Building Frank Hunter: What One Month of Creating, Streaming, and Community Has Taught Me

When I started working on Frank Hunter, I knew I wanted to create a comic. What I didn’t expect was that I would also be building a community around the comic before the first issue was even finished.

Over the last month, I’ve completed pages, launched a website, started livestreaming regularly, and watched something interesting happen. People didn’t just start following the comic—they started following the journey.

Creating in Public

For most of my creative life, creating comics was a fairly private process.

You would draw pages, write stories, finish a project, and then hope people would find it. That was largely my experience with my previous comic, Jaak. It taught me a lot about creating, publishing, and selling comics, but the audience only saw the finished product.

With Frank Hunter, I’ve taken a different approach.

Instead of waiting until the comic is finished, I’ve been sharing the process:

• Thumbnails

• Pencils

• Inks

• Story discussions

• Livestreams

• Behind-the-scenes decisions

What I’ve learned is that people genuinely enjoy seeing something being built.

Livestreaming Changed Everything

When I first started livestreaming, I thought it would simply be a way to gain a few followers while I worked on pages.

What I discovered was that livestreaming became one of the most valuable parts of the creative process.

Some streams reached over 1,000 viewers. Recently, I had a stream reach over 3,000 viewers. More importantly, people started coming back.

I began recognizing names.

People would return stream after stream to see what page I was working on, what story decision I was making, or simply to listen while I drew.

That was the moment I realized I wasn’t just creating content.

I was building a community.

The Audience Isn’t What I Expected

One of the biggest surprises has been the audience itself.

I expected most of my viewers to be comic creators or artists.

Instead, I’m seeing a much broader audience:

• Gamers

• Horror fans

• Fantasy fans

• Young adults

• Story lovers

• People who simply enjoy watching something creative happen

The audience is proving that Frank Hunter isn’t just attracting comic creators. It’s attracting people interested in stories, characters, and creative journeys.

That has been a huge lesson for me.

The Power of Storytelling

I’ve also realized that my streams aren’t really art tutorials.

I’m not spending hours teaching people how to draw hands or perspective.

Instead, I spend most of my time talking about:

• Storytelling

• Character development

• Comic influences

• Movies

• Creativity

• Life

The drawing happens in the background.

The comic becomes the visual element while the conversation becomes the experience.

Many viewers stay for surprisingly long periods of time. Some have stayed for an hour or more. That has led me to believe the streams function more like a creative podcast than a traditional art tutorial.

And honestly, I think that’s one of the reasons they’re working.

Building More Than a Comic

Perhaps the biggest realization over the last month is that I’m not just building a comic anymore.

I’m building an ecosystem.

Every page now becomes:

• A livestream

• A TikTok clip

• An Instagram Reel

• A Facebook Reel

• A social media post

• Website content

• Future convention material

One page doesn’t just become one page.

It becomes dozens of opportunities to connect with people.

Community Before Publication

The most exciting part of this journey is that all of this is happening before the comic is even published.

People are following Frank Hunter before they can read Frank Hunter.

They’re investing in the process.

They’re watching the world, characters, and story come to life in real time.

That’s something I never experienced before, and it’s changing the way I think about creating comics.

Looking Forward

There is still a lot of work ahead.

More pages. More stories. More livestreams. More late nights drawing.

But for the first time, I can see the beginnings of something larger than a comic.

I can see a community forming around Chadderbox Studios.

Every stream, every page, every conversation adds another piece to that foundation.

The goal has never been to create a viral moment.

The goal is to build something lasting.

A comic. A community. A studio.

And after this last month, it feels like we’re finally starting to see that happen.

– Chad Scott

 Creator of Frank Hunter & Founder of Chadderbox Studios