Indie Edge April 2015: Narae Lee

This month’s featured creator is Narae Lee.

Please tell us a bit about yourself!

Hi there! Nice to meet you. I’m NaRae Lee, currently living in Korea. I started drawing at a very young age after watching Japanese animation like Sailor Moon and Slayers and copying the art. It was when I was around eleven that I started drawing comics with a story and panels. Our family moved because of my father’s job, and I became friends with a neighbor whose older brother was a so-called “Otaku”, which led me to start drawing manga naturally. I think that’s also when I realized that I wanted to become a manga creator. To be honest, though, I think I’ve been drawing ever since I first grabbed a pencil. Even in kindergarten, art was my favorite subject, which I enjoyed far more than music or PE.

What are your favorite projects you’ve contributed to over the past decade?

I honestly have to say that it’s Maximum Ride (MAR118003). It’s the title that I have been working on for the longest time, and also a project that changed my life. Before Max, I only knew how to draw illustrations and wasn’t really sure how to create a comic that can tell a story. Max taught me so much about how to make a story flow in a comic form that can easily reach the fans. I really have learned a lot about storytelling from James Patterson. Another one that I want to mention is a short story called The Month of 29. It’s a story about a Korean girl who’s about to turn 30. I drew this when I was 25, and it’s a bit hard to explain how I felt when I read it again at the age of the main character. The age calculation is different in the states and in Korea, so it wasn’t published in English. This title made me seriously wonder what I need to do to balance what I want to do and what I need to do to meet more readers. So while not many have read it, it’s a bit special to me.

What are you currently working on?

I’m still working on Maximum Ride in the states, and also working on a web comic called Honey Blood in Korea.

What fun titles are you reading?

Recently, I’ve been reading manga from the early days when I first started drawing comics. After ten years working as a professional, working on the pages has become more “work” than something I just do for pleasure, so I’ve been trying to read the old titles to remind myself of the me who was so full of passion and the pure enjoyment of working in comics. So Akira (Vol. 1 / AUG090981) and Slam Dunk (Vol. 1 / JUN084326) come immediately to mind. As for more recent titles, Dorohedoro (Vol. 1 / DEC091023), Yotsuba&! (Vol. 1 / SEP148357), and Jack Frost are on the top of my list.

They all have such different merits. For Dorohedoro, the unique art style and world is very attractive. I really like the chic humor sense among the gloomy atmosphere. By contrast, the calm and sort of trivial fun of Yotsuba&! makes me open its pages often, especially since I’m not good at slice-of-life stories. And for Jack Frost, I aspire to be able to draw such cool actions scenes! I think I’m drawn to titles that complement my weaknesses.