics; SpongeBob SquarePants Comic; Superman Legends Comic; Star Wars: Clone Wars Comic; Transformers Comic; LazyTown Magazine; Noddy Magazine; Roary the Racing Car Magazine; Fifi and the Flowertots Magazine.