The future cultural center of the Metaverse might be 3,000 miles away from Hollywood and Silicon Valley, in a century-old brick and timber warehouse in Burlington, Vermont. On the shores of Lake Champlain, Superplastic founder Paul Budnitz and a team of designers have spent the last five years creating a roster of digital characters and complex story lines built to attract millions of fans—and potentially billions of dollars—across entertainment, music, fashion, NFTs and crypto in the fledgling world of Web3.

Inspired by newspaper comics from the early 1900s, Superplastic debuted its first characters in 2020 even before NFTs became part of the mid-pandemic zeitgeist. But unlike comics, the metaverse nature of their origins allows each to travel back and forth between various places both online and offline through both digital content and physical collectibles. Janky, a catlike character, likes pop culture, music and sneakers. Guggimon, a rabbit known to have the vainest personality, is into horror movies and fashion, but also posts content about controlled substances and downward spirals. Later came Dayzee, a rapper who knows all about commerce and tech.

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