What is a fancomic?

[alias_sqbr]

Fancomics are comics written by fans based on the characters or settings of other writers.

They are not fanart, illustrated fanfic, original comics, or comics which use other people's images as a base for their own original characters. And for the context of this community, they are not official spin-off comics, although I realise the boundaries there can be fuzzy.

For the moment I am going to include professionally published but unauthorised transformative/derivative comics, as well as amateur publications like doujinshi. I think it's important to exclude authorised works, whether they're by the original author or not, since in my opinion having that watchful eye making sure you're not diminishing the trademark etc is very limiting.

Parody is tricky, some of it (like skeletor_hordak) feels very fannish, while some (like Mad Magazine) really doesn't. I think it definitely helps if the fancomic author, while parodying, also has a sincere interest in the characters or story.

So mainly we have amateur fancomics of the usual sort and published comics based on out of copyright works.

Anyway, this is open to change and discussion etc.

Alan Moore

[alias_sqbr]

And now that I've made this kind of post legal.. :)

Alan Moore is an english comics writer and totally awesome. A lot of his work is either authorised or thinly veiled pastiches of modern superheroes (most famously "Watchmen") but he's also done some great transformative comics. I'm not sure the "historical RPF" in From Hell counts (though it is awesome in a disturbing sort of way) but The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Lost Girls certainly do.

I must admit I haven't read "Lost Girls" because, well, I'm just not up for reading porn about some of my favourite childhood characters (Alice, Dorothy, and Wendy). But if you are it's apparently really good :) It's also interesting to note that the (G-rated) online fancomic Cheshire Crossing came out at around the same time with a very similar premise and characters, apparently independently devised. Scans here.

Do not judge "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" by the terrible, terrible movie. It's fantastically inventive and complex, creating a world populated entirely by (other people's :)) fictional characters. The first two volumes (the only ones I've read) follow a league of victorian heroes (Mina Murray, Captain Nemo, Alan Quartermain, The Invisible Man, and Dr Jekyl) who are charged with the duty of protecting The Empire from various foes, including the martians from War of The Worlds. It both celebrates and deconstructs the tropes and ideas of victorian writing while also being an incredibly entertaining read. Scans here.