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Namco Bandai Games Launches Webcomic Project for Classic Video Games

Namco Bandai Games has announced that it will launch the ShiftyLook project in March to take dormant Namco Bandai Games properties and adapt them as webcomic series. ShiftyLook announced last week that writer Jim Zub and artist Jeffrey "Chamba" Cruz from Udon Entertainment will create a webcomic for the Sky Kid horizontal scrolling shooter arcade game, and it announced on Thursday that writer Mike Costa and artist Mike Norton from Cryptozoic Entertainment will create a webcomic series for the classic vertical scrolling shooter arcade game Xevious. XEVIOUS was previously adapted into an anime film in 2002.

The webcomics will be available in English worldwide for free through web browsers as well as iOS and Android devices. New installments of the webcomics will be available twice a week.

ShiftyLook producer, editor-in-chief and head Rob Pereyda told ANN that ShiftyLook is accepting fan input on what dormant video game properties it should turn into webcomics in the future. ANN is currently hosting a poll on which dormant Namco Bandai property you'd like the company to work on. Pereyda told ANN that the company will look at the overall results from this poll to help determine which properties it may adapt in the future.

Pereyda also told ANN that each webcomic series will have a three-month run, and if a series is popular it will continue its run after that three-month period. Pereyda also told ANN that ShiftyLook plans to release the webcomics in print form. Pereyda added that if a series does not have enough content to fill out a graphic novel, then they may be released in anthology form. Pereyda added that ShiftyLook is not opposed to using Japanese artists in the future, but those artists would need to abide by the twice-weekly release format.

Pereyda also told ANN that if the series are popular, then ShiftyLook plans to also create web animation (in 2D, 3D, or a combination of both), mobile or social games, and merchandise such as hobby products or plush toys for the properties. Pereyda also said that the webcomics could also eventually lead to new console games for the properties as well.

ShiftyLook will host a launch party at the WonderCon event in San Francisco on Saturday, March 17, and WonderCon attendees can RSVP for the event on ShiftyLook's Facebook page.