Erma (webtoon)

Erma is a fantasy-dark comedy slice of life webtoon created by Mexican artist Brandon J. Santiago. The follows the adventures and misadventures of the titular six-year-old Erma Williams' experiences as a half-human, half-ghost, tending to use her haunting abilities for everyday antics, whether for better or for worse, focusing on themes such as friendship and acceptance. Santiago initially published the webcomic on DeviantArt and Tumblr in May 2014, but has since released it on various services from January 2016, such as Tapas and WEBTOON. It is available in two languages, English and Spanish. In January 2020, "Comics Beat" reported that with 64.5 million views and 74.9 thousand subscribers, "Erma" was the most-viewed webcomic on the Tapas syndicate in 2019.
In October 2017, Santiago published a prequel graphic novel to the series titled "Spirit's Bloom", as well as two anthology collections of "Erma" comics, in addition releasing a short film pilot of "Erma" produced by Outcast Studios. In January 2019, a print collection, "Tales of Outcast", was announced, as well as the stand-alone "Night Detective", "Siris", and "Warrior Unicorn Princess", and "Yokai", an in-universe novel. A picture book, "Meet Erma", was released in April 2020.
Overview.
"Erma" follows the adventures and misadventures of Erma Williams, a child who lives in the suburbs and has supernatural abilities. Santiago also focuses on Erma's supernatural life and friendships with her best friends, Amy, Terry and Connor, as well as her babysitter Felicia and fellow "Warrior Unicorn Princess" fan Sidney.
Development.
Santiago started creating and uploading "Erma" on DeviantArt and Tumblr in 2014. He was studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign at the time, from which he graduated in 2018 to work on the webcomic full-time. The concept of the series originated from a short parody one-shot of "Ju-On" and "The Ring" published on May 28, 2014. Following the one-shot's positive reception on DeviantArt and it subsequently going viral across various social media platforms, Santiago decided to develop a series based on the original "Erma" one-shot, debuting on Tapas on January 3, 2016, and on WEBTOON on April 14, 2018. The series has received universal acclaim for its originality, creativity, and humour. In 2017, the name of the series was confirmed to have been take from the minor "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" character Irma Langinstein, and that the surname of "Erma" title character Erma Williams was taken from the minor "The Grudge" character Emma Williams.
In October 2017, Santiago developed and released an animated short film based on the comic in conjunction with the company Outcast Studios, run by Donovan Tracy Gaiter and Julia Santiago. Santiago has stated regarding the initial decision to exclusively release the strip on Tapas that ""Erma" should at least be on one main website where it would be easy for anyone, fan or newcomer, to come together, and be able to read all of the comics in chronological order, with a more organized list"; despite this, the comic was later released on WEBTOON.
Bibliography.
Collections.
Several print collections and a graphic novel have been published. "Erma" #1 covered various strips from 2014-2015 alongside original strips, while "Erma" #2 featured solely original strips. "Spirit’s Bloom", a graphic novel set before the events of "Erma", detailing how Erma's parents met as well as expanding the series’ mythology, was released in 2017. A third collection, "Tales of Outcast", featuring the writing of Donovan Tracy and art of Erik Lervold and Kirsten Celander, was released in 2019.
Other media.
Pilot (2017).
On November 27, 2015, Brandon Santiago confirmed that an animation based on "Erma" was in development for after the release of "Erma" #2 via his Tumblr page. On October 2, 2017, Santiago revealed that he had a "secret" project in development in addition to "Erma" #3, which he cited as the reason "there [wouldn’t] be as many Halloween strips this month as last year". On October 30, 2017, "Erma – Animated Short Film" was uploaded to YouTube by Santiago, with a notification on Tapas describing the film as "a surprise for all of you", referring to fans of the "Erma" series. The film was produced by Outcast Studios, and has received a positive reception. The film is set prior to the first "Erma" strip, detailing how Erma's teacher Ms. Bierly met Erma. The short partially adapts "Coming Soon", a stand-alone comic released to Santiago's DeviantArt and Tumblr pages to announce the development of an ongoing "Erma" series prior to the series' original launch.
Video game (2021).
On August 11, 2016, Santiago designed and released a videogame based on the "Erma" as a series of levels through "Super Mario Maker", a game creation system developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. The game, titled "Erma’s Well of Horror", contains several images of Erma composed of darkness and clouds, and has a completion rate of 4.94%. Promotional art for the game features Mario encountering Erma as he's about to enter a Warp Pipe, shocked by her appearance. Santiago has stated that the game was specifically designed for readers of the "Erma" webcomic, as compensation for a temporary delay in the release of the following strip that existed at the time. An updated version of "Erma’s Well of Horror" was later released to "Super Mario Maker 2" upon its release in 2019. In March 2019, point-and-click adventure game "Erma: The Game" was announced to be in development for iOS and Mac, following Erma as she searches her neighborhood of Blairwood for her science project gone awry, with an Indiegogo campaign to fund the game's development raising €24,550 for a December 2021 release.
Reception.
Brad Miska of "Bloody Disgusting" has described the quality of the series as being on par with, if not superior to, "Calvin and Hobbes", stating that not since the series "have I been this excited about an ongoing series". Miska also cited Santiago as having been "working diligently" with "Erma"; Miska additionally mistook the character of Emiko Williams (née Yūreimoto) for Samara Morgan in his review, the character from whom the design for Erma was gotten (alongside Kayako Saeki). In a follow-up review to that of Miska's for "Bloody Disgusting", Jonathan Barkan described "Erma" as "adorable" and "innocent", expressing fondness the series' "squeal-inducing" moments and citing "Movie Night" as his favourite strip.
Giallo Julian of "Dread Central" praised "Erma" as "just wholesome, feel-good content dipped in a nice coating of horror imagery… and you can bet your bloody guts that [one would] love every single bit of it. It’s a celebration of the horror culture in the style of an old "Peanuts" comic strip", in particular praising its evolution from "one-shot stories establishing Erma [to] longer narratives, and [how] it begins to flesh out a creative world that [is] just a joy to see."
Harry Situation of "The Prose" described "Erma" as an "[a]bsolutely fun read", calling the series "by far one of the best comic strips I’ve ever read", citing his love for Santiago's method of characterization of the main characters, finding "the rest of the characters [to be] just as likable too", describing the characters of Sam and Emiko Williams as "the most lovable couple ever". Regarding the series' artwork, Situation described it as "incredible", saying "[t]here's so much attention to detail that it’s mind-blowing. I love the expressions people give in the comic whenever Erma does something freaky. Their drawn faces and reactions are just priceless. Even Erma’s expressions are entertaining. While she doesn't talk throughout the series, Brandon found a way to let her mood and thoughts let the readers know what she's saying, and this method is brilliant. Also, it's nice to spot some cameos and easter eggs of classic horror movies in each comic strip."
Chase Magnett of "BuzzFeed" described the series overall as "[to] be read by people of all ages", describing its humour and artwork as "adorable". Regarding the series' content, Magnett referred to "Erma" as "contain[ing] practical information for everyday life", "teach[ing] kids that actions have consequences", and "laugh[ing] at the day-to-day concerns of parenthood", overall stating the series to have "something that everyone can relate to". Deanna Destito of "Comics Beat" praised Santiago's depiction of the titular Erma Williams as a "ghoulish creeper [who] just wants to be like any other kid", complementing the series' contrast with such horror franchises as "The Grudge", and describing the series overall as "quirky, cute, and even a little heartwarming".