James Tynion IV built Tiny Onion in 2023 with Lyrical Media backing to push his stories beyond panels. Fresh off Eisner wins for hits like Something is Killing the Children and The Department of Truth, he now eyes cinema dominance.
Their latest pact covers the Exquisite Corpses adaptation plus a feature spin on Room Service, his one-shot with a 2024 short already out.
Exquisite Corpses dropped last year via Image Comics with artist Michael Walsh. It tracks a twisted Halloween game where twelve top global assassins, bankrolled by US elite families, get dumped in a sleepy town.
They slash until one stands, handing that sponsor family national control for five years. Sales topped 500,000 copies fast, topping new IP launches in the direct market comics.
Room service flips hotel stays sinister. Guests order up perfect meals through room service, with staff handling cleanup. Tynion scripted the prequel comic alongside director PK Colinet’s Kickstarter short. Now they expand it to full runtime, tapping Tynion’s knack for everyday spots gone lethal.
Lyrical CEO Alexander Black calls Tynion a genre shaker. The studio funds his cross-media push, seeing franchise gold in films, animation, and games.
Tynion produces both pics with Black, Arlen Konopaki, Walsh, and Jon Rosenberg as executive producers. No directors attached yet, but the assembly starts with A-list talent hunts.
From Gotham Shadows to Indie Terror King
Tynion cut his teeth on DC’s Batman from 2020, scripting 85 issues through the City of Bane fallout. He mixed action and horror, pitting Bruce Wayne against Deathstroke hordes sans Alfred’s brakes. That run set his rep for high-stakes dread in capes.
IDW crossovers sealed his name, too. The Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles miniseries sold out, pitting the Dark Knight against the Foot Clan in Gotham. Sequels like Adventures kept turtles slicing beside the Bat-family, proving his blockbuster touch.
James Tynion IV (Credit: CNN)
Horror pivot hit paydirt independently. Something Is Killing the Children at Boom Studios snagged Blumhouse film and animation rights last year, with Tynion producing.
Tiny Onion’s animation queue packs WRLDTR33 for Netflix, The Woods, and the original Tipsy Dragon comedy with Irony Point. This lyrical duo amps up his live-action horror footprint.
Comic fans track his sales surge. Exquisite Corpses companion card game drops in the summer, fueling multiplatform bets. Room Service’s short buzz drew festival nods, ripe for expansion. Tynion credits co-creators for passion matching his page-to-screen fire.
Franchise Fever Fuels Next Wave
The horror comics boom favors Tynion’s output. Lyrical Eyes Exquisite Corpses as expandable IP across live-action, animation, and gaming. Room Service fits boutique thrillers like Ready or Not hotel sieges. Both lean on his strength: ordinary rules twisted by hidden rules.
Blumhouse Something is killing the children’s eyes. The werewolf hunts in Archer’s Peak, echoing Tynion’s Erica slaughter procedural. Tiny Onion’s WRLDTR33 tackles internet cults, and The Woods strands teens in alien woods. His slate screams shared universe potential under the Tiny Onion banner.
Trade whispers point to 2027 shoots if scripts lock fast. Lyrical’s Onslaught X-Men film wraps post-production, testing their Marvel muscle. Black bets on creator-led risks for the next horror brands, post-Midnight Mass streamer wars.
Tynion stays hands-on, scripting Room Service himself. Walsh joins the Exquisite Corpses producers, ensuring comic fidelity. Fan reactions light up Reddit, hyping Assassin Royale visuals. His Batman/TMNT legacy draws crowds, but indie horrors cement his bold streak.
Competition heats up. Rivals like Scott Snyder push Absolute Batman, but Tynion owns the horror lane. Tiny Onion hires swell, scouting directors for visceral kills. Exquisite Corpses’ town map and family backstories beg for big screens, and room service carts promise feasts of gore.
Success metrics stack high. Post-500k sales, card game hype, and short film traction position these as sleepers. Tynion’s pivot from superhero gigs to terror trades proves prescient amid superhero fatigue. Studios chase his IP gold, with Lyrical fronting the charge.
This deal cements Tiny Onion as a horror hub. Tynion eyes global reach, thanking Lyrical for seed cash, turning comics to celluloid. The assassin drops, and the hotel hit signals his empire’s scary expansion, with Batman cred opening doors wide.
The landscape of K-pop has been permanently altered with the explosive arrival of ALPHA DRIVE ONE , the highly anticipated project group formed through the Mnet survival reality program, BOYS II PLANET.
Upon the release of their first mini-album, “EUPHORIA,” on January 12, 2026, the group didn’t just enter the music scene—they dominated it.
Within a single week, ALPHA DRIVE ONE secured their place in the history books by achieving the second-highest first-week sales for a debut album in Hanteo history, signaling the rise of a new global powerhouse.
A Million-Seller Within Twenty-Four Hours
The momentum for ALPHA DRIVE ONE was evident from the very first day.
As soon as “EUPHORIA” hit the shelves and digital platforms, sales skyrocketed. By the end of the first day of release, the group had already surpassed the 1 million sales mark.
This feat is extraordinarily rare in the music industry, placing them in an elite circle of artists.
By hitting the million-seller milestone on day one, ALPHA DRIVE ONE became only the third group in Hanteo history to achieve over a million sales in the first week of a debut, joining the prestigious ranks of ZEROBASEONE and RIIZE.
The immediate commercial success highlights the immense dedicated fanbase the members cultivated during their time on the survival show, proving that the “survival-to-superstar” pipeline remains a potent force in the industry.
ALPHA DRIVE ONE (Credit: YouTube)
Breaking Records: The Hanteo First-Week Milestone
As the first week of tracking concluded (January 12 to January 18), Hanteo Chart officially reported that “EUPHORIA” sold a staggering total of 1,441,270 copies.
This figure is monumental, officially ranking as the second-highest first-week sales for any debut album ever recorded on the Hanteo Chart.
The only group to currently hold a higher record is their predecessor from the original BOYS PLANET series, ZEROBASEONE, whose debut album YOUTH IN THE SHADE remains at the top of the leaderboard.
By coming so close to the all-time record, ALPHA DRIVE ONE has demonstrated that the appetite for high-quality, fan-driven project groups is larger than ever, setting a high bar for all future debuts in the fifth generation of K-pop.
From Survival Show to Global Icons
The success of “EUPHORIA” is a direct reflection of the global engagement with BOYS II PLANET.
Throughout the duration of the show, viewers from around the world invested emotionally in the trainees’ journeys, and that investment translated directly into purchasing power.
The album’s title, “EUPHORIA,” seems to perfectly capture the mood of the fandom, celebrating the successful transition from trainees to professional idols.
Beyond the numbers, the group has already begun making their mark on music programs.
Following their record-breaking sales, the group has been active on major shows like Music Core and M Countdown, performing alongside industry veterans and showcasing a level of stage presence and polish that belies their “rookie” status.
A New Era of Dominance
ALPHA DRIVE ONE’s record-breaking debut is more than just a statistical triumph; it is a declaration of their future potential.
With nearly 1.5 million copies sold in seven days, they have established a foundation that most established artists strive for years to achieve.
As they move forward with their promotions, the industry is watching closely to see how this momentum will carry into their future releases and international tours.
For now, ALPHA DRIVE ONE stands tall as a historical phenomenon, proving that they are truly the “Alpha” of the new generation.
