WORM: The Superhero Story With 80 Million Views Is Finally Becoming a Comic Book

That’s certainly the case with WORM, the massively popular superhero web serial from writer John McCrae, better known to his readers as Wildbow.

Originally published between 2011 and 2013, WORM has accumulated an estimated 80 million views, according to its new publisher. Now, after more than a decade of fans following its complicated world of heroes, villains, and everything in between, the story is finally getting its first official comic book adaptation.

On October 27, IDW Publishing announced that it is partnering with McCrae to bring WORM to comic book shelves in 2027. And honestly, this sounds like exactly the kind of superhero story that deserves a wider audience.

Not Your Typical Superhero Origin Story

At the center of WORM is Taylor Hebert, a teenage girl who develops the ability to control insects after enduring some pretty traumatic experiences.

Now, controlling bugs might not sound particularly impressive when you’re comparing powers with Superman or the X-Men, but that’s part of what makes this story so interesting.

Taylor lives in a world where superpowered criminals, dangerous organizations, and morally questionable heroes are everywhere. Her desire to do the right thing doesn’t necessarily mean she’s going to make the right decisions.

And that’s where things get complicated!

The original story explores the uncomfortable territory between being a hero or becoming a villain, asking what happens when good intentions lead people down some very dark paths. It’s a concept that feels particularly interesting in a time when audiences have become increasingly more attracted to the anti-hero, the guy who can fuck shit up but still be a good guy!

Bringing WORM to the Comic Book Page

The upcoming ongoing series has assembled a creative team that includes writer Meghan Fitzmartin, artist Javier Ortiz, colorist David Vaquero, and letterer Andriy Lukin.

McCrae will serve as a consultant on the adaptation, helping the team translate his enormous fictional universe into a visual format.

The need for that is a pretty interesting story! WORM was originally written as a prose story inspired by superhero fiction, a genre most people associate with comic books. Now the story is coming full circle and entering the medium that helped inspire it.

The adaptation also presents an interesting challenge. How do you take a sprawling, character-driven narrative and translate it into individual comic book issues without losing the complexity that made people fall in love with it?

Seeing how that is going to work, and to what degree of success is definitely going to be something worth reading and keeping track of!

When Can You Read It?

Fans will get their first look at the adaptation with a special prequel issue scheduled for Free Comic Book Day on May 1, 2027. That release will also include a written contribution from McCrae.

The ongoing series officially launches with WORM #1 in July 2027.

For longtime readers, this is an opportunity to experience a familiar world in an entirely different way. For everyone else, it might be the perfect introduction to a superhero universe they didn’t even know existed.

And if you’re like me, even though I’m a HUGE every day superhero fan, I’m always looking for something a little off the beaten path, and this is definitely a title worth putting on your radar!