Doyak pens heartfelt letter in WET SAND #1 print release

The creator of Wet Sand has a message for her readers.

The first print volume of Wet Sand hit shelves yesterday, May 6, and fans who already read it digitally are eager to get their hands on a physical copy. Doyak, the manhwa’s writer and illustrator, recently opened up about immigrating to New Zealand, the influences behind her work, and what Wet Sand personally means to her.

Doyak began her manhwa career later than most. While in grad school and questioning her chosen field of study, she received an offer to publish a comic. That moment pushed her to leave academia and pursue illustration full-time. She adopted the pen name “Doyak,” a shortened version of her nickname “Dokkebi” (“goblin”).

She created Wet Sand out of her interest in tragedy—especially stories filled with suffocating tension and morally flawed characters like those in classic literature. Recognition didn’t drive her; instead, she focused on crafting characters she found compelling.

After spending 16 years in Korea, Doyak immigrated to New Zealand alone. With no English skills, she turned to American TV dramas to learn the language. Those dramas didn’t just help her speak English—they also deepened her understanding of what makes English-language storytelling so distinct.

“I don’t like heroes,” she said. “I’ve always loved characters who are losers when it comes to love. This isn’t a story about one person saving another. It’s about each character endlessly circling in a tangled web of fate—or, you might say, love—and eventually being drawn toward the center.”

Wet Sand follows three men whose lives are tightly intertwined. Jo, an aspiring photographer, meets Ian by chance and falls hard for him, unaware that Ian is a former high-profile gangster trying to escape his past. But Ian’s friend and lover, TJ, refuses to let him go that easily. Their story is dark, emotional, and full of fraught relationships.

As the manhwa continues to unfold, Doyak hopes readers “come to love all three ‘losers’ [just as much as I do].”

Wet Sand Vol. 1 is now available in bookstores. You can read our KCB review here.

Source: Penguin Random House