Every comic book artist, letterer, colourist, writer, game designer, and professional in the creative sector often asks one recurring question: how do you build a successful creative brand and business?

At the 13th edition of Lagos Comic Convention, the Comic Republic (CR) team tackled this very question in a panel session on building a 360 comic brand. The CEO, Jide Martin; Head of Production, Micheal Balogun; Creative Director, Tobe Max Ezeogu; and Animation Lead, Esemjay Jonathan shared the CR blueprint, a roadmap shaped by over a decade of trials, pivots, and triumphs.

For those who missed the session and its many sharp insights, the conversation has been distilled into five key lessons. Grab some popcorn, feed your eyes, and fill your mind

Start with the End in Mind

“We started thinking expansion when we first met” – Micheal Balogun

Comic Republic began in 2012 when Jide, Michael, and Tobe crossed paths and envisioned what their company could become. According to Michael, they discussed the future of CR from the very beginning, imagining a brand that would extend far beyond comic book pages. That clarity of purpose has since seen CR evolve from just the panel pages of comic books to the frames of animation and now into pixels of games.

The advice to other creatives is simple: think long-term from the start. By envisioning the end goal, you can map out a workable strategy to get there.

Create for Monetisation

 “Start from what you are good at, and not just what looks like it is making the most money” – Esemjay Jonathan

 Cash flow is the lifeline of any business, and sustainability is a non-negotiable ingredient for longevity. Creators are found wanting when it comes to this. Jide Martin discouraged the norm of creating for the sake of passion. He emphasised that other sectors are created with monetisation in mind and that creatives should imbibe the same.

Jide Martin added that “it all starts with creating value. Whatever a creative is good at should be presented to those with the intention to pay for it in a way that will make them willing to exchange their money for it”. Ergo, the focus should be on service delivery and proper marketing. The team agreed that although there is no one source for monetisation, creatives should start with what they are good at doing.

With monetisation in mind, there is an untold level of clarity and discipline. A comic artist who can only work on one page in two days should be able to crunch their numbers to what’s sustainable. If the art that is being produced at a slow rate does not command a premium, then there is a need to find ways to make the process quicker to get faster results. If the money earned from the work cannot keep the stomach full and the lights on monthly, it’s best to rethink the strategy or exit, the CR team emphasised.

Tobe Max added that for CR, they started with a freemium model that allowed people to read their comic books for free. It, in turn, allowed CR to build an audience base that helped them prove a business case for advertisements, their first successful source of monetisation. Today, the comic republic has successfully pivoted into a subscription-based platform with hundreds of comic books and thousands of eyeballs.

Your IP is your Greatest Asset

“IP is the surest way (for creatives) to become wealthy.” – Jide Martin

The CR team further gave ways to ensure profitable monetisation by protecting the intellectual property (IP) of one’s creations. Jide likened the IP to a plot of land. He says the landowner might make the mistake of selling too soon and lose out on more money when it starts to accumulate value. He likened the infrastructure built on land that gives it more value to the creations like merch, animation, movies, etc., built on an initial IP. “The more you do and allow people to experience your IP, the more valuable it becomes”, Jide said.

Being authentic is what makes African creators shine. There have been remakes of Western comic book and animation characters so much that the world is looking for something new. It’s one of the reasons that made the video game - Black Myth Wukong - so successful, Tobe Max noted. Our stories are rich enough to build an IP from. CR’s Guardian Prime, for example, takes inspiration from Nigerian roots and is presented to a global audience. It became the foundational IP that birthed other characters that give CR the value it has today.

The CR story shows that just as the value of land increases with time, so does the value of an IP. So, creatives are encouraged to be patient to build up such value and never sell their IP rights too soon.

Have a Legal Team

“We have a very strong legal team” – Jide Martin

In the creative industry, ideas are currency. Yet without proper protection, those ideas can be easily exploited. Comic Republic emphasised the importance of having a competent legal team from the very start. Contracts, intellectual property agreements, licensing deals, and even collaborations with artists or brands require careful legal oversight.

Many creatives underestimate the value of legal support until they are confronted with disputes over ownership or royalties. CR, however, invested early in legal expertise to safeguard its intellectual property portfolio and structure deals that would allow sustainable growth. The presence of a legal team not only protects the brand but also builds confidence with external partners and investors, who see that the company takes its business seriously.

For emerging creators, the advice is clear: even if you cannot afford a full legal department, seek out professionals who can help draft contracts, register trademarks, and guide you through licensing. As CR’s experience shows, creativity may ignite the brand, but legality sustains it.

Be Flexible and Leverage Technology

“You can’t be doing traditional art for comic books in 2025” – Micheal Balogun

CR did not have the resources to print in large quantities or market to a large audience when it started. The proliferation of the internet and social media helped them get started. Accessibility was the first thing technology gave to CR, Tobe Max admitted.

One time, the comic book making process required artists to draw on paper, scan it into a digital screen and complete the rest of the process. Technology has eliminated the need for traditional processes and streamlined workflow. With tools like the Adobe Creative Suite, the quality of work has improved, Michael noted.

As new tech keeps coming out, one must be flexible in testing them and adopting what works. Esemjay admitted that one of the reasons he enjoys his role at CR Motion+, the animation arm of CR, is the flexibility within the company to adopt new tools and technology. Ergo, for a creative looking to build a business for the global market, the flexibility to adapt to new technology cannot be overemphasised.

Bonus: Execution is Everything

“A story may not be too good at the get-go, but the execution makes it interesting” – Tobe Max Ezeogu

This is a call to creatives to work on the execution of their works twice as much as they work on the story. The CR team believes that one has to find a core message that the audience will resonate with. Using personal experiences and the local environment are practical ways to come up with one. Once this is settled, there should be intentionality to continually improve on execution.

What is consistently being put out becomes the brand image. The people it resonates with slowly morph into not just an audience, but a tribe. This is how brand loyalty and goodwill are built.

As CR has shown, building a 360 brand is not about one big leap; it is about the patience, strategy, and discipline to grow steadily until your creative spark becomes a full-blown empire.