Could an iPhone game sensation have its roots in comics?

Yes it can.

In an article in the April 2011 edition of Wired UK, reporter Tom Cheshire goes in depth with the founders and principal people behind Rovio, the company that created Angry Birds. The article  describes how co-founder Mikael Hed wrote a webcomic series called August Jessor prior to Angry Birds' success -- and surprisingly, the archived webcomic is still online, although not updated since 2007. The company he founded with his cousin Rovio developed art for several game companies before they struck gold in 2010  Angry Birds.

And although the success of Angry Birds has taken away from any comics work as of late, the entrepreneurial company has plans for the concept to reach out to TV series, movies, cartoons ... and even comics.

"Look at how Disney got started," Hed says in the Wired UK article. "Steamboat Willie created Mickey Mouse, then they added more characters. You can see the same pattern today, but everything is happening much, much faster. Other brands used to build recognition over the course of decades. We've done it in one year."