EXCLUSIVE: Edison Rex Lives, Both at Monkeybrain and As a Free, Patreon-Sponsored Webcomic

Drawing inspiration from the success of works like Atomic Robo, iZombie co-creator Chris Roberson's Monkeybrain series Edison Rex -- created with artist Dennis Culver -- is heading to the free webcomic format.

The series, one of Monkeybrain's flagship titles when the company launched, had taken a nearly-two-year sabbatical before a new issue appeared back in July. Another new issue will be released tomorrow, and

Beginning this month, Roberson and Culver are retooling Edison Rex as a free webcomic, serializing the whole series to date from the beginning at a rate of two pages a week, in conjunction with launching a Patreon to help fund the creation of new material past issue 18, a t-shirt shop of Edison Rex-themed designs, and more.

The first page of Edison Rex #1 is available at EdisonRex.net now, and new content is forthcoming -- both in the form of a new issue on ComiXology tomorrow, and on the website itself. Roberson and Culver plan to use the sales of digital comics, collected editions and merch -- as well as a Patreon page you can find here -- to create new material and finish the story they set out to tell.

The creators spoke with ComicBook.com about the radical reinvention of the series -- which in and of itself was a bit of a radical idea when it launched.

What motivated the format change for Edison Rex? Was it just a matter of wanting to get back into the groove of getting new content out there?

Roberson: There were a number of factors, but the main motivation was the desire to introduce Edison Rex to a larger audience.

As a "digital-first" title through ComiXology we were able to build a small but devoted readership, and we had another group of readers who discovered the book in the print collections, but the combined sales of the print and digital versions unfortunately never reached the point where we were recouping the costs of producing the book, much less making a profit.

But Dennis and I have always been committed to finishing Edison's story, and the hope that by offering the comic to new readers as a free webcomic and funding new material through the Patreon and the t-shirt shop and so on, that we'll be in a better position to do so.

Dennis: We really believe in this story and want as many people as possible to read it. This seems like the best avenue for that.

Dennis has shared a lot of cool material on social media that wasn't part of the published comics over the years. Any chance we could see some more original or at least unpublished material getting merched now that you'll have a t-shirt shop and the like?

Culver: Absolutely. Also people that support our Patreon will see a lot of this stuff exclusively. We plan to spell out ALL the Easter eggs on every single page to our subscribers.

Chris is working a TON, and obviously he's the head of Monkeybrain. What makes this low-fi approach (free webcomics, a Patreon) feel like the right move for this moment?

Roberson: If we had it all to do over again from the beginning, actually, I think I would have preferred to serialize the book as a webcomic first, then sell individual issues both digitally and in print, then put out trade collections in print, much like the Atomic Robo guys are doing now.

That model emphasizes the reader's choice, and allows them to read the comic in whatever form they prefer. In our case the digital issues and the print collections are already out there, so if someone enjoys the webcomic serialization enough that they don't want to have to wait to find out what happens next, they can head to ComiXology or pick up a trade from their local comic shop and read ahead.

And for long time readers who are hungry for new material, our Patreon will offer patrons first looks at works in progress, as well as a t-shirt of the month club and other cool goodies.

Dennis: Chris and I talked about this for a long time and this seemed like the path of least resistance for getting our story told.

Do you have an idea of a schedule going past #18, or is it kind of up to generating some revenue to write that for you?

Roberson: The intention is to continue releasing new issues two pages a week once we catch up with #18, and we hope that we'll be able to stick with that, but the revenue that comes in is definitely going to be a factor.

Culver: We have an outline through the end of the series so we'll be working on things in the background while the existing pages catch up to us.

When you guys brought the book back earlier this summer, did you include that four-page catch-up because of the lapse, or was it always intended since the issue flash-forwards?

Roberson: That script was written more than two years ago, actually! We had no idea at the time that it would take quite so long to get the issue out. But life got in the way, as did the need for both of us to take on other paying gigs.

Culver: Total confluence. Rex being on the run just happened to coincide with the book's hiatus.

What is it about Edison Rex that, years later and after this long hiatus, still calls to you? It would be easy to let it slip away.

Culver: It's a strong story they we really want to tell. Also like Edison Rex, I don't like losing. I will finish this book!

Roberson: I just love Edison and the world that Dennis and I built for him. And I've never had as much fun writing a comic or collaborating with an artist as I have working with Dennis on Edison Rex. We've always had a big, crazy end in mind for Edison Rex's story, and the desire to finally get a chance to tell it has never gone away.

When Edison debuted, it was often called "the best Superman book on the market," with the pointy shove of an elbow in DC's direction. Now, they're finally making Superman books that are generally well-liked and selling well. Are you interested in seeing what the audience has to say about the first few issues -- which feel VERY Superman before things start to diverge -- in that different marketplace of ideas?

Roberson: For me the motivation in doing Edison Rex was never to react to any other comics being published at the moment, but to do a story that the ten year old me would have been excited to read. Our book is a love letter to the kinds of comics that I grew up reading as much as anything.

Culver: We're still a different take on those kinds of books. That's not a critique on DC or any other superhero comic. There's nothing like Edison Rex out there and nobody can guess where it's going. Watch out.

Going forward, you've mentioned the success of things like Atomic Robo and Hellboy, which have a "series of miniseries" format. Will you imitate that or, like Monkeybrain's own Amelia Cole, will you tailor your book a little more to ComiXology and continue the current title and numbering?

Roberson: We'll be serializing the new material as webcomics first, and then releasing single issues digitally. As for whether we'll continue as an ongoing with the same numbering, restart with a new number one, or take the series-of-miniseries approach, I'm not sure yet. But one thing that Dennis and I have discussed is the fact that the webcomic model means that we can be much more flexible with the page counts of the issues going forward.

Culver: My endgame is to have our full story in print in all markets and available to everybody.