Made in Munich
Building the open standard for interactive graphic storytelling
So creators can tell richer stories — and readers can experience them on their own terms.
For years, digital comics have done two things: resize print pages awkwardly, or turn into videos that take away the reader's agency. Neither felt right to us.
Graphic novels deserve a third path — one that keeps the artistry of panels and gives readers the controls they expect from modern media. One that gives creators real tools and keeps their content theirs.
So we built PanelWave: an open JSON format, an open-source player and a professional studio. The format and player are free and permissive. The studio is where we earn our living. Creators can use as much or as little of the stack as they like.
We think this combination — open at the core, professional when you need it — is the right shape for the next generation of graphic novels.
“A great graphic novel is the sum of many small, good decisions. PanelWave CMS software helps bring those decisions to life.”
Founder, PanelWave
Mission
Empower creators to tell dynamic, interactive, multilingual graphic stories — and earn from them — using open, accessible technology that respects both creators and readers.
Vision
Become the universal standard for interactive graphic novels — what EPUB became for e-books — with a professional studio that makes authoring effortless.
Values
Openness. Creator-first. Accessibility. Performance. Fair monetization. Not slogans — trade-off decisions we make every week.
Photo: picturepeople
Founder & technical lead
Jens Hoppe
Jens Hoppe is the founder of PanelWave. A technical founder with almost thirty years in content management and social software, he co-founded the web CMS company CONTENS Software in 1999 and has built community platforms with hundreds of thousands of members. With PanelWave he is publishing an open format, an open-source player and a professional studio for the next generation of graphic novels.
Want to work with us — as a creator, contributor or partner? Get in touch
A drawing board in Munich's old town
PanelWave works from the RUFFINI Creative Hub at Sendlinger Straße — a house of about 25 creative companies in the heart of Munich. Europe has one of the richest comic traditions in the world — we think it should also build the tools for them.
PanelWavec/o RUFFINI Creative Hub · Sendlinger Straße 1 · 80331 München · Deutschland
- open format version
- 1.7
- player & SDK licence
- MIT
- lines of code
- 370k+
- founded, Munich
- 2026
Our journey
Q1 2026
Concept and business plan; the JSON format 1.0 specified
Q2 2026
Player and studio specifications; website and documentation written
July 2026
Format 1.1–1.4: video panels, style presets, narrator captions, the infinite canvas; script and page importers
August 2026
Studio on EU infrastructure; Stripe Connect integration; format 1.5 with portable work archives
September 2026
Open-source player on npm; format 1.6; AI assistant gateway (MCP) live; selected for the XPLR: MEDIA in Bavaria stand
1 October 2026
Public reader online; the MCP bridge on npm
6 October 2026
Public launch of panelwave.org, the documentation and the open format
7–11 October 2026
Frankfurter Buchmesse, Hall 5.0, A71: studio beta for the first cohort, Founding Creators programme, talk on 9 October
Q4 2026
Founding Creators publish their first works; the Anthology goes into production; peoplecomics.com catalogue
Q1 2027
Billing, Work Pass and reader payments; PanelWave Anthology Vol. 1
2027+
Public studio launch, plugins, education
Come build the future of graphic novels with us.
Whether as a creator, reader, contributor or partner — there's a way in.