HYBE expands Dark Moon franchise at Comic-Con to boost IP revenue
HYBE is leveraging K-pop group ENHYPEN's Comic-Con appearance to scale its most successful original intellectual property into a global, cross-media franchise.
ENHYPEN will become the first South Korean music group to host a panel in San Diego Comic-Con’s Ballroom 20 this week. The Thursday event, featuring Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke and actors Peter Facinelli and Ashley Greene, serves as a launchpad for 'DARK MOON: Blood Night,' the latest extension of the group’s vampire-themed universe. The convention takeover includes a branded booth on the exhibition floor and a ticketed off-site concert at the House of Blues.
For HYBE, the convention push represents a strategic effort to monetize an interconnected multimedia property. The DARK MOON franchise translates a music group's established fictional lore into webcomics, animated series, and merchandise. This model decouples revenue generation from the traditional K-pop cycle of album releases and tours, instead building a durable entertainment asset.
The commercial viability of this IP strategy is evident in the franchise's metrics. 'DARK MOON: The Blood Altar,' the flagship webcomic released in 2022, has accumulated over 200 million views. It holds a 9.78 out of 10 rating on its webtoon platform, while its animated adaptation has secured distribution in more than 80 countries and regions.
The intellectual property is deeply woven into ENHYPEN’s music output, ensuring cross-promotion across HYBE’s core business. The group's 2023 EP 'DARK BLOOD' and its 2024 release 'Memorabilia' directly served as soundtracks for the webtoon's lore, featuring tracks like "Bite Me" and "Criminal Love." This synergy drives streaming volume while pulling webcomic readers into the music ecosystem, and vice versa.
Taeho Park, Head of HYBE Next Entertainment Business (NEB), framed the expansion as a deliberate evolution of the company's portfolio. “As DARK MOON continues to evolve into a global IP where music and storytelling are interconnected to deepen one another, we look forward to joining creators and fans to celebrate the vampire genre and the power of storytelling,” Park said.
The franchise currently stands as the most successful offering within HYBE Original Stories, outpacing similar IP tied to flagship groups BTS and TOMORROW X TOGETHER. HYBE has already demonstrated its intent to scale the universe by spinning off a separate narrative for its J-pop group &TEAM. The company’s presence at Comic-Con signals a broader ambition to establish DARK MOON as a standalone global franchise with planned future installments.
