Although NFTs are primarily known as digital collectibles, NFT technology has been shown to be practical in many different spaces. Gaming giants such as Ubisoft and Activision are fully embracing NFT technology, and NFT-based games like The Sandbox and Axie Infinity have exploded in popularity. In the music space, many of the big music artists in the world are now exclusively releasing their albums as NFTs. But until Punks Comics, no one knew that NFTs could be practical in the comic book space. Launched in 2021, Punks Comics proved that NFT technology had the capability to both upend and revolutionize the entire comic book industry.
WHO CREATED THE PUNKS COMIC PROJECT?
Punks Comics is a collaborative effort between Pixel Vault and Fractional. Pixel Vault is a media group that is specifically focused on elevating crypto-native assets across a variety of mediums through the development of intellectual property and empowered by decentralization and crowdsourcing. Fractional allows for NFTs to be broken down into fungible ERC-20 tokens which have ownership over the NFT, trade in the open market, and can manage buyouts. Punks Comics holders not only received an NFT depicting the comic’s cover, but were also able to claim a downloadable PDF copy of the actual digital copy.
WHEN WAS THE FIRST ISSUE OF PUNKS COMICS RELEASED?
The first issue of PUNKS Comics, the Hunt for the Lost Robbies, was launched in May 2021. The protagonist of Punks Comics is Beanie, whose appearance is directly inspired by CryptoPunk #8146. Beanie’s name and personality is a homage to Beanie Maxi, the co-creator of Pixel Vault and Punks Comics. The main storyline of Punks Comics follows Beanie’s search for the “Lost Robbies” – which are based on an actual set of AI-generated NFTs created by Robbie Barrat. Beanie is joined on his mission by a cast of characters that each resemble a Crypto Punk. The second of PUNKS Comics was launched in December 2021 and was sold out in under an hour.
HOW DOES BURNING, STAKING, AND HOLDING PUNKS COMICS WORKS?
Collectors have the option to either hold, burn, or stake their comic for rewards. Through burning one comic, the collector would receive a Pixel Vault Founder’s DAO token. Collecting a Founder’s DAO token means “having governance over the DAO and its contents (fractionalization, individual item sales, buyouts, etc) + access to a private Discord.” As burning reduced the supply of comics, the value of both the Founder’s DAO token and comics have skyrocketed. Those who purchased Punks Issue #1 by July 15, 2021 received a Mint Pass for Pixel Vault’s metaverse project MetaHeroes. Punks holders have the option to stake their comics for proportional ownership of half of the supply of $PUNKS tokens, a token that represents fractional ownership of the sixteen Crypto Punks represented in the comics.
WHO HAS PARTNERED WITH PUNKS COMICS?
Punks Comics has been an enormously successful project, and last summer the project entered a four-way partnership with sportswear brand Adidas, blue-chip NFT project Bored Ape Yacht Club, and cryptocurrency investor GMoney.
Punks Comics founder GFunk has expressed his desire to make Punks Comics the “Marvel of the NFT space”, and the comics themselves are illustrated by Marvel Studios and DC Comics artist Chris Wahl.
When Punks Comics was launched in May, each NFT could be minted for 0.2 ETH.
In addition to the main Punks Comic storyline, Punks Comics began releasing NFT-based, digital-only short comics that explore the backgrounds of the different stars and guests of the Punks comics.
IS PUNKS COMICS A GOOD INVESTMENT?
Since its launch in 2021, Punks Comics has consistently been one of the most popular NFT projects on OpenSea. The $PUNKS token is highly unique for allowing holders to own a fractionalized share of the Crypto Punks depicted in the comics. With its recent $100 million investment, Punks Comics studio Pixel Vault is poised to become the first massively successful fully decentralized entertainment company and NFT development platform. After Pixel Vault signed with Hollywood management agency WME, many speculated that Pixel Vault is planning film and television adaptations of their NFT projects. Alongside World of Women and Bored Ape Yacht Club, Punks Comics is one of the most exciting projects in the NFT ecosystem.
