We spoke to Webtoon creator Brandon Chen at this year’s New York Comic Con (NYCC). Brandon Chen is known for his hit webtoon, Just a Goblin. His latest Webtoon, Angel Wings, just debuted on the Webtoon platform on October 20th.
Interview with Brandon Chen at NYCC
About Brandon’s Career in Webcomics
Brandon gave us a glimpse into the wide variety of work he has created in the webcomics world.
Jenna: Can you tell our audience about the Webtoons you’ve created?
Brandon: So I’m a writer-producer. I mostly write within the kind of action space. I’ve done a few series for Webtoon, most notably Just a Goblin. And I’ve also done another series that’s kind of a futuristic sport series called Samurai no Tora. I did another series called Overtime Elite with the Overtime team. It’s more of a basketball shonen. And then actually coming out tomorrow [October 20] is my first drama. It’s kind of like a fantasy mythology series called Angel Wings. I’ve been working on that for like 2 to 3 years, so that’s pretty exciting for me.
Angel Wings: A New Fantasy Webtoon
With October 20th release of Angel Wings, Brandon gave us a glimpse into what to expect from the new series.
Brandon: [Angel Wings] it’s about this devil. Her name is Evangeline. She’s a devil who wants to be an angel. She feels like she was born into the wrong life. So she’s forced to torment these souls for eternity. But she is also a very nice person, and this is not her thing, right? And then she meets an angel who’s very curious about what it’s like to live in hell. So they decide to switch lives and, explore this kind of other side of the afterlife. It’s based on Dante’s interpretation of heaven, hell and purgatory. And so we kind of do that kind of switch; Freaky Friday but with angels and devils.
Jenna: How long have you been working on that?
Brandon: I’m going to say, like 2 to 3 years, probably. It’s a pretty intensive project. We have professional mangaka that have worked in the Japanese industry and some folks from the anime industry, They’re all artists that are working on the team. So pretty big team and it’s pretty exciting.
Brandon’s Experience as an Author
Brandon Chen is a writer who works with a team of different artists while creating his webcomics. As an author, he brings a unique aspect to the art of comics.
Jenna: Do you do the art as well?
Brandon: No. So, I’m a writer producer. I will write it and I’ll build the team and I’ll direct things, but the magic is not me.
Jenna: Do you find it difficult to figure out how to write a script in a way for the artist to come in and create that interpretation?
Brandon: Yes. It used to be kind of hard. And then when I got good at it, it’s becoming a very visual storyteller. So my script pretty much will outline on the panels and what they look like [and] the perspective of what’s happening. The best artists that I work with can take a script and implement a storyboard that elevates my scripts. But my scripts are also pretty visual. So it’s not just like characters in a coffee shop, it’s like, here’s a three fourths shot from a higher angle and character ABC is sitting at XYZ location. And if I need to, I’ll draw it out.
Jenna: So you really have to have a director’s view in your head more than just a writer.
Brandon: Yeah. So, I’d say my involvement is kind of like a director, if that makes sense. I also direct the storyboards and how they look, and the flow of panels and all that stuff.
Jenna: So it’s very intensive project.
Brandon: I actually have that involvement in every project that I will be a writer on because I think a writer or writers in the comic industry should have, or at least that work, with artists on a teamwork, collaborative basis. [The writers] should have some sort of like art direction or understanding of how that all looks.
And it also doesn’t have to be perfect 1 to 1. I think a lot of artists that I work with, again, they elevate my vision. So I also always am very flexible with how it looks. My script is more of like a map and they can take that map and kind of create something different if they want. And we’ll see that in the storyboard. So if it doesn’t work, for example, then I’ll be like, okay, let’s go back to the what the script was saying and see how that looks.
Jenna: So you’re not married to exactly what you write down?
Brandon: No, not at all, I think a big part of being a writer in collaborating is being open to that kind of interpretation. And again, I’m not the guy drawing the things. So forcing someone to draw and draw exactly what they don’t want to draw, pr if they think they have a better vision, it’s not very good for collaboration.
Other Works
Brandon’s resume is filled with a variety of different types of works in different genres. Out of all different types of writing, Brandon talked about which hold a special place in his compendium.
Jenna: What is your favorite comic to work on of your own?
Brandon: That’s a hard question. You know, it’s like, what’s your favorite child? Then I’ll just say that Just a Goblin is a very fun series to create because it’s such a flexible world. Because it’s a fantasy world. And because of that, I’m able to just basically do whatever I want. We have a character who has a Sailor Moon transformation and has bubble powers. He just blows bubbles and they hurt people, and trap people, and you can use them as shields and it’s kind of crazy. His character’s very evil and it’s the complete opposite of his visual. The only reason that would work in this series is because in the Just a Goblin world the art style and the world that we built kind of enables that, versus another series.
I have a bunch of series I’m also doing with Webtoon here, and one of them is closer to a John Wick vibe. And that would not work in that [Just a Goblin] type of world because it’s more serious, more gritty, more dark, and there’s just more confines in terms of creativity and what I can do. But Just a Goblin just lets me do whatever I want.
Jenna: You write these comics that have very different themes, very different genres. What is your favorite genre to write?
Brandon: I think the one that comes super naturally to me is the shonen action space. I love being able to write battles where two characters have different philosophies and there is a fierce battle of character. And I love those types of fights.
The series Angel Wings is a series that I’m also pretty passionate about. So there’s two sides of storytelling or anime and stuff that I like. It’s like the Naruto and Dragonball type stuff and Jujutsu Kaisen. And then there’s also the really soft boy stuff like Spirited Away, Your Name, and like, Makoto Shinkai type stuff.
And so I’d love to tell both of those types of stories and they’re also completely different. And so that’s my answer, which is those two directions, but they’re completely opposite sides of the spectrum of storytelling. They are the two things I love consuming the most and they touch two different parts of me.
The Beginnings of a Webtoon Creator
Brandon discussed his journey into the world of comic creating.
Jenna: How did you first get into creating?
Brandon: I think I had always known about web comics. Even in high school. I read God of High School when I was in high school. But I was mostly a manga guy growing up. And so I entered the manga industry and was entering competitions in Japan. I entered a pretty big one called Shonen Jump Tezuka, which was the first time they allowed for international creators to enter. My submission went pretty viral. And then I got an offer to create a webcomic serialization within that kind of like vertical format. I think that was kind of the first time that I was trying to create something for the format and it was pretty fun. It was very flexible in terms of my ideas. And then obviously colored, which is pretty interesting.
Then from that publisher, I got an offer from Webtoon for Just a Goblin, and then was able to just keep making more stuff. So I think it kind of like fell into my lap, but in a good way, if that makes sense.
Where to Find Brandon Chen and His Work
Brandon Chen is the author of Just a Goblin, Angel Wings, Overtime Elite, Samurai no Tora, God Game, and The Mad Gate. You can find all of these series on the Webtoon platform by searching the titles and also on Brandon’s creator page. You find links to all of Brandon’s works and social media on his carrd page.
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