BA (Hons) Comic and Concept Art alumni Music Tiamethakorn; pen name Music Gallery; will sell their debut comic at large comic retailer, Travelling Man.
Music’s comic, Submerged Youth, is set in an authoritarian island of what remains of current day Thailand.
Mama, the Small Press Organiser at Travelling Man, said of their decision to stock the comic: "We were so excited to stock Submerged Youth as the story is greatly engrossing and the artwork is a feast for the eyes! Really next level work."
"We were so excited to stock Submerged Youth as the story is greatly engrossing and the artwork is a feast for the eyes! Really next level work."
Music debuted their comic at last year at Thought Bubble: a week-long Comic Art Festival in Yorkshire.
“(This was) a huge opportunity for an independent artist like me to grow my audience and network with others in the comic scene. As a young Thai artist in England, I am also very glad that I will be able to express my culture through my art to a wider international audience.”
Submerged Youth is a dystopian comic about rebels who take refuge under the sea after having been banished from land. The first book follows a young timid student named Vilarlak, whose friend is searching for a missing sister rumoured to be abducted by the government. The high school students have to carefully navigate the world where speaking up against the system can cost them everything.
When asked about the theme of their comic, Music told us: “A lot of my work is based on my experience being born and raised in Thailand and I hope that I can bring a different and refreshing take on comics to my UK readers. Submerged Youth is a short little comic about a group of children navigating a strict authoritarian society. The story of Submerged Youth is heavily inspired by the highly divided political climate of Thailand and I hope that my comic can be a way for me to call out the injustice in my country as well as tell an engaging story.”