Shen or Shenanigansen is a Cartoonist who has been going strong for a very long time on the internet. His works include the series Owl Turd, Shen Comix, Eden, Bluechair, Live with Yoruself!, Public U. Art Club, and most recently The Try Guys: Souper Sick.
His art style is entirely unique, standing out among the many other well known internet webcomics such as those by Adam Ellis and Sarah C. Andersen. And he’s viral-ready: some episodes have been dubbed on YouTube, generate iconic memes, and overall have a wide reach throughout the internet on social media, forums, and servers.Since then, thanks to WEBTOON, we here at K-Comics Beat were given a opportunity to interview Shen about his artist journey, working with WEBTOON, The Try Guys, and ideas about what lies ahead in Shen’s future.
JUSTIN GUERRERO: How did you start off creating webcomics and where were your comics originally posted?
Shen: The first place where I created comics under a consistent identity (“Owlturd Comix” at the time) was Tumblr, when it was at its peak in the early 2010s. I’m still quite active on there to this day! But even before then, I created comics on forums surrounding the game Garry’s Mod, as well as the MS Paint Adventures forums, which were tied to Homestuck and Problem Sleuth. Those forum comics were all mostly in-jokes — you kinda had to be there, and it was stupid even if you were there, but I was having fun.
GUERRERO: Are you a self-taught artist or have learned through art school or classes?
Shen: I’m self taught, but have gone through periods of making deliberate effort to learn art. When I was younger, I referenced some of the Andrew Loomis books, and did some studies and gesture drawing. Now I’m back to gesture drawing and going through the Drawing With Force online course by Mike Mattesi and Morpho book on drawing clothes. I wish that I had practiced more when I was younger, but I’m trying to make up for it now.
GUERRERO: Your art style is very unique with some traits I have picked up on as I have seen your art. I am curious if there are any artists whose styles have inspired yours.
Shen: My favorite artist is Hiroyuki Imaishi, an animator and director at Studio Trigger. He’s responsible for the look of shows like Gurren Lagann, Kill La Kill, and Panty & Stocking. You’ll recognize his high energy, sometimes “westaboo” artistic flair immediately. I’m also a big fan of some of the art styles you see in Nintendo titles, like Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and the Mii Channel.
GUERRERO: When it comes to platforms, what initially caught your attention to begin uploading your comics onto WEBTOON?
Shen: WEBTOON actually reached out to me before there was even a way to upload comics to the platform, back in 2014. This was before Challenge League, which went on to be renamed Discover, which went on to be renamed CANVAS. At the time, I thought they might be a scam because they were promising to pay for art (messed up) and the email had some imperfect English. But it turns out that, in fact, I might be the scam.
GUERRERO: Any specific episode or comic of yours that you have uploaded to WEBTOON that you feel is your favorite so far?
Shen: Hard to pick from over 1000 episodes! I personally have a fondness for ones in which someone delivers a really hard line like “look away, God” (Bluechair, Ep. 969) or ones in which I mess with the reader’s head. If I had to pick a favorite, I guess the internal voice actor episode would be it (Bluechair, Ep. 165).
GUERRERO: I remember meeting you briefly during the Toon Square event in NYC, how did it feel to be picked to be a part of such a notable event in WEBTOON’s history?
Shen: I loved it. I got to meet one of my heroes in comics, Jo Seok, and many other artists and writers on both the Korean and English side, as well as editors and executives. I think a lot of people were really happy that day, but most of all Junkoo Kim, the CEO. The happiness was contagious.
GUERRERO: Jumping forward in time a bit, I am curious what brought you to the attention of the Try Guys for the WEBTOON collaboration.
Shen: I don’t think the Try Guys hand picked me necessarily, but WEBTOON staff deemed me the right person for the job, thrusting upon me both great power and great responsibility. Then, when I started crying about how much work it was, they gave me a full green light on everything from that point forth and put me in touch with Valery, who helped with inking the comic. I was like the gladiator that WEBTOON sent out into the arena, and the other gladiator I was fighting was time — but aren’t we all fighting that gladiator.
GUERRERO: What was it like to collaborate and work on the art for the Souper Sick webtoon?
Shen: I don’t often work on concepts others wrote, or with other artists in general, so this was a new experience for me. Valery did a splendid job on the inks, and the editorial feedback from the team at WEBTOON – Lucas, Elizabeth, and Bre – was strong. It felt nice to count upon others, and be counted upon in turn. Many people don’t realize what surprisingly lonely work something fun like making webcomics can usually be!
GUERRERO: Is there anyone else you would like to collaborate with in the future?
Shen: Studio Trigger is the dream. To make that happen, I will probably have to make something so good that Studio Trigger wants to animate it. Also Sanrio, because I’m a big Aggretsuko fan. I also really love musicians like Bo En, Nelward, Ehiorobo, and Omniboi and would love to do something someday to their music (if they’ll let me!) or commission some character themes from them (if I can afford it!).
GUERRERO: Any advice to aspiring artists or those who plan to create a comic/series on WEBTOON?
Shen: I feel kind of like a boomer who’s about to tell you that to get a job, you just go into the company’s offices and give them a firm handshake and hand them your resume (See Bluechair, Ep. 1067). As someone who started over 10 years ago, is my advice even applicable anymore? But anyway, here is that advice: Create a set posting schedule and stick to it no matter what, and when you find something (an element of the story, a style of humor, a character) and people seem to like and respond to, pursue it further. Be careful with that last bit of advice though, as it can also lead you astray from what you yourself like to write and draw. No amount of discipline can beat enjoying your work.
Feel free to support Shen by following him his social media accounts on X/Twitter, Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook, and Tumblr.
If you’d like to financially support Shen, you can do so by becoming a patron on his Patreon.
For more on K-Comics Beat, I recommend a lovely article about tips for aspiring WEBTOON creators by WEBTOON creators. Give it a read! It even has Shen in it.
Until next time my adorable nerd birbs <3
