Pixels & Panels: A Show About Webcomics and Storytelling

Hello beloved listener. We're SO excited to be back for another season! We're joined this episode by Ksenia, who works with both Chapters and Spotlight to make engaging interactive stories. Ksenia tells us about how they work, why they're such a big business, and what you can do to create the next hit series in this format.

Hi everybody, we have a special episode today, where we’re joined by the executive team at Tapas Media, one of the largest webcomic publishing platforms globally. Michael Son is the VP of Content and works closely on the studio side and turning webcomics into tv and film adaptations, and Isabell Castro is a creator-turned-community-director who focuses on making Tapas a great home for its creators. You don’t want to miss this episode because we’ll be covering topics such as learning about Tapas’ origin story leading into becoming such a powerful platform it is today, discuss how it’s different from Webtoon and what you can expect as a creator when you work with Tapas, get Michael and Isabell’s opinions on the recent issues of creator burnout, learn about the behind-the-scenes working behind a webcomic becoming an original and getting cross-adapted into other formats, and finally what to expect from Tapas moving forward as it continues to invest in content and creators.

Hi everybody, we’re joined today by Madamka, the massively talented Hungarian creator behind the webtoon canvas series Diamond Dive. We had a great time unpacking Madamka’s story, learning about how working on Diamond Dive has led to her learning more about herself, how fragments of her personality as it developed over the years are sprinkled in throughout her characters, a special tier that she has on Patreon and the hilarious backstory behind it, and about what she’s up to after Diamond Dive. Check out Madamka's work: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/diamond-dive-gl/list?title_no=268118

Hi everybody, we’re joined today by Aki, the trilingual creator behind the webtoon canvas series Villainess for Hire. She has lived in China, Canada, and Japan, and is no stranger to making comics that elicit deep thought and emotion, like her viral short comic Nine Lives you might have come across on Tumbler in the past. It was a blast to unpack Aki’s story, learning about how her knowledge of Eastern and Western cultures informs her approach to shaping stories, her involvement in the Tonari no Young Jump competition judged by Assassination Classroom’s Yusei Matsui and how it kicked off her creative portfolio in comics, and her pragmatic approach to making comics that you can potentially use to have fun and enjoy the work. Check out Aki's work: https://akimiya.carrd.co/

Hi everybody, we’re joined today by Alissa, the German creator behind the webtoon canvas series To Be Honest. The story follows Leon as he lands in an orphanage and finds himself roommates with Gilbert, the most hated kid in Leon’s new school. We had a great time learning about Alissa’s story, from her professional work in animation and how it has impacted her comic, to her passion for her story and how it drives her to do her best work regardless of the size of the audience, and about how to deal with anxiety around being good enough in art, and how to combat it. Check out Alissa's work: https://linktr.ee/alissacolors

We’re joined today by Mae, the creator behind the webtoon canvas series First Ones Out. The story follows a cast of six soon-to-separate friends in their last few months of high school in Bangkok, a time we can all recall as hectic and a bit scary to internalize. It was a blast talking through Mae’s story, learning about how she carved out a path forward in art by getting a scholarship to animation school, how what she learned in uni has helped improve First Ones Out in both story and art, and how to maintain a good headspace through the challenging journey that is storytelling. Check out Mae's work: https://www.instagram.com/m4eph/?hl=en

Hi everybody, we’re joined today by Bang Grim, the creator behind the Webcomic adaptation of the iconic Wattpad series, Play the Game. We had a great time unpacking Bang’s story. We learn about her gorgeous art style and what influenced it, unearth the backstory behind adapting an existing written hit series and getting the original creator excited about the adaptation, and discuss how she manages to juggles her busy life as a civil engineering fourth year student with her comic work, among so many other passion projects. Check out her comic: https://linktr.ee/banggrim

Hi everybody, we’re joined today by Uche, the creator behind the wildly hilarious Webtoon Original, Vibe Check. And as personal updates, Akhil has been traveling across the world and I’ve been relocating cross country so we appreciate everyone’s patience as we’ve been away the past few weeks. But we have so many amazing episodes in the queue so we’re excited to be back. We had a lot of fun unpacking Uche’s story, including what it’s like to portray himself as a squishy, imperfect lead character in his series and the resulting vulnerability, discuss the loving support he’s gotten from his fans who aren’t afraid to also be hilarious, and talk through the underrepresentation of black creators on Webtoon and what can be done about it, and so much more. Check out Uche's work: https://www.instagram.com/ucheomaaa/

Hello everybody, we’re joined today by Professor Scott, the co-creator behind the new fantasy webcomic FAIRHOME. We had a lot of fun unpacking Scott’s story, whose comic FAIRHOME has been over 15 years in the making. We chatted about him working with multiple illustrators before finding the incredible Damian who illustrates Fairhome in the current style, learn about how his investment into LOST and subsequent disappointment upon the completion of the story cemented his philosophy on writing a story fans will feel good about beginning, middle, and end, and talk about why important it is for him for his comic to be a safe space for its fans. Check out FAIRHOME: https://linktr.ee/fairhomecomic

Hello everybody, we’re joined today by Izy, the creator behind the BL webcomic REEDS. We had a really insightful discussion with Izy, and to preview the episode, Izy talks about his love for visual storytelling and how it has led him down the path of creating comics, discusses the ongoing research he’s done to create an accurate representation of Hmong people and what it’s like to see so many people interesting in learning about it through his comic, and shares his data-centric approach to growing his IP and his simple but effective philosophy of failing forward that we were inspired by. Check out Izy's work: https://linktr.ee/zzsleeps

Hi everyone! We have a very special episode for you today. After many months of begging and persistance, our hard work paid off and we're pleased to bring you Steph Yeoh, the creator of Reunion on our pod. Her series has been one of the scintillating stars of Webtoon, rocketing to over a million subs in less than a year, and cementing its place as the one of the most successful Originals series launched in the past year. Despite her success, we were impressed by her grounded attitude, her voracious desire to improve, and of course her amazing story. Hope you enjoy the listen. Check out her work: https://linktr.ee/stephattyy

Hi everyone! We have a very special episode for you today. After many months of begging and persistance, our hard work paid off and we're pleased to bring you Steph Yeoh, the creator of Reunion on our pod. Her series has been one of the scintillating stars of Webtoon, rocketing to over a million subs in less than a year, and cementing its place as the one of the most successful Originals series launched in the past year. Despite her success, we were impressed by her grounded attitude, her...

We’re joined today by Mina, who creates the webcomic GEN Z on Webtoon Canvas. In the story, we get to watch four members of the band ‘Gen Z’ Akira, Moon, Zuke, and Avian chaotically living together as they come of age. We’re excited to share the conversation with had with Mina, where we discussed topics such as design and fashion inspirations for the distinct and well-dressed characters she’s created, how she sources many of the episode plots from things that have happened around her, her positive experience creating plushies for GEN Z fans, and when we can expect the comic to return from its hiatus. Check out her work: https://linktr.ee/animrac

Hey everybody, we’re joined today by Kris Nguyen, whose work Cape of Spirits won the 2018 Webtoon Discover contest. She currently produces Fictional Skin for Webtoon Originals, a drama series told from the view of Finn, a closeted nerd who loves drawing comics and his cousin Vivi, an outgoing student who jarringly finds that the new guy at school is just like a character out of a video game, and may be more than just a lookalike. We had an amazing discussion with Kris, and to preview the episode, Kris talks about the beginning of her career working with Monty Oum on the acclaimed web series RWBY, gives us a behind the scenes account of what it was like to win the Webtoon contest, divulges her weekly process for Fictional Skin, and also gives us an honest assessment of how working for Webtoon Originals has changed since her first Originals series in 2018, and what creators should know before becoming an Originals creators. Check out Kris' work: https://linktr.ee/hukaka

Hey listener, today’s guest is Sarah, an outstanding animation student who also produces a warm princess story called The Princess Plot on Webtoon Canvas. This enthralling series is about a princess who wants to experience freedom for just a bit longer ahead of her upcoming marriage to a prince she’s never met before, and the princess’ maid who finds that pretending to be someone you’ve known all your life is still not very easy. We have a packed agenda for you today, but previewing the episode, Sarah shares her philosophy on making something you love without thinking too much about numbers, the notable evolution of her art style within the series, why comics don’t necessarily need dialogue to tell a good story, and future of the series as she enters her final year as an animation major in uni. Check out Sarah's linktree here: https://linktr.ee/skyhuas

We have two guests we’re delighted to present, a veteran novelist and comic creator mccull, and her jovial editor rowdy. We’re excited to talk about their current BL comic The Leg Less Traveled, where we follow Fletch and Judas’ cross-country roadtrip and the music, the diversity, and the romance they find along the way. We’ll learn about the friendship mccull and rowdy cultivated over the years, from a writer/reader bond to eventually becoming mccull’s indispensable editor. We’ll also chat about a beautiful episode they worked tirelessly to portray Judas’ emotional musical performance for Fletch, and discuss why you should be reading The Leg Less Traveled right now. Check out TLLT: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/the-leg-less-traveled-bl/list?title_no=605385

Today’s guest is Robin, a supremely talented 21 year old art college student. We’re excited to share with you the story behind their QL webcomic Chainlinked, where we follow the sometimes awkward but always heartwarming encounters between the lead characters Danny and Hunter . We’ll chat about the genesis of Chainlinked and why it was important for Robin to portray happy representation of queer characters, how they learned to stockpile buffer episodes and adjusted to the vertical webtoon format, and discuss how to stay ahead of trends and leverage animatics as a way to build an audience on TikTok. Check out Robin's work: https://linktr.ee/rainycacti/

Today’s guest is Secret Pie, a creator of many talents, including entomology, making music, and of course making comics. We’re excited to share with you the story behind her offbeat webcomic Broccoli Soup, where we follow a young Broccoli’s life in a void with their best friend Doris. We’ll chat about her dynamic and unforgettable art style (which makes you feel like you’re in a new art exhibition every week), her passion for music and how she incorporates it into her comic, and discuss why she wants to see more weird comics in an industry dominated by romance and action genres. Check out her work: https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/broccoli-soup/list?title_no=625936

Today’s guests are Laundromat & Lawnmower, two talented sisters behind one of my personal favorite webcomics, Poor People Go to Hell. In this gripping fantasy webcomic, we follow our protagonist Agnes’ pursuit of the truth as she investigates the sudden disappearance of her parents and the mysterious cult that may be behind it all. We’ll learn about how their mad scientist-turned writer keeps the audience on their toes with her layered approach to storytelling, how their illustrator has found incredible success developing such a unique art style, how they negotiate and sometimes fight through an ultimately robust creative process, and how they’ve magically unlocked TikTok as a channel to market their work. Please check out there work here: https://msha.ke/laundromatlawnmower/

We’re joined today by Cecilia, a talented creator and animator based in Canada. Her current comic, Lemon Soda & Coffee is a heartwarming romance where the lead character Axel falls in love with a stranger he runs into in a street, and against all odds, serendipitously becomes her new neighbor. We discuss her foray into comics starting from growing up in Hungary to attending animation school in Canada, her regimented work style and its ramifications, positive and negative, and shares some honest advice for up and coming comic creators. Check out Cecilia's Linktree: https://linktr.ee/made_by_cecilia