 |
 |
| |||||||||
 |  | ||||||||||
A1: My parents are Korean, but I was born in Toronto, Canada in 1983. I'm 23 right now. : ) I'm currently going to university to study mathematics/computer science. I'm in my fourth year now, and I'm thinking that I should have spent more time studying instead of drawing and making comics... hm... In any case, it's a wide and varied field, and I hope I can spend the rest of my days doing creative work involving computers - either passingly in the artistic field or closely in the technical field (or doing something that involves both). I'm currently living about a half hour from my university, in a nice country home. It's quite pleasant, and although city life is more convenient, I much prefer rural life. : ) Q2: Please name 3 creator / artist you got the most influence from. A2: Tsutomu Nihei, Zdzislaw Beksinski, and Hideo Kojima. I'm a big fan of Nihei's scratchy, stark black and white style and vast environments. It's fairly unique within comics. His narrative style and minimal use of dialogue really struck a chord with me, too. Beksinski's work is just fantastic. It's frightening in a way that's completely different from any other art I've seen. I admire Kojima for the research he puts into his games, his ability to gather talented people, as well as his ability to play the meta-game and interact with his audience in ways they wouldn't expect. He gives his audience a lot of credit and works accordingly; I think that's one of the reasons his work turns out so well. Oh, and I love Lovecraft, and Blake, too. : ) Q3: Please name 3 person you admire the most. A3: Socrates, Einstein, Batman. Q4: Many of your works are dark and show emotional struggle. Where do you get inspiration and story for your works? 
A4:
Well, I think that one of the most traumatic/frightening things that can happen to people is to
lose control of something -- internal or external to themselves. I'm a bit of a control freak
myself -- I like to have things ordered around me in my own particular way. I know that's a bit
unhealthy, though, so I've tried to tap into that urge in a positive way and explore that urge
from different angles in some of the comics I've done. In Paper Eleven, Maya is struggling for
control of her internal desires. In Nana's Everyday Life, Nana is totally vulnerable and powerless,
and has no ability to influence the events around her. In Kanami, Kanami is powerless at first,
then grows to have some control over her life, then finds that she's not suited to have control over
her own life, for various reasons. It's a story about dependency, really. In Penny Tribute, I'll
try to examine what kinds of control are permissible -- more explicitly, it'll be a story about
vertical relationships.
Fundamentally, I think the problems of wresting with control (both external and internal, and on both ends of the stick) are universal experiences, and are worth exploring in comics. As for being 'dark', that's very much a flavouring that's just seeped its way into the comics. I suppose it's just a taste I've always had, and I've never outgrown it. : ) Q5: Most of the main characters you use in your works are female and young. Do you have any philosophy on this? Did you get any influence from Hayao Miyazaki? Do you ever want to use male character as a main character in your work? A5: Well, there are two reasons. 
First, I think Miyazaki is absolutely right when he says that a female lead is 'cooler'
than a male one. It really plays into the sexual biases that exist in our culture, but
it's just too useful to pass up. For example, if a young man or even a young boy gets
severely hurt, loses an arm, has to kill someone, or goes on a crazy adventure, it's really
hard to feel feel pity or excitement for him. If he soldiers on in the face of adversity, he's
just doing what's expected, and if he's hurt (physically or emotionally) and he shows it,
he's just being a wimp. On the other hand, a young girl in the same situations elicits a
completely different response. The weaker the hero, the more profound their successes, and
the more endearing their failures.
Really, it comes down to managing expectations. To borrow an explaination from Cromartie High: Say there are two groups, a groups of lions with one super badass lion who is the strongest of all lions anywhere, and another group of lions with a bunny. Who is more badass? The super strong lion, or the bunny living among the lions? You gotta say it's the bunny. Even if the super badass lion be the toughest lion out there, he's still only on the level of a lion and has nothing to worry about when living among other lions. On the other hand, the bunny has surpassed the level of a bunny, and reached the level of a lion. That's one badass bunny. The second reason is because girls are cuter, and I like drawing them. Guys aren't cute. : ) Actually, there is a third reason too, but it may not apply to everyone. I think, at least for amateur writers like myself, there's a temptation to make the characters that you write about reflections of yourself, and turn the stories that you write into an exercise in wish-fufilment. I've found that if I use characters that are very different from myself and put them in situations very different from my own, I can free myself from some of those trappings. For me, at least, clearly seperating 'myself' from 'the work' is very important. It can't be done perfectly, but I think making the attempt is worthwhile. Q6: What is an ultimate art for you? A6: Hmm... For me, the ultimate art would be the art of living well. To lead the kind of life that benefits others, the community, and yourself would certainly be the most valuable, lasting, and meaningful art. The details of how to do this, though, are up for debate. Q7: Do you have any goal in terms of creating works? A7: I'd like to finish Kanami and Penny Tribute within two years or so. I'd also like to branch out into visual novels and do more collaborative works, like illustrating light novels. One thing I would like to avoid in the future is doing the monkey-work of illustrating comics for other writers. Oh, I'd like to improve my perspective work, figure drawing, camera work, as well. Q8: Right now, what do you want the most? A8: I've always wanted a space ship with FTL (faster than light) speed. If I can't have that, maybe a cute maid that woud wake me up in the morning. Q9: You have a lot of projects going on now. Can you describe your daily schedule? (Ex: Wake up 7:00am ....... Sleep: 11:00pm etc) A9: I'm at school from about 8AM to about 3PM on weekdays. I work on my comics whenever I can, but I tend to end up procrastinating by watching anime or browsing 4chan. I've been able to work more lately, though, since there aren't many anime shows playing that I want to watch. I'm only following Utawarerumono, Higurashi no naku Koro ni, and Zero no Tsukaima right now. Q10: What tool / program do you use to create your works? A10: Painter IX, Photoshop CS, and an Wacom Intuos 2 tablet. : ) Q11: I am sure you love all of your works, but among all, which one do you have the strongest attachment to? and why? A11: Well, I think Paper Eleven is my 'best' work, and I enjoyed working on Nana's Everyday Life the most... but I think I'm most attached to Tomoyo42's Room. The only reason why, I suppose, is that it's the first online comic I drew and it won't die no matter how many times I try to kill it. That said, I think Kanami may be better than Paper Eleven when it's over. Well, It'll certainly be more accessible, anyway. Q12: What upcoming conventions are you planning to attend? A12: Maybe Otakon and Gencon next year, but that's it. : ) Q13: Please let us know some of the ongoing project which you want to promote the most. A13: I need to update Kanami and Penny Tribute more in the future, and I'll concentrate on those for now. Look forward to more updates. : ) Q14: Please name 3 countries you wish to visit at this moment. A14: Italy, France, Japan. I'd like to go on a restaurant tour sometime in those countries. Maybe a hot-spring tour in Japan, too... Q15: What is your hobby other than creating arts. A15: I enjoy playing the piano, tae kwon do, video games (all genres except sports), reading, going to restaurants, watching films, watching anime, browsing 4chan, and watching the The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. Q16: What is you favorite animal? A16: I don't really like animals that much... maybe a dolphin or an anteater? I hate moths. Q17: Message to your fans: A17: Thanks for reading the work! I'll update more, and make the work better, I swear it! Q18: Message to Japanese fans / viewers / creators: A18: Let's collaborate more! East/West collaborative works have a lot of potential. Let's work together and create great material that people in the west or east would not be able to make alone. Q19: Do you accept work offer from Japan? A19: Of course. Geographic location and native language mean nothing these days. : ) Dan Kim's Web Comics Paper Eleven [DOWNLOAD FULL VER]
Kanami [DOWNLOAD FULL VER]
[DOWNLOAD ALL OTHER MANGA] [SEE DAN KIM'S WEBCOMICS AT JASTUSA] [GET T-SHIRTS DESGNED BY DAN KIM AT J-LIST] **Unauthorized copy or link to all iamges on this site is prohibitted and you are not allowed to use, redistribute, or resell any of products without permission. |
