Like YouTube videos, Instagram shorts, even memes and WhatsApp humour, comics have been an integral part of entertainment and hobbies amongst many students, if not internet users globally. Comics, whether they are physical or digital, periodically find enthusiasm amongst the reader and entrance them with unique stories and characters that either become timelessly loved or even find inspiration. I should know myself, I fondly remember scrolling for hours on my laptop and my phone, reading comics across sites from Tapas, Webtoon, and even on increasingly obscure social media platforms like Tumblr.Â
Readers value a comic’s ability to share the most intimate and deepest of memories through fiction and characters that provide timeless resonance across minds, if not generations. Comics like Calvin and Hobbes and even the Peanuts comic strips, despite being made more than half a century ago, are cult classics precisely due to their ability to have both relatable characters and a zest for life that is cherished from coping with misfortunes, or childhood mischief and imagination. That’s not to say I haven’t encountered modern examples, after all, I’m not an old uncle yet.
Some of my favourite webcomics today include Blue Chair on Webtoon and even indie webcomics like Megatokyo and In Security. All 3 of them, with their unique stories, show us quirks that teach us something about life, whether it’s the most random thoughts you’d have at 3 am, or even what married life and love may look like. From these quirks emerges a desire for exploration and opening new doors. One door I would die on a hill for over the 6 years I’ve been a comic reader, is to see them animated and thrive into television shows. For many readers and entertainers alike, a comic’s ability to be adapted into a television show or a movie is almost a status symbol for many communities. It’s something to look back on and enjoy as a cult classic visually. It’s like preserving history and immortalizing a legacy for your interests, and more comedically, it’s a way to brag and poke fun at your equally, if not even nerdier, friends. Communities are formed, and new interests and personalities are created to be shared and loved.
I remember after reading the endless webcomics I’ve encountered since the COVID era, I had the desire to not just take inspiration to draw, but also see them animate and talk. As if the story becomes a living being, away from just panels, words, and a few illustrated puns. I imagine a character’s unique voice as I read a line word by word, as if I were with them in the moment. Most importantly, I imagine the sheer artistic passion that would be complemented and attributed to the original comic through movies and animation, not just with attempts at the art style, but intricate details and easter eggs to the original comic. Whether it’s a question box in a Mario movie or even the sketchy styles and screen tones that defined many newspaper comic strips over time, artistic appreciation tends to be an aspect I additionally look forward to.
Even if the adaptation animation ends up being terrible, or far from initial expectations of not just the reader, but the fandom at large, I still believe that it is a work of art and is what can inspire people to draw, and even re-animate out of spite. Adaptations keep the comic legacy alive and can inspire future works of art. I remember back in October 2024, when the animation for the manga series, Blue Lock, received not just significant flak being compared to a PowerPoint presentation, but also incentivised many people to keep the spirit of the franchise and story alive through fan animations and fan comics.Â
It’s local grassroots examples like these where many people, including myself, would die for the adaptation of comics to animation, not just out of pure egotistical pleasure, but the fact that it brings together community and interests. An abundant garden is planted with something fresh being grown each time, and perhaps someone may also find a love for the creative arts and for imaginative story building in the future.