Have you ever envisioned your comics or novels turning into a multimedia franchise?

[AmazementComics]

I have dreams at night on occasion about the state of my comics presently and how to forge the path forward. My goal was always to work in animation but to get my footing in comics like a lot of indie creators do. Really, now is a great time to be an independent comic writer, as these big companies are often looking for stuff to adapt from comic books outside just the Big Two (if you know what I’m talking about, then you know), often for their streaming services.

Does anyone else feel confident about their content and its survival 10, 20, 30 years from now? I do. I’ve been publishing on this website for the better part of 5 years knowing Rome wasn’t built in a day. I started by publishing hand drawn comics I wrote back in middle school and gained a decent following. Which is surprising considering the numerous talented people I’ve gotten to know in this community. Whether we like to admit it or not, being an artist and creator of an infant franchise requires a fanbase, and mine is steadily growing in different places.

Some people I know started out on Tapas with hand drawn comics and social media as well, which has given me the courage I need to be consistent AND persistent because I know how my art started, and I know where it’s going. 2023 is going a year of manifestation. So I pose the question to you. Have you considered the bigger picture regarding your content? Gathering a following for your work was the first step, but are you thinking multiple steps ahead to work towards telling your stories in multiple movies? Shows? Games?

[doitlikeomar69]

I always thought it would be nice to have a few movies and a show not to many that it's just milking it lol but a show and movie to wrap up the story when I eventually end my series

[abigaillmartin]

I probably would. I imagine plushies, a movie or animation or something but nothing super big.

[AaronBloodgood]

Absolutely lol. My story "Marry X Princess" is being written in the light novel style. Most anime are adapted from either manga or light novels. While I'm writing, I can envision what is happening as though it were animated. So, short answer, yes, I would love to see Marry X Princess become an anime someday. It would blow my mind lol.

[Takaki03]

Never occurs to me. To grow into a big commercial really requires a lot of funds, which is quite impossible for small creators like us. That being said, having ambitions is a good thing that can keep you going for years to come. For me I think the more realistic goals would be making my story into real comic books and merch. I've seen some creators making their own comics in print and that keeps me super motivated!!

[AmazementComics]

I don’t think so. If you look at comics like The Boys or BRZRKR series, those indie comics came from lesser known publishers to being adapted into shows. So not impossible for indie publishers like us. But to your point putting your comics to print is a realistic first step.

[Aeneas1]

I would love that very much. I already have an audio drama adaptation in the pipeline, as well as an adult animated web series set in the same universe focusing on a character from the comic, as well as a short animated film.

[sams_cartoon_shack]

I guess a game or series of animated shorts would be nice, but I'm happy with my comic being just a comic. I'm more interested in creating merch like clothing and stickers based on my creations than adapting it to another medium.

[bulgariansumo]

I would love to have animated adaptations of my series. In fact, the only reason I'm writing them as novels is because I want to get the completed stories out as fast as I can. Otherwise, I'd try to animate them myself. Dunno about things like voice acting, though.

One of my only worries is that I'd get really nit-picky about any changes in the adaptation. That, and how the pacing would work. I've also flirted with the idea of making games. Also I might have to change the name of Galactiquest unless the other property with the same name is cool with it. Technically I can prove I've had the name longer, but I have some ideas in mind if a change must happen.

I also like writing little non-plot-related vignettes, so audio CDs could be a thing, assuming I could get voice actors for it.

[NickRowler]

I think having a short form show, a special, or movie would be nice. I think an off-Broadway musical would be funny.

Tho when it comes to other merch, I might be a bit hesitant. I think companies like Hot Topic, Funko, Spencer's, BoxLunch, etc. comes off more as trashy. I think recently I have been thinking about how mindlessly collecting things from a franchise has sort of gone out of control. It's one thing if your feet are cold and you want to warm them with Spiderman socks. Tho buying mass amounts of socks that you will never wear simply because they are Spiderman just seems pointless to me. So I am not sure how I would go about creating merch.

[TheLemmaLlama]

Does anyone else feel confident about their content and its survival 10, 20, 30 years from now? I do. I’ve been publishing on this website for the better part of 5 years knowing Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Yes! This is exactly how I think about my comics. I want to write something that will stand the test of time. I don't care that much for short term engagement; it's how people react when my story is finished and people can see the whole picture that matters to me. Rome was not built in a day.

So I want to really take my time and make the foundations of my work as solid as possible, even if it means there's not much to see here yet and people get tired of waiting and following; they can come back in 10 years ^^;

---

And yeah, I do have multimedia franchise plans for my comic. I'm less interested in getting a big company to pick it up though ^^; I kind of agree with @Takaki03 that it's very unlikely for many of us to catch their attention, but I don't see that as reason to give up on getting your comic animated altogether. I think there are other ways to do this ...

My plan is to finish my comic bitwam, then start a 'public anime project' where anyone can come in and animate/voice 'cuts' of the comic (which is basically already in storyboard format), or pitch in some money into a 'tip jar' which will be used to hire said animators/voice actors as they come.

That's a model for making big projects like games or animation I wanna try out if my stories manages to rally enough supporters. I wanna see how much we can accomplish just as a bunch of random people who really wants something to happen. I anticipate it'll take way longer than a professional anime and the quality will probably be all over the place, but I think it'll be really cool

(Also the sequel to bitwam is a visual novel, so I guess technically another medium :P)

[VibrantFox]

the idea of an animated adaptation, game or both has crossed my mind for certain stories of mine if not their shared universe especially since it's malleable enough to add new characters with their own unique story lines but still close enough to the og that the charm or vibe isn't lost

Games especially would be neat though because I love the idea of putting to use various aspects to add to the storytelling and overall immersion which is why i love well crafted games that not only work with good gameplay and play mechanics but music and sound design and environmental storytelling. Plus it wouldn't even have to be one of these "HD 4K ultra realistic graphics" type game but stylized and cartoony coz my god do i miss funky playstation/n64/gamecube graphics with low poly and bright colors but also good old 2d point and click

Getting back on track i think merch is something I'd especially love to see and honestly kinda want to get into making at least a bit of my own where resources allow for it. On a small scale stuff like notebooks, apparel, stickers, charms/keychains are super fun for me to think about but also stuff like figurines or things like those cute little nendoroids would be hella cool to imagine

I guess i could say i'm already on track to expand at least a little with using various mediums anyways coz aside from comics i'm also gonna be attempting an interactive (almost) cyoa version of one story and then [once i've got the proper functioning tech] short animations/animatics. also really wanna do stickers even if just for myself but it's deciding whether i wanna work out trying to print things myself or sending them to a manu to get them made (already have to tools to do it myself it's just the trial and error phase that i dread even with good tutorials)

[darthmongoose]

I work on multimedia franchises at my day job, so it doesn't feel too out of the question for it to happen since I know what's involved and that I work to a level where my stuff can go into other people's, but I also know that it probably wouldn't be Errant, which is a bit hard to market and pin down what the target audience is for it. Although... if they're making an animated series of Nimona, and they made a film and a game of Scott Pilgrim... who knows?

My odds would probably be better if I made a graphic novel for kids though. There's big demand for original kids content right now in both comics and on streaming platforms.

[LostKelp]

For STS? No. I like the idea of doing a story based puzzle platformer, and an animatic style short series. But I've never come up with an idea that I wanted to make into a movie or an animated show, it's all either been comics, animatics, simple video games etc.

It might be because I've grown up on indie comics and YouTube rather than movies and TV, it might be because indie stuff is very in your own hands and easy to control while TV has to go through 1000 people to be made and then goes out to a much bigger audience who could tear you and everything you love to shreds, (although the internet can still certainly do that, hello sonichu).

Either way if I got big enough to be able to propose a series to a company and get a good amount of money out of it then I would but I'm also happy to do comics for fun and tell stories as a Lil side gig ( 25 subs away from ad revenue, I could pretend I have a job!)

[abigaillmartin]

I would too! Though I am making a comic dub in the future with real voice actors so there could be potential for animation projects with my comic but other than that I want merchandise too. Like figurines or stickers or t shirts maybe even plushies. I always joke with my friends that maybe someone out there would make body pillows of my characters. If I really really wanted to and if I ever become popular enough or at least well known I’d love to find a way to make plushies or figurines.

And in regards to possibly making a live action movie or even animated I’d be very much happy to write a script or a screen play and produce the film if I ever do become famous. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do ever since I began writing my own stories. I’m gonna wait till the comic is finished is done though before I think about stuff like that. There is potential though.

[AxemanRifflord]

I’m more of a “if I wanted this to be a film/show/game etc, I would’ve made it that way on my own.” type of person. Sometimes I ask myself “if this project I’m sketching out had a soundtrack, what songs would I license?” or “if this was a movie, what timestamp would this plot beat take place.” But they’re more structuring stuff to ground my ideas in tone or timing than higher ambitions.

That’s not to say I don’t have goal I’m aspiring to as a creator. I just tend to shoot for cult status like what you would see with some old Newgr-

If you look at comics like The Boys or BRZRKR series, those indie comics came from lesser known publishers to being adapted into shows.

*grows neckbeard*

The Boys was originally published by DC through the Wildstorm comics imprint. Writer Garth Ennis’s original vision was to set it in the DC universe proper. DC not wanting to have it’s heroes be depicted as they were in the pitch but trusting Ennis’s track record had him rework the story to not depict any pre-established characters. Ennis got to tell his “superhero EXPOSED” story and DC got to keep distance from it while reaping the rewards.

Then DC pulled the plug after issue #6 because The Boys kinda did actively take a stand against what DC stood for (also Butcher’s dog was a rapist, that’s the level of debotchery the comic goes into). Thankfully, somehow, Ennis maintained the rights to the comic and was able to get a deal with Dynamite to finish the series to completion. Still think it’s worth mentioning that DC actually was involved with the first six issues.

[powerplantanimations]

I thought about it with That Stick Figure Isekai. Already doing dubs and a visual novel would be great. I can picture it being a Netflix show and what with it being about stick figures, I can imagine the animation process being simple. Would def be easy since the stick figures don't have mouths.

[bronte448]

That would rock, I always love to imagine my comics being animated..,

[IndigoShirtProd]

I share similar sentiments with a lot of other people here. I kinda always hoped for BBS to take off so it could be greenlit as an animated series. It's an all ages piece of media but it's based off of saturday morning cartoons that were directed a young boys in the early 2000s -2010s; the type of content I liked to watch as a kid. And I did that all in the hopes it would be easier to make into a cartoon show in the future (plus it is easier to draw) though I don't know if that will actually give me an advantage. It's not like BBS is a runaway success, though I do think it has some charm and merit. Outside of it's own show, however, I couldn't say how far BBS could franchise. Like, I don't really think a movie could be made off this IP; I wouldn't know where to start with that.

[adkahdj]

When I started my work I had that secret dream that I'd build an audience, have people comment my work and that I might even become popular.

Nowadays I'd rather have 5 people who like my work and I can interact with in a meaningful manner than millions of randos. I am far from being successful but it's happened a few times that people have mentioned my work on the internet and I actually don't like it that much. I am happy enough to see the story I have in my head take form. Also if many people were to start following me, I'd think of their reaction reading my work while producing it. My work is where I express myself freely and I don't want to feel pressured (there's already the whole woke thing that make me think twice before doing certain thing).

So to answer the question, one of my secret dream would be to be contacted by Netlfix or Disney and tell them to go F*** O**. I despise what they've done to popular culture, producing en masse movies/series based on the same flavourless template. I do not want to be a part of this.

Now if Square Enix was to contact me to make a turn base RPG based on my work I'd tbe delighted.