Meet One of the Creators Who Helped Transform a Fantasy Podcast into $1.5 million Kickstarter-Funded Graphic Novel

Erika Ishii has taken up a new quest with her Worlds Beyond Number co-creators Brennan Lee Mulligan, Aabria Iyengar, and Lou Wilson. But instead of describing her journeys of empathy and heroism to her ravenous podcast audience, she's translating the first season of WBN into a glowing graphic novel with writer Jadzia Axelrod and artist Sarah Webb.

She answered some questions from Sean Edgar, Kickstarter's Director of Comics & Collectibles, about the jump to print and the potential for more sequential art adventures.

In your own words, can you describe Worlds Beyond Number Presents: The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One – Book One?

This is a tale of three children from three different realms, each with different blossoming magical abilities, and the beautiful adventure-filled summer that leaves them forever changed. It is an introduction to the grand and perilous world of Umora, through the eyes of three True Friends. It began as friends improvising a narrative together using the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game and now we are thrilled to have that tale adapted to a graphic novel with words written by Jadzia Axelrod and art by Sarah Webb. This is a collaboratively-crafted love letter from Aabria Iyengar, Brennan Lee Mulligan, Lou Wilson, and myself to both our favorite fantasy classics and to one another, the real life True Friends of Worlds Beyond Number. 

What made comics the best place to channel your podcast into a visual medium?

I fervently believe that one should only adapt a story to another medium if it adds something unique and special that can only be accomplished with that medium. Our podcast is a vibrant, immersive auditory experience designed to delight the aural senses. Conversely, comics are the polar opposite in that they are completely silent. When Skybound approached us with the prospect of a comic, we all leapt at the chance to share this adorable adventure in glorious sequential four-color (oh, digital?) illustrations.

How similar are you to Ame, the Witch you portrayed throughout the campaign?

As a young adult in the campaign, Ame is less similar and more… aspirational. She’s patient, kind, helpful, and phenomenal at household tasks. However, Ame in the Children’s Adventure is very similar to me at her age. Curious to a fault, filled with boundless energy for mischief, running amok outdoors, collecting nature treasures, picking one-sided arguments with arch-nemeses, emotionally precocious with an underdeveloped filter, with a classic bowl haircut.           

The original gaming session that spawned The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One started in 2023 and wrapped in 2025, running four seasons. How have you approached editing this epic down and distilling it for a precise medium like comics?

We decided to start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). In tabletop roleplaying games, the game master will often run a “Session Zero.” This is where players create their characters, translate their attributes into number scores and game mechanics, and discuss or roleplay how they are connected to one another and the world. We wanted a more organic way to build our backstories and define our relationships before we meet them as adults. So we played out a whole summer from the characters’ pivotal first meeting as children and explored the world of Umora through the eyes of children, where everything felt new and exciting and the complexities of a larger world are still distant. We released the Children's Adventure as 8 episodes on our Patreon, and while it’s not mandatory listening to enjoy the full story, it is the perfect prelude to The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One. Hopefully, all of our readers will fall in love with the world the way we did. 

What storytelling and visuals from Jadzia and Sarah surprised you the most? How close was their interpretation to what was in your head?

Jadzia and Sarah made adapting the campaign to comics the easiest and most natural thing in the world! Because our initial recording process is already so collaborative, this felt almost akin to having them pull up seats at the table to transpose the heart of the story to paper. From Jadzia’s initial scripts and Sarah’s art test of Ame and Suvi’s meeting, we knew they would nail the assignment. Tone, character, expressions, understanding what themes of the episodes to expound upon, which details work better in a podcast. Seeing the scene with the fireflies that I had been imagining for three years now made me tear up! 

Are there any parts of the graphic novel that haven’t been explored in the podcast?

There is a stretch goal that, if reached, will unlock a brand new short story by Jadzia about a favorite side character (NPC)! This tale includes so many of the magical things I loved in fables and folk tales as a child and gosh I hope the rest of the world gets to read it too!

What would Erika’s spirit companion be?

We joke that in Umora, a witch’s familiar embodies a trait that she has to “work on.” Or perhaps a familiar reminds her that while she must put away this trait, she should always have it close by? Grandma Wren’s familiar is an ornery rooster named Taro. I always assumed mine would be a fox, sneaky and mischievous. But now I would need it to speak in Brennan’s voice.   

Given the success of this campaign at this stage, can we expect more graphic novels? Would you consider one for Solari?

My statement does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Worlds Beyond Number LLC, Skybound, Jadzia Axelrod, Sarah Webb, or any affiliated groups. 

Absolutely. Yes. I want the whole The Wizard, The Witch, and The Wild One: The Book. I want Solari: The Space Opera. I want A County Affair in Cartoon Modern style. I learned to read with comics, grew up loving comics, and now that I’ve gotten a taste for making comics, I refuse to stop.