Banijay Rights’ David Christopher and Neil Gibson of Twisted Comics discuss creating Black Mirror graphic novels

Guys, it’s great to connect. Before we dive into Twisted Comics’ Black Mirror graphic novels, David – how do you approach licensing for a brand as unique as Black Mirror?
David Christopher, Director of Licensing and Merchandising, Banijay Rights: Although Black Mirror is one of the world’s most recognisable TV brands, the nature of an anthology series brings about its own challenges. This pushes us to explore new and exciting mediums to engage with fans in an authentic way, that not only builds the Black Mirror brand, but also deepens their affinity for the universe through meaningful extensions. This is what makes markets like BLE so important – not just for connecting with new and existing licensees, but to also see the landscape of the industry, assess immerging trends and take inspiration from all the amazing work that’s going on.

When opening Black Mirror up to new licensing opportunities, what are some important factors to consider?
David: The key to any good brand extension is a great partnership. It was important to us to work with partners who have the same love for the brand and show it the same level of care and attention to detail as we do. It’s not often you are able to tell beloved stories in a new and exciting medium, let alone one that fits the brand so well. It’s exciting to work with partners, like Twisted Comics, and artists who are also fans of the show to see their interpretation of the episodes.

Absolutely – and why was Black Mirror a good fit for the graphic novel treatment?
David: Because it’s such a good show! It’s a multi award-winning series that has changed how we see technology, the future, each other, love, privacy, connection, family, work, the afterlife and so on. It captures the imagination of a generation – sharp, suspenseful, satirical tales with a techno-paranoia bend – all audacious ‘What If’ stories… Some comic, some shocking but all entirely unlike anything else ever seen on television.

It’s these incredible stories that make it a joy to take into the graphic novel medium, allowing audiences a different way to interact and experience them. And we’ve been delighted with the reaction to the first USS Callister graphic novel pre-sale on Kickstarter.

“Visuals are important, but the most essential thing is a good story.”

Neil, these graphic novels adapt classic Black Mirror episodes. How did you approach bringing something new for fans to engage with, while also staying true to the show?
Neil Gibson, Comic Writer and Founder of Twisted Comics: Any adaption always brings something new. Crucial to me was ensuring the authenticity of the stories as we translate them across and allowing the richness to come through. By way of example, for USS Callister, the first episode to have a graphic novel version, it was the art styles we chose to use that allowed us to truly reflect the stories.

We used four different styles for various parts of the stories and three different colouring styles. Without getting overly geeky, it was all about Kirby, Benday dots and ‘4Color’… Furthermore, with our approach of running a pre-sale on Kickstarter, we offered a range of tiers with collectibles, editions and exclusive add-ons that offers fans another level of engagement.

You mention kicking this off with USS Callister. What guided which episodes you’re looking at for these graphic novels?
Neil: Something I learned from my series of anthology stories – Twisted Dark – is that you can never tell what people will respond to. One story that many readers consider to be the weakest in volume one, turns out to be the favourite story of all for a small number of people.

For Black Mirror, I wanted to find the most universally beloved episodes and for that I used statistics. I scoured the internet for those websites which rate the favourite episodes of a series and collected the data. I then did box plots on the rankings and determined the most universally rated episodes. USS Callister and San Junipero were at the top of the list.

Both terrific episodes! And more broadly speaking, what does a brand need to have in order to suit a graphic novel?
Neil: It’s relatively straightforward, it just needs a great story – and we are always on the look out for those. We were fortunate to engage with Banijay Rights at the right time to pursue this amazing opportunity. Visuals are important, but the most essential thing is a good story.

But I am biased… I am a writer! Artists will say that great things to draw is of course the most important thing. There are some brands that don’t even have a story which is fine, but then you need to make sure you hire a good writer who understands the medium.

Last question! There’s several anthology comics resonating at the moment, like Vanishing Point, Cruel Universe, Assorted Crisis Events – and a Twilight Zone adaptation on the way from IDW. Is the medium enjoying a growth in popularity?
Neil: Yes, absolutely. While comics have always had a passionate fan base, we are now seeing more mainstream IP and brands seeing the opportunity to engage deeper with their fans and audiences, across lots of mediums. And with digital readers such as Inky Pen launching – where we are previewing the first 20 pages of our USS Callister graphic novel – there are some interesting technological developments that can offer additional enhanced comic experiences.

Guys, thanks again! And worth mentioning that Black Mirror is one of the key brands in Banijay Rights’ line up for BLE 2025, alongside IP like Peaky Blinders, MasterChef and Simon’s Cat. We’ll see you then!