Initially, I was going to post this blog at the beginning of January. But, with the slew of geopolitics, my life in professional and informal situations, has made things for a turn. Many hats. For now on, January are going to be a rest month for the art side of things. The start of the year as a rest period may sound unusual for most people, but when most of the releases I try to work on is often in the later half of the year, I feel that gives myself some breather room, some space to sort my thoughts and reflections on what I’ve worked in the previous year before. And man, it was a year.
There were a lot of smaller victories, big accomplishments. I was able to get a comic completed within several months through its art production (though writing took like a few months to finalize and sort before starting with the main sketch phases). I got to travel a bit outside of Michigan, and grew to enjoy meeting new folks walking in similar comic/zine paths. Poetry became another home; I find the medium as useful as an artwork you glance at for 30 seconds (something that I will elaborate further when it’s around April, I suppose). But yeah, let’s circle back on the first accomplishment: making a new comic project actually being out within a year.
RED SNARE is officially released in print a while ago, but I always wonder why the energy I had with this project is a bit different compared to OIYD!, or the shelved stories I put on hold for years. This is not something spurn alone, but a continuous stream of conversation; mutual collaborative effort brought forth with my hands. Despite working alone in creating the comic, without the input from the people I trusted, then the work I create will not have much of an output if it’s solely from myself. I think it’s equally important not to just limit yourself in your own viewpoints, but seeing those perspectives and translating that with your own lens.
That’s what happened back around October 2024. I sat through Stefanie’s presentation about the monstrous femme, and learned a bit about how werewolves as a concept were used in European folklore. Only through a whim that initiated a thought. Why are male werewolves are a common, prevalent feature in pop culture to explain predators? Shouldn’t it be the other around? Women that have no choice to fend themselves and turned animal, becoming a feral creature misunderstood by greater society. Women have to bare their fangs to protect their young, their communities, themselves. It was an enlightening experience, and I want to contribute to that ongoing narrative. As much as my friend has put her work forward, I too want to take those steps with a fresh perspective.
Not only that, it only makes sense to consider the effects of being a werewolf or being chased by one. Among other things. I enjoyed the romances mangas I read as a teen, stories about strong women seen in Miyazaki’s films, and the unhinged, intimate intricacies of womanhood I grew to understand through college, now as a working adult. But now, as I came to realize my upbringing, there was another gap of comprehension.
After the release of Bottling Out, trauma finally became a topic I can comfortably navigate around. It took years to acknowledge those experiences, knowing that it had consequences on my pattern of thinking, actions, how I interact in the world. Yet, I’m strangely thankful for it; not for the decades long torment it has on my body and soul, but making me more empathetic of the survivor mindset.
RED SNARE is about two survivors and an enduring curse, which happens to be werewolves in the mix. To say RED SNARE as a culmination of these thoughts, the monstrous femme and the effects of trauma with its characters, to this point is… well, it’s rather the point, is it? Another outlet to explore such themes while recognizing the humanity behind Rhea’s and Marius’s actions. There’s so much to say about those two, but I’ll save it when issue two is released.
If you bought a copy, thank you so much. I appreciate you wholeheartedly invited a slice of its world to your brain. If you haven’t bought a copy, I hope you eventually will or wait till its eventual webcomic site release later this year. May you enjoy the upcoming issue sometime later this year too, if my life allows me to work in peace.
