This post will recap the AMA with Crypto and Comics Founders Spencer Vogel and Sean O’Hare that took place on the Mogul Official Discord Server on Monday, October 18th.
Question 1: Such a cool podcast idea, got to have been a pretty big dream of yours? I’d imagine it’s come from hobby mostly?
Sean O’Hare: Definitely! I’ve been a collector my whole life and it was a special moment when NFTs finally started to click. Spencer introduced me to NFTs and crypto, and after a road trip to Yellowstone this August, Spencer, Kevin, and I decided to create a podcast that focuses on collecting in the digital space.
Spencer Vogel: I was a big collector when I was a kid, things like Yu-Gi-Oh cards, Pokemon cards, fossils. But then when I got into NFTs in 2018 it really sparked my interest in collecting again. Sean actually got me into investing in physical comics back in April!
Sean O’Hare: He’s been crushing it, I’m very proud of his collection haha.
People don’t realize how valuable Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards are worth today, it’s unreal, especially high graded cards
Question 2 (@Barcell1): What value do you see in NFT comics in the long term?
Spencer Vogel: There’s a lot of potential for indie comics. For example, the company I work for (Apollo NFT) manages the NFT career for legendary comic artist Jose Delbo. We’ve released original NFT comics with him, which go for thousands!
Sean O’Hare: I think licensed NFT comics have a ton of promise. Marvel has been releasing their NFTs on the platform VeVe and these drops have been selling out in less than 1 second, with bottom floor 2x ROI up to 1,000x ROI (sometimes even more). It’s incredible. People who were never collectors are now obsessed with comics. We have been contacted for advice about physical comics, just as much NFT comics. The world of collecting isn’t going in one direction or the other, it’s only expanding and we couldn’t be more excited!
The work Spencer is doing with Apollo and Jose Delbo is absolutely incredible.
Question 3 (@Sol): What is the perception of NFTs among traditional comic artists?
Spencer Vogel: I’d say that it’s been super positive! NFTs allow for new ways for comic artists to monetize their work. Unfortunately, they don’t receive royalties for the work they do with big companies like Marvel or DC. Through this Jose Delbo for example has probably made more money in the past year making NFT art than he did for most of his 6 decade career.
Question 4 (@juliab): What are your favorite NFT projects right now and why?
Sean O’Hare: Aside from Mogul?
I would say VeVe is probably one of my favorite projects right now. They are partnered with some of the biggest brands in the World including Marvel, DC, Givenchy, and indie artists like Frank Kozak, Ron English, and Jermaine Rodgers. Their NFTs are the first of their kind and also can be used in AR, which is incredible.
Spencer Vogel: Unrelated to comics but in the Avatar/PFP space I really like CryptoHobos! The art is generative but hand-drawn. I think they look incredible and are super unique from other PFPs. My PFP here is an example!
The Wax blockchain is also another great NFT ecosystem. Fee-less transaction and licensing with major brands like Garbage Pail Kids, Godzilla, StreetFighter, Atari, MLB, and more! Lots of awesome play-to-earn games as well like Alien Worlds
Sean O’Hare: Ethernity is another really cool project and they are creating some beautiful NFTs that are licensed with some of the biggest public figures in the World including Lionel Messi, Muhammed Ali, and Dak Prescott. They just released one with Shaq too. They also partnered with Terra Virtua so you can expect to see some cool VR / AR tech coming too.
Spencer Vogel: There are also a couple of indie comic projects on Wax!
Sean O’Hare: Can’t wait for Mogul Mogies! I think the Avatar/PFP projects like these have been great for the space and have brought many newcomers in the past few months. People see them as a status symbol and base their entire online personas on them
Question 5 (MageFrost): Comics collectors used to collect the physical comic version. What do you think will happen when the digital NFT and physical versions of the comic are being made available together? (buy a comic NFT, claim a physical comic copy)
Sean O’Hare: I think it will be extremely exciting. Especially if they release extremely rare variants that are exclusive to the digital space. That will turn a lot of heads and get people excited for both physical and digital formats.
VeVe is doing this for previous comics as well, releasing licensed Marvel NFT comics of grails like Fantastic Four #1 and Marvel Comics #1.
Those are incredibly scarce in the physical world.
Spencer Vogel: So Jose Delbo will actually be releasing a comic book in the coming months for his original character Satoshi the Creator. The NFT comics will be AR-enabled and there will also be physicals printed to complement the NFTs.
Sean O’Hare: People are LOVING it and these NFTs (based on the variant and mint number) are incredibly valuable
Question 6 (@Barcell1): What are the advantages and disadvantages that you see in NFT comics compared to physical ones?
Sean O’Hare: The advantage is accessibility, you can buy the comic anytime and anywhere, plus you don’t have to worry about the condition.
The disadvantage is that people love holding comics in their hands, so it takes away from the authenticity, but it’ll be fun to see how AR changes all of that.
Question 7 (@OTEE): Do you think Incentives could be added to comic NFT to increase the interest of people? If yes what do you think it should be?
Spencer Vogel: For sure! Incentives could include things like exclusive variant covers, augmented and virtual reality enablement, access to experiences, the ability to assign digital signatures from artists, etc.
Sean O’Hare: Yeah having artists being able to sign your NFT online is going to be HUGE.
Spencer Vogel: Or sign them “digitally” in person at comic cons!
