What happens when a group of visionary yet disgruntled comic book creators think they can do a better job making comics on their own?

They start their own comic book company and then record every delirious minute of it for posterity, that’s what. And then they post it on the internet. Because they can.

That’s the premise of a new live-action web series called The Bullpen, which will follow the fictional comic book company Bullpen Comics from start-up to recurring meltdown.

“It’s The Office meets , says co-creator Shaun McLaughlin who will star in and co-write the series. McLaughlin, who’s written comics for DC and Dark Horse, was also a producer at Warner Bros. for nearly a decade where he worked on Static Shock, Batman Beyond, and various incarnations of Justice League, usually in conjunction with Bruce Timm.
 

Shaun’s seen his share of actual bullpen life and has fond memories of the probably-apocryphal bullpen antics that Marvel Comics’ Stan Lee chronicled back in the day in a recurring text feature called Bullpen Bulletins.

According to Shaun, “Stan always made it sound like the bullpen was where the action was - the center of the world where the writers, artists, editors, production people, interns, deadlines, late-nights and take-out food all clashed.”

And that clash of personalities vs. idealism vs. business realities is the stuff of comedy. “People who write and draw comics don’t always make the best business decisions and aren’t always the most normal people,” McLaughlin says. “That’s where the funny is.”

The workplace webcom will star Daniel Morris, Drew McCabe and McLaughlin as the creators charting their own destiny. Gabriel Benson and McLaughlin will produce, through their own Cheapjack Partners company.Previously, the duo created Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Graphic Novel, Cheapjack Shakespeare: The Non-Musical and the upcoming animated film Gene Fusion. The Bullpen starts shooting this month for a web debut in 2011.

If there can be funny sitcoms based on taxi drivers (Taxi), bars (Cheers), and paper products (The Office), then a workplace comedy set at an upstart comic book company with all of its disparate staffers and freelancers is ripe for laughs. I’m anxiously awaiting the first episode!

[Artwork: Steve Carell from The Office]