Drake Tsui, the creator of SIN
This is certainly long overdue, but it’s great to have you here, Drake! Thanks for talking with us!
No problemo!
You’ve been with MangaMagazine since the very beginning with your comic, SIN. How has your experience changed over the last couple of years?
I remember when Foster first contacted me asking if I was interested in having SIN sponsored from MM.net. At the time the entire thing was just this pet project for me to take a shot at sequential art so I was like, “Sure, why not? Getting paid to practice drawing? Awesome.”
Then somehow SIN actually started gaining popularity and so did my interest in storytelling/comics. Suddenly it became a part of my career and one of my most significant projects to date! It’s been a bewildering experience, one that I hope only gets bigger and better :]
Another beautiful illustration by Drake
I’ve seen your workload and it’s pretty intimidating! How do you manage to find the time to work on SIN while juggling all of your other illustration projects?
Oh you know that thing people call a social life? I sure as hell don’t 
Hahaha! But no seriously when you get into the freelance business one of the first things you have to tackle hard is time management. After graduating from Art College I somehow went from a lazy procrastinating teenager to a self-made businessman overnight.
It was a weird transition but being organized and self disciplined definitely has it’s perks. It’s rewarding to be able to tell people I make a good living at home drawing stuff on my computer without the creative constraints that normally comes with having a studio job.
SIN is a pretty unique comic, stylistically. You’ve flawlessly combined the dynamism of western comics with the pacing of eastern comics. Are there any particular works that influenced your storytelling style?
Yea, if there was a formula it’d look something like: Marvel/DC Comics + Shonen Manga = Drake’s lolwriting.
As far as “particular works” go anything with Brian Michael Bendis’s name on it has had a huge influence on my idea of what storytelling could look like. The titles that he writes for Marvel constantly hit a high note for me and in a lot of ways I try to emulate his ability to “entertain” through SIN.
From the East you can bet I read/watched a lot of Manga/Anime growing up. Notable works that have had a huge influence on the development of SIN are Battle Angel Alita (aka GUNNM), Ghost In the Shell (S.A.C. Series), Gundam (Universal Century titles) and probably a lot more I can’t think of at the moment!
Despite it being a classic sci-fy, post-apocalyptic, political battleground comic, SIN is a refreshing read. Where did the original idea come from?
One of the first things I learned as an artist is that there’s no such thing as originality, just an illusion created from careful rehash and remix. So to put a spin on a premise so terribly redundant you have to really identify the elements that make it feel overused and downplay them as much as possible to give other aspects more room to breath.
In SIN‘s case, I decided right off the bat that it had to be very character driven. Everything else about a post apocalyptic sci fi has been told a million times over but the one thing that never gets old is humanization. People will always connect with people.
So for all of it’s grandeur of the world ending, totalitarian governments, assassination, blah, blah, blah, blah… SIN really boils down to it’s characters and making them as authentic and relatable as possible.
SIN is full of wonderfully detailed machinery and backgrounds.
The level of detail present in all of your pages is stunning, especially when it comes to machines and weaponry! How do you go about designing these elements?
Is it? Haha thanks! A couple of my side jobs for the past couple of years consists of Sci Fi Concept Art and you’ll actually notice the earlier designs in SIN are pretty… terrible. As my conceptual skills evolved over the years from those particular jobs I was able to apply them to SIN, in fact you guys will probably notice me constantly redesigning things as the series progresses!
Thirty chapters in, and it feels like you’re just getting started with SIN‘s story. Do you have anything special in store for your readers?
You’re right! The first 30 or so chapters focused a lot on laying groundwork for the protagonists (Kaden & Zerus) now that it’s done I’ve got a ridiculous amount of story arc’s planned out that I can finally get started on. I don’t have anything special in store per-say but hopefully I’ll be able to start moving the plot a little faster for you guys. :]
You’re a pretty avid convention-goer! Is there anything in particular that you enjoy the most about conventions?
Conventions are business trips for me but materialistic gains aside it’s incredibly uplifting to be surrounded by people who enjoy your work. I go to about 10 of these things a year and after awhile you grow numb to the celebrities, panels, merchandise, cosplays etc. but the one thing that never gets old is catching a smile or laugh from someone looking at your work.
I know it’s a whole lot of cheese, but celebrating a fandom I belong to with others is a pretty heart warming experience.
Enyo and Zerus from SIN are featured on the cover of Chapter 30
Is it just me, or would SIN make an awesome video game? I would love to play that game! Any chance one of your video game clients would be interested?
If SIN ever gets popular enough for a video game the first I’d like to see is a Fighting Game! There was a series of games called “Narutimate Hero” on the Playstation 2 for NARUTO, I’d want it to be pretty much exactly like that gameplay/style-wise. At the moment though, SIN doesn’t nearly have enough content/characters for that sort of thing though, haha.
I don’t think a lot of my video game clients even know I’m a comic/manga artist. I might build the confidence to pitch the idea someday, who knows!
It’s been a pleasure talking with you and I’m really looking forward to seeing more from you!
Hey, the pleasure was all mine! Thanks for the interview and I hope my work in the future doesn’t disappoint ;]
Ashikai is a Community Manager for MM.net, Co-founder of the resource group Manga-Apps, and artist for the original series, Shamrock. Interested in contributing to the blog? have feedback or comments about MM.net? Send her an email!
