GEORGE TOWN, Sept 20 — What started as a cosy café-themed comic on Webtoon Canvas has turned into a career-defining journey for Malaysian webcomic artist Hanza.
Within a year of self-publishing, she caught the attention of Webtoon and was offered a contract to serialise her work as a Webtoon Originals.
My Deepest Secret has since run for three seasons with a total of 101 episodes, racking up 2.6 million subscribers and a staggering 197.4 million views.
It is among the top most-read comics under the thriller genre.
Hanza, who resides in Kelantan, began My Deepest Secret as a heartwarming tale in 2018. But when she first sketched her characters, the male lead Elios “looked fishy” to her.
“So I made it a thriller instead, and Elios was no longer the male lead,” she said in an email interview with Malay Mail.
The comic’s instant popularity on Webtoon Canvas led to an email from Webtoon, offering her the chance to serialise it as an Originals in April 2019.
Webtoon Canvas serves as a springboard for aspiring comic creators, allowing them to self-publish their works for free. Comics that reach Webtoon Originals, however, gets full funding.
The series ended in November 2021 but Hanza has kept busy with another thriller, The Guy Upstairs.
She started posting The Guy Upstairs, also a Webtoon Originals, in October 2022 and it quickly gained 1.4 million subscribers and has over 50 million views (at the time of writing).
However, she placed the series on an indefinite hiatus in April this year at the end of the first season.
Though she remains tight-lipped about the reasons behind the pause, Hanza admits the weight of a thriller genre can be challenging.
“So, I would say writing a thriller is actually really stressful for me. I’m the type who gets stressed when I hear a crime podcast, because I tend to sympathise with the victims,” she said.
This emotional toll led her to switch to lighter themes, exploring romantic comedies instead.
“Now that I write a rom-com however, there is never that kind of stress, and my mood has boosted a lot. I think I would love to continue writing light-hearted stories in the future!” she said.
Hanza, who goes by the name “Hanza Art” in her Webtoon creator account, had introduced two new rom-coms — My Boss Doesn’t Have a Face and Falling in Love with My Ex-Fiance’s Grandfather.
Both series are available for free on Webtoon Canvas and Hanza has plans to publish Falling in Love with My Ex-Fiance’s Grandfather as a printed book in future.
Prior to her success as a Webtoon Originals comic artist, Hanza has worked with a few local comic publishers.
The 28-year-old holds an honours degree in animation and visual effects from MMU Cyberjaya and had always been drawing all her life.
“My earliest memory with drawing is when my kindergarten teacher praised me, and it made me happy to be able to impress her,” she recalled.
“Before I knew it, drawing was my way of seeking attention (LOL) and we humans crave attention after all,” she said.
The cat-lover, with 11 cats under her care, has always been a fan of anime and manga. She cites influences like CLAMP, the creators of Cardcaptor Sakura and Tsubasa Chronicles.
“One thing for sure, my style has always been inclined towards anime and manga and now a bit of a mix of manhwa,” she said.
She started drawing comics in elementary school with a friend. Her friend would draw a few pages in a book, and she would continue the next few pages.
“Our little project caught the attention of some of our classmates, and it made me happy when they laughed while reading it,” she reminisced.
“I found it great that our comics could evoke some kind of emotions in people,” she added.
That had encouraged her to continue making comics even though she is no longer in contact with that friend.
It was not all easy going for Hanza on her journey as a Webtoon Originals creator. With barely any support or guidance from the editors, she had to do everything on her own.
“So, I would say the biggest challenge for me was managing everything and getting everything done on my own, and advertising my series,” she shared, noting that online audiences “can be quite hateful at times too”.
As a freelancer, Hanza sometimes would work in a cafe when she got bored of working alone at home.
“When I just need to make thumbnails (draft for a comic), I would prefer to take my tablet and go do work at a cafe,” she said.
She only does serious drawing and colouring at home with her Wacom Cintiq and computer.
“Since I am a freelancer, I would try to do tasks outside as much as I can since it could be boring working by myself at home,” she said.
At first, her family didn’t support her career choice, but their views changed once they saw she could stand on her own.
“I think at the end of the day, they just want to see me being able to stand on my own two feet,” she said.
Her advice to other aspiring artists wishing to become a webcomic artist? Keep creating.
“No one will notice you unless you post something out there,” she said.
She added that there are now a lot of comic competitions on various platforms, so aspiring artists should join these.
“If you don’t win, you at least have one product with you now, which you can print and sell later, post on your social media or pitch to a publisher,” she said.
