An Interview with Obyan

By Kasaix • 5 years ago

Kasaix: Hello, friends all! I’m here with another great artist, the one and only Obyan. I’ve been following his work for quite some time, and decided to reach out to him after he completed work on his space-faring comic Black Comet Pirates: Lit. If you haven’t read it, you should do so now. The interview will be here waiting for you when you get back.

Back yet? Good. Let’s get rolling. Thanks for hanging out Obyan. How’s it going?

Obyan: Very good, enjoying some quality time at the drawing desk. Thanks for the invitation for an interview, it's super flattering!

Kasaix: That's good to hear. So tell me: how did you get started with art? Was it a childhood fascination with drawing that you kept up with as you got older?

Obyan: Definitely, I loved to draw as a kid, lots of random stuff. Around 5th grade someone gave me a ragged copy of an old Wolverine issue, and it clicked something in my head. And I've been drawing comics ever since. Which is a long time.... Haha.

I just really like the combination of storytelling and artwork. It hooked me, and I can't stop!

Kasaix: Well if you're going to get hooked on something, there are worse avenues than art. That aside though, it's always nice to see someone keep up with a childhood hobby as they grow older.

Do you have professional art training, or are you self-taught?

Obyan: I was so into art and comics that I went to school to get better. I certainly learned a lot and refined my techniques that I was using before going to college. Life drawing was very helpful for my growth, especially early on. It helped me refine my own artistic style.

Kasaix: That's impressive, you really went all in, and it shows in your work. Your art style is definitely unique. I say again, people need to get reading Black Comet right away, the blend of an interesting story and great art is really cool.

What is your favorite subject to draw, concerning characters and situations?

Obyan: My favorite things to draw are action scenes, which I'd say sexy stuff can be considered action, too... rednecks, and, of course, sexy ladies. I really enjoy creating stories that let the characters react in their own unique ways, that sort of surprise me. I like over the top stuff, B-C action films, and stories that have the ability to be very funny and light-hearted, but can flip over to being dark and serious. Oh yeah, and expressions, I love trying to make my faces expressive and unique from character to character

Since I pretty much work with only original characters, I can do whatever I want to them. Which makes all them fun to draw, and if they aren't fun to draw, I just gotta get more creative and make them more interesting. Which I do a lot, brainstorming how to make each character more different, while I'm working on pages and writing.

Kasaix: You put a lot of careful consideration into your work, and it shows.

Let's discuss the project you just wrapped, Black Comet Pirates: Lit. The most recent chapter in your Black Comet Pirates series. I quite enjoyed it. Sexy times were had, an interesting twist revealing a character's secret was revealed. What was the process behind making the chapter?

Obyan: This chapter was really important to me. When you're making an adult comic it's pretty easy to just do a basic "porn plot". I try to make every chapter of BCP stand alone on it's own merit, but build from the previous chapters in some way. I knew I wanted to find a way to tackle an issue that I was struggling with, and that was body image issues. I'd say most of us feel that way, so it's easy to relate to. I felt like Mikki before this chapter was pretty one dimensional. Just another badass on this ship of badass pirates, and I wanted her to become more complex than that. And somewhere it clicked, an shape-shifting character with her own body image issues. Unlike us though, she can just change her body to be that perfect image of what she wishes she could be. Than I got to work building around that, and I love drawing Zell. She was a perfect character to pair with Mikki as they both have their body image issues, but deal with them in completely different ways.

After making a draft and rewriting it, than it becomes the long process of drawing the chapter. I always try to make these chapters short, but they have a nasty habit of ballooning up in page count on me! One day, I'll be good at a short and sweet story…

Kasaix: That part stuck out to me, Mikki was self-conscious about herself, a shapeshifter with body issues. Such issues are never skin-deep, and that came out clear as day. Zell was there to bring her up, comforted her (in a really sexy way), and told her that she was sexy. The relief on her face was great to see. This, to me, is a chapter people should read, if only for the loving relationship between Zell and Mikki.

Obyan: Thanks, I'm happy to hear that it. It's so great to hear that I was able to get that idea out there successfully. That's one of the things I was always afraid of since no one's reading this thing besides myself before it gets out to everyone: hitting people over the head with my point or being too vague. So, it's great to hear that from someone outside of me! It was also nice to do an loving relationship, instead of Jim and the Captain's complex one.

Kasaix: I think you cut a good balance between a moral lesson and hentai plot. It wasn't heavy-handed, more organic development between real characters. They had depth to them. Was it difficult to find that balance?

Obyan: Yeah, there's a lot more rewriting and dialogue changes. I was changing lines for some of the panels right before putting them out. Especially, as I figured out Mikki and Zell's voices more through the course of making the pages and trying to put myself in their positions. I try to treat my audience as smart, so I hope they can follow my storytelling in certain spots. On the art side, I hope that my drawing skills are good enough that I can convey some of the emotion through the artwork. Body languages, expressions... So, that I don't need to have the characters say something that I could potentially show through character acting in the artwork.

It's a difficult balance between writing and artwork, which is a little easier, since I do both. So, I always know what the writer is trying to do, and vice versa.

Kasaix: The effort paid off in my opinion.

After your last update, the final page of Lit, you said you were retiring, at least for now. You're burned out (and given the sheer amount of work you put into this, I fully understand), and that you're going to do normal comics that can be shared with people without shame, like your parents or girlfriend. As someone who writes blog posts for a hentai site, I fully understand that. Only my mother knows where I post, and wants to see anyway. She...doesn't understand how weird that would be. (She wants to help! That's weird!). Do you want to elaborate a bit more on your perhaps temporary retirement from adult comics?

Obyan: Yes, of course! Because it's very complicated, and I don't even know, if I fully did any justice with my tacked on announcement out of nowhere and after a long wait for that last page.

I think the big thing is it feels like I've been working in a vacuum. Writing out these stories, drawing them. It takes a long time for each page, especially when I started to tone the pages as well. It's probably somewhat ridiculous, but not joking, I spend approximately 12+ hours on each page. And when I'm not including anyone in the process, showing them to no one, no one but me, or when Magsama wants to check them out, it's very lonely. Comments and likes help fuel each page, but I really want to include more people in my life to that time consuming process. Especially since I'm drawing traditionally, with ink and pencils, and hiding pages... I dunno, it's weird, but I don't want to hide my artwork whenever I'm leaving my desk for fear someone comes over and sees it.

I think a break is what I need, as I've been making adult comics exclusively for the last 3-4 years, and it'd be nice to find a better balance of SFW and NSFW content. So, I can show off all this improvement I've made as an artist to everyone that hasn't seen a comic out of me in over 4 years. Because I know I've become a better writer and artist working on BCP.

And maybe, when the time is right, I'll find that better balance and support and be able to return to BCP and finish the story. Because it has an ending. And four more chapters.

And I really want to finish that story. For myself and everyone that's enjoyed the comic so far.

But right now, for me, I need to step back and work on some other projects for awhile. Get even better, and maybe come back and finish this story properly.

Kasaix: It's good to know that more chapters of BCP are in store for fans.

A change of pace might be just want you need to recharge the creativity. Do you have any plans for a SFW comic? A story, characters, setting, and so forth?

Obyan: Right now, I'm tackling the last comic I was working on before going to work on BCP, Blacked Out. It's a redneck, alcohol fueled, action comic. I've done 3 issues that are old to my eyes, but I'm having a blast working on new pages for that comic. I plan to post all of it for free on a website in the not too distant future. I love the script so much that I'm going back to finish it. Which I guess is a positive for BCP fans, cause I hate to leave a story incomplete. Haha.

Kasaix: That's nice. I envy that work ethic, I have a number of writing projects unfinished, and it's shameful.

Looking forward, what's your dream project? Something you absolutely want to work on.

Obyan: Hmmm, that's a tough question. I have two comics that I really want to work on, both in the scripting phases. One's an action/adventure comic, and the other is just plain ridiculous. But, my dream comic has always been a wrestling comic book. Maybe a sexy wrestling one? Haha.

Kasaix: Haha. Given all the physical contact in wrestling, that's not such a stretch. Good luck on it!

Let's wrap this up so you can get back to that project. Do you have any final thoughts for your fans?

Obyan: I really want to thank everyone out there for reading and supporting the comic. I was flattered to see people spreading it around the internet for me. That's the biggest sense of satisfaction I get as a creator, seeing other people enjoy something enough to share it. And I don't want to say goodbye, that's too sad for me.

How about a big "to be continued" instead?

Kasaix: TO BE CONTINUED! つづく

Obyan: Haha, perfect!