The Woods, W0rldTr33 in Development as Series as Creator James Tynion IV Unveils Animation Slate (Exclusive)

James Tynion IV is getting animated.

The comics author behind Something Is Killing the Children and The Nice House on the Lake, and his production house Tiny Onion are making a big play in the adult animation business. They are launching a muscular slate of titles based on the ideas and works of the creator.

In concert with the move, Tiny Onion has brought on Casey Gonzalez, who has spent the last decade working with animation industry stalwart Fred Seibert at FredFilms, as director of multimedia to oversee development for the company’s animated projects.

Tiny Onion’s slate is moving ahead on three fronts. The first project is the adaptation of Tynion’s award-winning comic The Woods, published by Boom! Studios and co-created with artist Michael Dialynas (Wynd, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles).

Tiny Onion has optioned the property from Boom! The adaptation will see Tynion and Dialynas executive producing for Tiny Onion. Stephen Christy and Mette Norkjaer will executive produce the series for Boom!

“The Woods was the horror story that launched my career in creator owned comics,” said Tynion, who established a name for himself in the comic book industry by writing various top-selling Batman works. “I think you can see the blueprints in it for almost every story I’ve written since. I still feel like it may be my best idea, the world and characters Michael and I created still live so clearly in my mind. I can’t wait to bring them to life for a new audience. I’ve spent the last ten years dreaming of being in a place where I could bring it to life in animation, and I’m thrilled that Tiny Onion has opened the door to that.”

The Woods, whose first issue debuted in 2014, tells the story of an ordinary high school in suburban Milwaukee, WI, which is suddenly transported into the midst of an alien forest in an uncharted corner of the universe. With no sign of why they were taken there, or what threats lurk in the dark woods surrounding their school, the story follows a group of students determined to figure out how to survive, and more importantly, how to get home.

The comic, which ran 36 issues, won a Young Adult Library Services Association award as well as a GLADD Media Award for outstanding comic. It also began a multi-year partnership with Boom! that led to the creation of Something Is Killing the Children, which became the top-selling comic in Boom!’s history and is now in development concurrently as a live-action feature and an animated series at Blumhouse.

“Publishing the first issue of The Woods in 2014 kicked off an exciting and fruitful creative adventure with the brilliant team of James Tynion IV and Michael Dialynas,” said Boom!’s president of development Stephen Christy in a statement. “We are thrilled to have this amazing book be the centerpiece of Tiny Onion’s new animation slate, and can’t wait for a whole new audience to discover the world that James and Michael created.”

But Woods is only part of the slate. Tynion is also developing an adaptation of his Image Comics sci-fi horror series W0rldTr33, set up at Netflix. Tynion and artist co-creator Fernando Blanco will serve as executive producers on the series, with Ashley Cardiff (Fear The Walking Dead) set as showrunner and executive producer. Sean Buckelew of Green Street Pictures will also serve as executive producer, and the team has just brought on Guillaume Dousse of Aesten Studio (Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, Flee) to lead visual development and art director for the series.

Colored by multi-Eisner Award-winning colorist Jordie Bellaire, W0rldTre33 tells the story of a dark evil within the Internet that may destroy humanity.

Not all the projects on the slate on based on Tynion’s comics. The Tipsy Dragon is an original concept of Tynion’s that is set in a tavern in a world where the age of heroes and legends is long past…and its barkeep and patrons couldn’t care less about their supposed role in an ancient battle between good and evil just outside their doorstep.

Tiny Onion is working on that adult animated comedy series with production company Irony Point. The series is being developed by Daniel Powell (Ugly Americans). RJ Fried, Mike Leech and Zach Smilovitz (Our Cartoon President) are attached to write and help produce.

Tiny Onion’s new hire Gonzalez began her career in publishing, editing graphic novels for First Second and helping launch the acclaimed Science Comics series while shepherding titles such as Eisner Award winner Battling Boy, Hugo Award-nominated The Divine, and Green Book Award winner Coral Reefs. She later transitioned into the role of head writer and producer at Seibert’s Frederator, where she launched the popular anime vertical Get in the Robot, and subsequently went to Crunchyroll, the world’s largest anime streaming service. At FredFilms, she developed original cartoons, including the viral short The Summoning, which is being adapted into a three book series for Oni Press.

At Tiny Onion, Gonzalez will unite her love of comics with her experience shaping top tier shows.

The hire and push into animation comes as adult animation, and animation in general, continues an upswing in popular culture. At Amazon, the adaptation of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible is in the top three of shows watched on the entire service, while Netflix has staked out an enviable swath in the field.

“I have always seen animation and comics as being siblings, the way both mediums bring stories to life with an energy and style that’s impossible in live action,” Tynion says. “I don’t remember any part of my life where I haven’t been deeply in love with both artforms. Nothing has made me happier in the last few years than to see more contemporary comics properties making the jump into animation, and since the moment I started Tiny Onion, it’s been my top priority to bring my properties to life in animation.”

The company is backed by a seed investment from Lyrical Media, the Los Angeles and New York-based company that develops, produces, and finances unique stories across multi-media formats, including film, television, video games, and graphic novels.

In a nod to the growth of animation, Lyrical Media recently launched Lyrical Animation to tap into that demand. Headed by animation vets Jacob Robinson, Daniel Dominguez and Brad Graeber, the division is developing an adaptation of the video game Death Stranding. Tiny Onion will be working closely with Lyrical Animation on its animation slate.

Tynion is repped by UTA, Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Caitlin DiMotta at Troy & Gould.