Some thoughts on fan creations

We were talking about fan creations on Twitter with #WebComicChat (for those of you who haven’t seen it, this is every Sunday around 7.30pm, featuring discussions on the creation, sharing and reading of webcomics, well worth a look!) What we mean by fan creations are fanfiction, fanart, videos and so forth. We have been lucky to have had a number of awesome examples over the years, so wanted to do a quick blog and a video on this.

https://youtu.be/6d7O4XjAPMk

Different types of fan creations

So to break down the different types- Fan fiction (aka fanfic) are stories based on a different work, likewise fanart is artwork based on different works, while you also get fan films as well (for example you may get someone using footage to create their own spinoff movie, or setting pictures to a song that sums up the character.) Another great example being cosplay, where people make their own costumes based on the characters.

Sometimes these can be a reaction to something else, our comic video editor John Paul Guerra (who is working on our 6000 followers video at the moment) did a really good one recently that amused me.

Another fairly common example are memes, where someone uses particular pictures from a show, film etc but then put a different spin on it.

Contests

We have been doing a number of fan creation contests, the most recent being our writing contest. We will have the collection up soon as a free download alongside the webcomic archive.

The fanart gallery

We have been lucky to have a whole range of artists who have created artwork for us. You can see the full gallery here, plus we have a selection below.

Crossovers

It’s great to see people having their characters interacting with ours. For example, having GreyofPTA‘s antisocial Millie in a therapy group with the outgoing AK Girl is a great idea, while Kendall Collins‘ Life On The Tracks has featured a number of the characters either dressing as the Reynard City characters or interacting with them. We also had an OC (original character) contest, and seeing people come up with various types of good guys, villains and new characters to enter this universe was brilliant, and I would love to see more of that.

The roleplay forum

John Paul Guerra established the roleplay forum and since then it has inspired fanart, characters and stories. You can see it here, plus there’s some examples of what this forum has inspired below (shoutout to regulars Van Hikari, Sizeable Snively, Louis Jacobson and more!)

Fan creation tips

We don’t want to dictate this too much- it’s great to see different genres, stories and character interaction. However, we do recommend people looking up the comics so that you have a basis to work off, ideally it should tie in and preferably material wise keep it around the PG13 level (or if it’s more adult label it as such).

Final thoughts

I have worked on fan projects myself. Some writers and creative writing teachers say people should focus on original stories and characters. However, I personally feel that this is part of learning the creative process, and that people should be encouraged to work on this, whether it is their own character or a fan creation. Example- the Bronte sisters wrote stories about their toy soldiers, while Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein was created as a result of a creative story exercise.

With regard to Reynard City, I would love to see more. In fact, some people have even told me how our characters relate to them (such as in Erin’s Wondervixen cosplay blog), and it is something that I can hope we can help more people with.

However, what do you think? Comment below!

Join us!

Do you want to spread the word about your art? Would you like your fanart featured on a mug, shirt or stickers? Find out more about our upcoming Made In Norwich stand at the Castle Mall (blog here)

If you want to post up a fan creation on Twitter, Deviantart, Instagram etc please use the hashtag #ReynardCity or post the link/creation to reynardcity@gmail.com