I took a deep dive into my archives today and realized that exactly 20 years ago, I was living in Japan for some time and started publishing my weekly webcomic #MORESUKINE on LiveJournal.
This "offer" to my readers was the first episode in January 2006.
Well. LiveJournal has gone the way of the Dodo, and the migration to DreamWidth never really worked, so I'm thinking about revisiting/archiving the episodes here on Fedi... 🤔
#comics #comic #webcomics #tokyo #hendrix #japan #mushrooms #atari
Okay, some of you seemed to like the idea of me revisiting my webcomic MORESUKINE for its 20-year anniversary, so let'sdo it.
I was living in Japan at the time and inviting readers from all over the world to give me 'assignments' of what to do in my new home. One week later, they could read a comic about it on LiveJournal.
And I *had* to do it, whatever the topic –we'll get to that in the "Biker Gangs" episode...
At first I was hesitant to include this episode here.
For one, it was an intermediate step – I had published my offer but I needed to give people some time to find my obscure blog and write to me.
Mostly, though, I'm not happy with the tone. I did meet Doug and portrayed what he said, but somehow his derogatory tone concerning Japanese people creeped in - I feel I should have distanced myself more clearly.
Assignment 01: fashion
So I was waiting and hoping for my first missions to drop in, but thankfully, my friends back home in Berlin came to the rescue.
This first question was asked by @Ullilust, and I was happy to deliver.
I was honestly amazed by the fashion I encountered, and still, this slightly derogatory tone creeped in.
Also I did not seem to have a concept of being nonbinary, which is hard to read.
The "too drunk to fuck" lady was no invention btw - this was a genuine subway moment.
✨ Revisiting my Japan-based webcomic MORESUKINE for its 20th anniversary ✨
Assignment 2️⃣ : awkwardness 🚽
Rereading this, I feel like I was slowly getting the hang of it. The toilet stuff is very cliché, I know, but that doesn't protect you from cliché mistakes.
It seems like I had fun with this one. The Gundam-style robots, the panel formats, the medieval "Thus" scroll.
I remember thinking it was badly drawn at the time, but can appreciate the humor and pacing today.
✨ Revisiting my Japan-based webcomic MORESUKINE for its 20th anniversary✨
Assignment 3️⃣ - rooftop rollercoaster 🎢
For the second time, the mission came from a total stranger. Assignments were beginning to drop in, the system began to work!
First, the positive: I like the ambition in this episode to work with two timelines, signified by differently shaped panels and lettering.
1/2
#comics #webcomics #rollercoasters #dolphins #DonQuixote #actionFigures #BodyFluids #roppongi #wellness
The problem: I think I realised this concept at around page 3... maybe different colors would have helped here to make things clearer.
But - looking past the very crude drawings - I liked how the last panel connects to the first, the narrative loop mirroring the loopings in the story.
2/2
Dirk Schwieger