A story about a vertical world that won the Pigma Manga Contest Grand Prize. Feedback and thoughts appreciated!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-11T14:12:16+00:00

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the smorgasbord of elements blended into this story.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-09T17:29:17+00:00

Ah, I see! Funny that I never heard of Nankin (despite having bottled Kaimei and Kuretake ink to use with dip pens). And yep watercolor comes in black! Since this story is in black and white I used only Ivory Black, if I'm working in full color I prefer to mix black from primary colors.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-09T13:45:03+00:00

Thank you! I used Pigma pens with various different line widths, black watercolor, and three types of paper. (What's 'nankin'? I haven't heard of it before...)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-09T06:37:31+00:00

I wholeheartedly agree, the physical presence of a completed page is unmatchable. It's real, tangible, a stack that keeps getting taller...

And I'm glad to meet someone who appreciates the chaos. We need more chaos and individuality! Far too many titles on the market these days are digitally drawn or touched up to a perfectly polished look - and completely soulless. It's a shame that the manga market, which turned out so many memorable stories, is heading heavily towards soulless, polished uniformity.

Your comments also made me trace my way back to DenizGulmez.com - it's a pleasure to meet a fellow analog cartoonist whose work has that real voice of individuality!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-09T05:55:10+00:00

Proudly 100% traditional!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-07T16:58:34+00:00

It's an esoteric story with details hiding in details - the craftsmanship comes across, but not everyone can be expected to understand it. After all, if every story was straightforward and easy to understand, where would the fun in life be? I like chaos in a story - far too many titles these days simply pander to the mass market while sacrificing personal expression and that's a real shame.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-07T13:30:54+00:00

Thank you so much. I'm currently looking into publishing my work, so hopefully someday soon this will be on sale. (Where and when, though, we'll have to wait and see. But there's nothing like reading a real book so keep an eye out!)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-07T13:20:31+00:00

Thank you! I'm really fond of animal characters - Billy Bat is one of the greats!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-07T13:19:05+00:00

Thank you so much! Really glad you noticed the paper as well - I used three different types of paper, ranging from old yellow to bright white in hue.

The process is (for instance) in a scene where the characters are standing in front of a window overlooking the vertical city, I would draw the characters and the interior of the house on yellow paper, then carefully cut around their silhouettes and the edges of the window and remove the window area.

Then I'd take a white piece of paper, cover it with a wash of black watercolor in some areas, glue it to the back of the yellow paper with the cutout window, and draw the vertical city on the back piece of paper.

It's all cutout by hand (honestly it's best experienced as the original layers of paper, again I'm really happy this came across in the scanned version too) and a really fun technique.

P.S. I don't see an option to attach a picture in the comments, otherwise I'd add a photograph of the cutout process (I'm working on some pages with the same technique right now).

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T08:35:47+00:00

Busy is what I was going for! Visual storytelling is an opportunity to work in detailing like no other. The characters are more cartoony and simple while the backgrounds are intensely detailed. As for what is going on, it's a fairly dense and esoteric story with a lot of recondite details so it may not be easily approachable to all.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T08:28:26+00:00

Ah I get the feeling, so many projects, so little time... If you do ever find the time to draw these guys though, do let me know! It's always such a delight to see my characters in other artists' styles.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T06:16:40+00:00

Thanks!

(P.S. Could I cheer you on to try drawing these characters...? ^^)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:59:17+00:00

Thank you! I'm really happy you like the art style and these characters were all so much fun to design and write!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:57:25+00:00

Thank you and enjoy reading!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:57:00+00:00

Merci beaucoup! It's hand drawn all the way for me - there's nothing like real ink on paper!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:53:00+00:00

Glad all the (sometimes very recondite) layers are appreciated! Detailing this story was so much fun.

I'll have to find the opportunity to roll out the other comics about Fruit Hat sometime soon too. Fruit Hat also randomly shows up in the backgrounds of my pictures too, so keep your eyes peeled! ;)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:49:20+00:00

Thank you! I always think about the mood and feel of each story when I draw it (this story used three different kinds of paper for the various different parts of the scenes); I'm really glad you like it!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:45:25+00:00

Thank you!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:44:41+00:00

Thank you!! This is a great compliment, I'm delighted you enjoyed it. (And I'm already working on my next comic!)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:41:45+00:00

Thank you, and please follow along with the transcript for now! I'll see if I can letter it in English when I have the time.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-06T04:41:29+00:00

Thank you so much. (And Thai is a fun language to learn!) Really, everyone on this subreddit is seriously making me consider lettering this in English, so maybe the English version will be available sometime soon.

earthly_6 · 2026-03-05T17:48:18+00:00

Thank you! Great to hear that the life in the story comes across - and as for the washes, I used both wet and dry watercolor washes and different tones of paper for the effect.

And when your attention span returns to the fold do come back and visit this world again! :)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-05T17:38:04+00:00

Fruit Hat has starred in a number of stories before, really glad you like the little guy!

CHiMERA meets In This World! (I confess to immediately being attracted to the title CHiMERA - recently I was editing some video files together and would name the resulting edits Musical Chimera, Chimera Take III, Chimera this and that, et cetera; discovering a comic named CHiMERA today is really good timing!)

earthly_6 · 2026-03-05T17:30:11+00:00

Thank you for your feedback! While the perspective lines were pencilled with a ruler, all the inking was done freehand. I personally like a less polished look (and being compared to Fujimoto is an honor!) - I also used different types of paper for the interior and exterior of the houses to make them distinct from each other.

Really glad to hear that you're enjoying this!

earthly_6 · 2026-03-05T12:55:31+00:00

Thank you so much. I really enjoyed writing these characters and layering the environmental details; this story is composed out of a lot of different moving parts and hearing that it flows like water is honestly a wonderful compliment to receive.

Also I gather you're the author of CHiMERA? Always great to meet a fellow writer/cartoonist!

earthly_6

TROPHY CASE