Bad Influence: Streamer Valkyrae Launches Webtoon Multimedia Series

Illustrated by the Barcelona-based artist Jor Ros and co-written by Orson James and Roman Calais, Bad Influence follows the adventures of Nel. This hot-headed and haunted young woman isn't buying the dream sold to the masses. Nel joins a rebel gang to take the system down. But the deeper she digs, the weirder it gets. She unearths glitches, ghosts, and truths that no one wants uncovered. Reality's falling apart. And Nel might be next.

HiHi Studios, co-founded by Valkyrae and Range Media's Kai Gayoso, designed the "Bad Influence" for cross-platform expansion. The release is "the first step in a broader strategy to scale creator-owned worlds across short-form video, interactive experiences, merch, and long-form content."

"My community has always been the heart of everything I do," Valkyrae said. "When I saw what Otherly was building, I knew I had to be part of it. This partnership lets us launch and grow worlds fans will truly care about. Our first IP, Bad Influence, is weird, wild, and full of heart — and I'm so proud of it. Even if you've never read a comic in your life, trust me – once you start scrolling, you'll be hooked."

"Bad Influence" is Peak Webtoon Influencer-Flavoured Comics

"Bad Influence is about a reluctant rebel fighting back against the system," James added. "Weisshorn is a broad-smiling dystopia where control is asserted through entertainment. The system doesn't just rule with fear — it distracts, dazzles, and scripts your life through spectacle. If everyone's smiling, how bad can it be? It's the surveillance state dressed up as a theme park."

"Nel's rebellion is an act of self-discovery," Calais said. "Nel isn't just fighting the regime — she's trying to figure out who she is beneath the roles she's been forced into. Life in Weisshorn is a mess of lies and trauma, and Nel's ready to break out. But she's not the chosen one. She feels lost, confused. Nel carries herself like a fighter, but behind that is a young woman patching over the cracks of doubt and insecurity with stubbornness and sheer will. And, in this world, holding it together might be the most radical act of all."

"With a pipeline of similar projects launching in the coming year, the partnership with HiHi Studios reimagines how IP can be launched, scaled, and sustained — built for fandom from the ground up, and designed to meet audiences where they already are," Otherly's Bryan St. John said.

"Bad Influence is about defiance, and being bold enough to break away from scripts and algorithms," Ros said. "The story of Nel, a deeply flawed yet earnest misfit, who is just trying to find her sense of belonging in a world she feels largely disconnected from, has been an incredible experience and opportunity as an artist. I've developed a deep bond with the characters in this world, and I think everyone will be able to see part of themselves in them. After all, their story boils down to people trying to figure things out in a relentless world that won't stop yelling at you so that it can capture your full attention, all of the time."

The first three episodes of "Bad Influence" are available now as a Webtoon Original, and readers have the option to unlock up to three additional episodes using Webtoon's Fast Pass feature. New episodes will drop every Thursday. We want to remind prospective readers that Webtoon's episodic releases are free, and you can just wait for the paywalled episodes to become free.