The traditional publishing industry has discovered an easy vein: recruiting fanfiction authors with millions of followers to sell books without taking risks. But this formula, based on pre-cooked audiences rather than talent or diversity, threatens to jump into comics. If it happens, we will see panels designed by algorithms and scripts written to offend no one, perpetuating a cycle of commercial mediocrity.
The algorithm as editor: when numbers decide the stroke 📊
Major publishers apply data analysis to recruit authors with high metrics on social networks and fanfiction platforms, ignoring narrative quality or artwork. In comics, this would mean prioritizing series derived from popular franchises over original works. Technology allows tracking trends and replicating formulas, but the result is homogeneous stories that exclude voices not validated by the market. Sequential art would lose its experimental essence.
The foolproof recipe: Harry Potter fanfics with a superhero cover 🦸
Imagine a Spider-Man comic written by the author of a Draco Malfoy and Hermione fanfic. The publisher would sell it as the event of the year, with 200,000 pre-orders from followers who have never read a comic. The script would include an impossible romance, a villain who is actually a misunderstanding, and a cameo by Deadpool explaining the lore. All very profitable, all very forgettable.