DIFFERENT STORIES. DIFFERENT STARTING POINTS. ONE COMIC PRODUCTION PIPELINE.
Metal Ninja Studios works with creators, companies, and publishers who have something worth building. A finished novel. A screenplay. A game world. An original comic. An established property. Sometimes just an idea that refuses to go away. Wherever the story starts, we help turn it into a professionally produced comic while you keep control of the property.
BOOK A DISCOVERY CALL SEE HOW THE PIPELINE WORKS
WHERE ARE YOU STARTING?
THE FORMAT MAY CHANGE. THE QUESTIONS ARE USUALLY THE SAME.
Visitors do not need to know which Metal Ninja Studios service they need before talking with us.
Most projects begin in one of five places.
CREATE
"I have the idea. How do I turn it into a real comic?"
Start with a concept, world, characters, rough outline, or early script.
ADAPT
"The story already exists. How does it become a comic?"
Bring an existing novel, screenplay, game world, or other property into sequential storytelling.
COMPLETE
"The project started. Now I need the right team to finish it."
Replace production gaps, stalled freelancers, or disconnected creative work with a managed team.
PROVE
"The comic exists. How do I show that people actually want it?"
Use crowdfunding to build an audience and generate platform-reported evidence of demand.
EXPAND
"People already care about this world. What else can we do with it?"
Use comics to tell new stories, develop characters, and keep an established audience inside the universe.
AUTHORS & NOVELISTS
YOU WROTE THE STORY. YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE TO LEARN COMIC PRODUCTION TOO.
A novel already gives us something valuable: characters, world-building, dialogue, conflict, and a story worth adapting.
What changes is the medium.
A comic cannot simply place the novel onto illustrated pages. Someone has to decide what belongs in each issue, what should be shown instead of explained, how scenes should be paced visually, and how the voice of the original work survives the adaptation.
Metal Ninja Studios manages that transition.
A COMIC CAN HELP YOU:
Introduce the story to a new audience.
Create a new product from an existing property.
Give readers a visual way into the world.
Build something that can be crowdfunded.
Make the property easier to show and pitch.
Expand a series beyond the original books.
A STRONG FIT USUALLY LOOKS LIKE:
A completed manuscript or developed series, control of the adaptation rights, the budget to produce professionally, and a real reason for taking the story into comics.
COMIC CREATORS
SPEND MORE TIME ON THE COMIC. LESS TIME CHASING THE TEAM.
Comic creators come to Metal Ninja Studios at almost every stage.
Some have an idea.
Some have a finished script.
Some already hired an artist.
Some have been waiting six months for the next page.
Some finished the comic and now need people to actually care about it.
The common problem is simple: making comics requires a lot of people, and somebody has to keep all of those people moving in the same direction.
WE CAN STEP IN WHEN:
You need the full team.
Part of your current team is missing.
Production has stalled.
The art or design is inconsistent.
Freelancers keep disappearing.
You are tired of being the project manager.
The comic is finished and ready to build an audience.
Concept to Comic™ gives serious creators a done-for-you production pipeline.
After production, qualified finished projects may also move into IP Incubation, where Metal Ninja Studios works with the creator to build and manage a crowdfunding campaign.
THIS IS BUILT FOR CREATORS WHO INTEND TO FINISH.
An idea alone is not the qualification.
The strongest fit is someone with the commitment, resources, and intent to produce the comic professionally and keep building once the first issue is done.
FILM & TELEVISION
DON'T JUST ASK THEM TO IMAGINE THE WORLD. SHOW IT.
A screenplay can describe a world brilliantly and still require everyone reading it to picture the final result themselves.
A professionally produced comic makes that world visible.
It is not simply a storyboard.
It is a finished entertainment product that can be shown, sold, crowdfunded, shared with an audience, and used as another way to develop the property.
WHEN THE SCREENPLAY NEEDS MORE
A comic can help a screenwriter, filmmaker, or producer:
Establish the visual identity of the world.
Show characters, environments, action, and tone.
Give investors or producers something tangible to evaluate.
Build an audience around the property.
Crowdfund the story.
Generate real evidence that people are willing to support it.
Instead of saying:
"Imagine what this could look like."
You can show them.
WHEN THE AUDIENCE ALREADY EXISTS
Film and television properties have another problem.
Production takes time.
Audiences do not always wait.
Comics can tell side stories, explore supporting characters, fill narrative gaps, introduce new characters, and keep fans engaged between larger productions.
A new comic does not require another film-sized production budget.
DON'T LET THE AUDIENCE LEAVE THE UNIVERSE WHILE YOU BUILD WHAT'S NEXT.
WORK WITH SCREENWRITERS OR RIGHTS OWNERS?
Agents, producers, managers, attorneys, and development professionals regularly encounter properties that have potential but are not ready for the next conversation.
Metal Ninja Studios can give that story a professional visual form and another path forward.
GAMES & IP
BUILD THE WORLD BEFORE THE GAME SHIPS. KEEP IT ALIVE AFTER.
Games can take years to build.
The world usually exists long before the finished product does.
Characters. Factions. History. Locations. Lore. Concept art. Story documents. Sometimes entire universes are already sitting inside development files while the audience sees almost none of it.
Comics give those stories somewhere to live.
BEFORE THE GAME
Turn early world-building into something people can actually read, share, support, and become fans of.
A comic can help establish the property, support fundraising, and begin building an audience before the game is finished.
DURING DEVELOPMENT
Give the audience more than screenshots, trailers, and development updates.
Tell stories inside the world while the game is still being built.
AFTER RELEASE
Keep the property active between:
Updates
Seasons
DLC
Expansions
Sequels
Major releases
Part of your current team is missing.
Not every story in the universe needs another game. Some belong in comics.
FOR ESTABLISHED PROPERTIES
EXPAND THE UNIVERSE WITHOUT EXPANDING THE GAME'S PRODUCTION BUDGET
Use comics to explore characters, factions, side stories, historical events, villains, and parts of the world the main game may never have room to tell.
NOT A GAME?
The same model can apply to:
Tabletop games
Toy properties
Podcasts
Audio dramas
Web series
Characters
Mascots
Fictional brands
Other entertainment properties
If there is already a story, character, or world worth developing visually, there may be a place for it in comics.
PUBLISHERS
ADD PRODUCTION CAPACITY WITHOUT ADDING ANOTHER DEPARTMENT
Publishers do not need someone to explain how comics work.
They need books finished.
When the slate grows, deadlines compress, or one missing specialist starts slowing several projects at once, Metal Ninja Studios can add experienced production capacity without requiring the publisher to build another internal team.
USE THE PARTS OF THE PIPELINE YOU NEED.
Concept to Comic™ Premier Services gives publishing partners access to individual production capabilities such as:
Writing
Editing
Comic lettering
Design
Production management
Branding
Other specialized production support
THE GOAL IS SIMPLE:
Metal Ninja Studios can plug into an existing workflow or take responsibility for a larger portion of production.
Fewer bottlenecks.
Fewer freelancers to manage.
More finished books.
WHAT THEY HAVE IN COMMON
THE STORY CHANGES. THE NEED FOR A RELIABLE PATH DOESN'T.
An author adapting a novel does not have the same problem as a publisher trying to hit a release date.
A screenwriter trying to prove a property does not have the same objective as a game studio expanding an established universe.
But the underlying need is often the same.
There is something worth developing.
The comic needs to be produced professionally.
Someone needs to own the production process.
And the person or company that brought us the property should still own it when the work is finished.
That is what the Metal Ninja Studios pipeline is built to do.
11 COMICS COMPLETED
First 12 months of Concept to Comic™
15 IN DEVELOPMENT
14 SERIES
200+ ARTISTS
in the international network.
NOT SURE WHERE YOU FIT?
BRING US WHAT YOU HAVE. TELL US WHERE YOU WANT IT TO GO.
You do not need to diagnose your own project before talking with Metal Ninja Studios.
Bring the manuscript, screenplay, script, game world, unfinished comic, finished property, or publishing problem.
Joel can tell you whether Metal Ninja Studios is a fit, where the project belongs in the pipeline, and what the next step should be.