Fans Can Now Influence Superheroes and the Storyline in NFTs
Even before the advent of blockchain-enabled digital art or non-fungible tokens, legacy comic publishers had a way of roping in fanbase feedback and tailoring the storyline to suit fans’ demands.
This was not a widespread practice and for the most part, comic creators dictated the fate of the storyline. Still, there were notable exceptions where creators used telephone polls and other means to glean buyer sentiment and tailor their comics accordingly to suit the desires of their fans.
A famous instance was when DC Comics used the feedback from a telephone poll to kill a character called Jason Todd. Todd was the second Robin, the sidekick to Batman, and the successor to Batman’s vigilante partner, the first Robin, named Dick Grayson. Fans polled in the survey overwhelmingly voted for Todd to go and he was duly killed in off in Batman #428. Legacy comic publishers also relied on feedback such as letter columns that were printed on the back of the comic books. These enabled fans to interact with their favorite comic books and even shape storylines but for the most part, it was passive input.
The crypto-powered metaverse world of NFTs is taking that interactivity a notch higher in the development of comic books by allowing NFT buyers to shape the comic storylines.
More comic NFT creative teams are now delegating important decisions on the storyline and the fate of superheroes to the hands of the owners of the tokens. Crowdsourcing fan input in the development of the comic NFTs can create an ever-churning mill of stories that appeal to the community.
Early this year, DC Comics launched its new Bat Cowl NFT collection presale in partnership with Palm NFT Studio where fans can vote on various aspects of the comic NFT including the characters, storyline as well as the art of an upcoming Batman comic. Apart from the opportunity to participate in shaping the storyline, Bat Cowl NFTs owners also derive other benefits such as exclusive collectibles and products, access and the benefits at DC Comics’ events along with advance access to the comic company’s upcoming NFT collections.
The crypto entertainment company InterPop is launching various comic characters in its Emergent Universe and says that the characters will be dying in the comic run with fans deciding and dictating the characters to die and the shoes that characters will wear in the storyline.
Characters in InterPop’s comic book The Nine emerged from its Emergents TCG (digital trading card game) which has been in development for quite some time and run on the Tezos blockchain (a top-50 blockchain network with a $2 billion market cap) with the cover art coming from InterPop’s comics. InterPop’s offering to its fandom includes comics, games as well as collectible NFTs that have been minted on Tezos.
InterPop’s business model entails offering the comics for free but fans have to own an actual issue of the comic through the purchase of the NFTs representing specific issues in order to participate in the decision-making process on the trajectory of the comics.
In a Medium post, InterPost describes its platform as an “emerging landscape of NFTs and fandom” that assists users in acquiring and building digital collections that they can trade, buy or sell.
InterPOp’s fans will be able to interact with and shape stories in its emerging digital comics universe where it already offers three ongoing titles. InterPop’s fans will be able to shape stories via community governance systems. The choices that readers can take part in will vary in scope and according to the company, they will range from the “cosmetic to cosmic” on every issue.
Archie Comic Books partnered with Palm NFT Studio for the launch of its Archieverse: NFT Collection consisting of 66,666 horror-themed NFTs that will grant holders access to a virtual writers’ room where they can contribute ideas such as character details and storylines that can be tapped for use in creating future comics.
These crowdsource-based approaches to comic development that bring onboard NFT owners into the process illustrate just one of the ways in which NFTs will redefine comic creation in the coming years. The future superhero may, after all, be the product of different imaginations.
