Hey, this is Rach Dalin, comic book artist and the creator of the Wonderworld Saga manga series and you're listening to the Oblivion Barre podcast. Welcome to the Oblivion Bar podcast with your host, Chris Hacker and Aaron Knowles. Joining me today is the superstar Singaporean comic book artist who has worked for Blizzard Entertainment, Magic the Gathering, Dynamite Comics, and DC Comics.
She is also the creator of the upcoming manga series, The Wanderverse Saga, which tells the dark tale of Phoenix, a subhuman born into an oppressive world where superhumans are born with the powers to rule them all. It is my pleasure to welcome Rach Delin onto the Oblivion Bar podcast. my God. Hey, hi everybody. Hello, Chris. Thanks for having me here. I'm very excited to be here. God. It's also cool. We are, we're just, we're basically like good friends at this point.
It seems like at every convention that we've been at, know, in the, these last, I'd say over the last year or so, we always will have a moment, whether it be on a whatnot show or just at the booth. And it's always, it's, it's the best. I love it so much. yeah. Me too. Thank you so much. It's been great knowing you and yeah, thanks for having me on your podcast. Of course. And we've got a ton of really fun things to talk about here.
And I think it only makes sense to start at the beginning, right? know, my research here over here on the oblivion bar, the first cover that you had drawn here in America, I guess I should say was a van Perel number 16 back in May of 2020. Is that correct? yeah, that's the one. Yeah. That's the one. Okay. I was wondering if it was between It was between that one and I think there was like a Batman 108 that had like Miracle Molly. Is that one Ring a Bell as well?
yeah, I think that's the first DC comic cover they have drawn. So that was really fun. It was for this new character that they were building at the point in time, Miracle Molly. but Vampirrilla is my first one. Yeah. Nice. All right. Well, the reason why I kind of bring all that up is that, you know, since then you've been I mean, in my opinion, have been setting the world on fire with some of these covers. I mean that, you literally, but also your style is very spicy, you know, very sexual.
And, you know, I'm thinking specifically of the recent Catwoman and Harley Quinn covers. And you even had a 2024 New York Comic-Con exclusive cover for Absolute Batman Number One, which was, in my opinion, one of the hottest books there that weekend. So, you know, I can say again, as we just said a moment ago, you and I are friends at this point, but... you being at these conventions together, I think it's been so much fun seeing you get all this overwhelming success.
But I want to ask you, how has that felt for you kind of getting this extreme surge of success here recently? my God. my God. see. I guess overall it's been a great journey. This has always been my passion. It was since I was young, like when I was like, I think around four five years old, I already know that I want to become like a manga artist.
So I think like seven years ago I quit my job to pursue this full-time So I was just keep doing it, you know, and I never really thought about being Becoming popular or something like that.
I just feel that I just keep doing what I have always wanted to do and I'm very happy that people has responded to me this way I still feel that I'm in a learning process Whenever people tell me what they like about my eye what I try to kind of like taking their opinions about my work, feedback and everything. I try to make it better. I still feel like I'm still learning a lot. So it's been a great journey so far. I hope we continue to become better for everybody. Yeah. I love it.
And again, us meeting for the first time at San Diego during this last summer here in 2024, it was almost immediate. And I don't mean to butter you up so much here early on in the show, but as soon as I saw sort of your setup there, in Artist Alley, I was like, this is already one of the most talented creators that we have on the roster.
And to see not only that, but then the growth to New York just a couple months later, from San Diego Comic-Con to New York Comic-Con, your booth was rocking the entire weekend at New York. And it was really cool to see. That's why I was asking that. Thank you so much. I mean, I feel that part of them. success at the comic is because of you guys as well. I love the energy and everything. So thank you so much. I feel that I cannot really do this without everyone's support.
So I always appreciate you guys. So yay, thank you. It's so much fun to do. I love it. And you you kind of talked about this just a moment ago. You said you quit your job about seven years ago. What were you doing before comics? before comics, I was kind of doing like how she said, I have always I said I have always wanted to become a manga artist, right?
But when I kind of like joined my university, I took a design course because at the point I was the only available art related subject that can take. People around me keep telling me that comic or manga is not a viable career option. know, how are you going to make money and everything, right? It's not practical. So in the end, I decided I kind of gave in to that kind of thought. I decided to go to a graphic design field instead.
So I was kind of doing user interface design and interactive media and stuff. I had become an art director at the end and at that point in time I was like, okay. I came to a crossroad. If this is going to be what I'm doing for the rest of my life or should I just go back to continue with my passion again? Then at that moment I decided to quit. to become an artist full time.
Yeah. So that's how we meet each other today, know, but initially it was a quite a struggle, but I'm glad that I took that, took that leap to do this. Yeah. Me too. I'm so excited that you did that. You know, it's, sounds like regardless, you were going to be able to be creative in some way, but, you know, following your passion, the way that you have making that transition over from, you know, a creative director. over to just a full on comic artist.
then now a manga artist, which we'll talk about here in just a moment, is it's really cool to see, you know, if you talk to a lot of comic creators, they'll tell you that there's always that fork in the road where they have to sort of decide whether they want to make that jump into, you know, telling stories sequentially. And it's always cool. And I will say, you know, to kind of build off what I just said a moment ago, a moment ago there with your manga.
career, let's talk about the wonder of her saga, which is your original manga series that you've been working on for the last five years. So the majority of time that you've been working on comics and doing all this, you've been working on the wonder of her saga. again, as I refer back to that intro, I'll say it again here, the story sort of centers around the oppression of the subhumans by the super powered folks that have them. and I also think it's important to note that this first volume.
which will be a hardcover edition and will consist of over just around a hundred pages will be live on Kickstarter as you're listening to this conversation, everybody. So if you're listening to this conversation right now with Rachda, you can check out the show notes and that link to the Wonderverse Saga, Rachda's very first manga will be in there. So, Rachda, my question for you is, tell me a little bit about the inception of this story and what compelled you to tell it in the manga format.
Okay. Actually, even before one, the words have always been kind of drawing. Yeah, so when I was young, I would keep a notebook with me and I just kind of write everything or any character that comes to my head in that notebook, right? So I have a lot of these notebooks and Wonderverse is kind of like a story that has matured over time. It's kind of like the core of the story is the same, but it's just the details, the character is because, know, have gained life experience, have become a...
How should I say it? A different person throughout my life, right? I have different worldview and everything. So this story is kind of mature with me. So I have many kind of different version of this and this is kind of like my latest version. So that's how it's become, I guess. So the Waterworld Saga, right, was the creation that I made after a few tries. I actually brought my manga to Japan and asked the editor there to take a look at it.
And they have been very kind to me, but also very strict and educational. They actually taught me, okay, this part is not good. Overall, overall, we like your idea. We'd love to see more. So I keep bringing them works, you know. So this is kind of like my latest version of my manga story. And this is the one that received the most positive feedback from the editor. So I kind of trying to make something out of it. Yeah, so that's how you see it on Kickstarter.
It is like kind of like final finished version of it. I have been working for like the past two years with my assistant team that I managed to form in Thailand. So yeah, it's been a, I'm quite excited to review it to you. So yay. Now I know I'm going to be signing up for it, but I want to go back a little bit. You mentioned a moment ago about the core of the story. Like this, this manga has evolved over time. You said the core has sort of stayed the same.
What is that core that you're sort of talking about? my God. I'm going to make you, I'm going to make you peel back the layers. Okay. I guess the kind of story that I like is always a part about a person doing the best of their ability to kind of triumph over challenges. I don't kind of think, you know, it's a very basic idea. I really like it when, especially when the main character face really some kind of unbelievable odds. and I guess it's a belief that I have.
I have no idea what, how to explain it in words, but it's basically a character struggling against all odds, know, and triumph in the end. I guess that's a spoilers, but whatever. I was going to ask you how far you wanted to go into spoilers here, but I will say, just to sort of set the table a little bit here. Our main character, Phoenix, is that, I saying that correctly? Phoenix? Yeah, I guess you can. I didn't think about the pronunciation. here's how it's everyone that's listening to it.
Here's how it's spelled. It's P H Y N N I X. I think that sounds like Phoenix, but I could be wrong. Yeah. mean, that's that sounds about right. Yeah. Okay. And then Phoenix, Phoenix has a, a super powered friend. who has the power over plants. name is Catherine and that's spelled C-A-T-H-R-I-N. Does that sound correct? yes. Yeah. Okay. I love Catherine's design by the way. I love that she's got like the poison ivy powers too. I guess so.
Yeah. I guess as a character, as a person, she has different vibe and personality. So yeah. And Catherine seems very eager to help Phoenix. Cause again, as we said a moment ago, the subhumans or I guess you could just, know, for sort of simplest terms like just humans, you know, you and I, they are sort of a lower class of people in this story compared to the super powered. And we get to meet one in this story.
I don't want to spoil anything, but basically he sort of rules this, what would you say, like a prison kind of like that's kind of where Phoenix ends up in the beginning of this story. Does that sound correct? yeah. Yeah. So yeah. Yes. So that's kind of the one of the main villain of this particular arc. it's kind of like alternate timeline from the World War II. Kind of like original World War II. Yeah. my God. I read so much about World War II. Sure. For this one guy. Yeah. my God. was crazy.
Yeah. I can see the influence. I definitely can. And Baron, he even sort of resembles like, you know, and I mean this respectfully, so almost like a Nazi in a way. you know, with the way that he's like sort of ruling over the school with an iron fist and is basically making folks who are below him since then death essentially. And I was curious, one question I had for you though was the Baron has these like two little dogs. That's sort of like his super power. What are these dogs?
Does he have like power over shadow or what are these entities? okay. Technically it's still not really that, it's still not revealed in the story. But I'm sure people know that he can summon these dogs and they are like really bad for you. They're not good for you. They're just like really big and scary and they can kill you. So that's pretty much what people know about it. But aside from that, it's still a mystery. Yeah. No spoilers on the puppies. We don't get to know who they are quite yet.
Okay. can respect that. scary dog. I love it. And you know, what's funny is that So we may have talked about this before at one of our convention cycles, but you know, and listeners of the show here on the oblivion bar probably already know this, but I'm not like a giant anime slash manga fan. do dabble. Like I'm actually a huge, I'm a huge fan of a free in the beyond journeys end. don't know if you're familiar with this story. Have you seen this one? I'm crazy about talking about freedom.
I actually happened to have. this collectible cards right here. I got it from Japan and it's just right in front of the computer. hey, so such a coincidence. yeah, I'm up to volume three and I love it so much. I see. my God. Yeah. I love the story. It's the, it's very nice. It's, I really cried in the first episode. was pretty touching for me.
Yeah. Yeah. Talk about the hero's journey, you know, and also I think it's kind of a staple, you know, as a sequential art, you know, fan is you got to read a little Akira as well. got, have my Akira here. Yeah. I'm sure you've read Akira, right? I actually haven't read Akira. I watched the anime. I watched the anime, when I was really young, like four or five years old and it was scared out of my mind, but I still watch it. I remember watching it from behind my sofa.
I just imagine like four year old Rajta hiding behind the couch watching Ketsua It really scary but I cannot. Super scary but yes, that's exactly the scene. was like this guy keep like expanding his flesh. Then I was like, my God, so scary, but it cannot stop watching. Listen, I'm 30. I'm 33 years old. It still scares me. So no shame there. Yeah. So I'm like, crap. Then I rewatch this again, it's still a little scary, but I didn't hide behind a sofa anymore, thankfully.
Well, know, those two, those two manga right there, and also, you know, parts of Dragon Ball Z as well. Those are really my only stints with manga, but I've really been enjoying it. And my question for you, Rach, is do you remember that manga that sort of got you into manga? a manga that got me into manga? Okay. I remember the first manga that I read, but the one that got into manga is actually an anime. okay. Yeah. So which one do want to know? Both. I want both. okay.
So the very first, I think I remember last time I was watching some TV, you know, as a very young kid, like four or five years old, was eating. Eating my lunch or whatever. Then there's this anime on the TV. I remember something just clicked in me when I watched it. It was a very prominent moment in my life. I was like, yeah, that looks so cool. I want to be able to draw like that.
And at that moment, I just kind of spontaneously grabbed my school notebook and then I just start drawing the, you know, I think the main character, she has this item that allow her to transform into whatever she wants. So I just drew that item on school. So that is the start of my obsession with manga and anime. The anime was called Himetsu no Akko-chan. It was super old. I was gonna say, I'm trying to see if I can think of what that is.
I'm actually gonna, I'm trying to Google it here because the first thing that came to mind was actually Sailor Moon. you first said something. I was super obsessed with that too. I can see that. What was the, so you said there was, so you had that one and then what was the manga? Did you said, did you have a manga in mind as well that sort of sparked that interest? yeah.
well, I guess all the manga in general sparked my interest, the very first one I remember reading was this Cho-Jo or Jose manga. that belongs to my babysitter. She's kind of taking care of me. was reading manga. was reading her stuff. Technically, I don't think it's for me. He's probably too mature. I was super young, you know. And then there's a romance, romance manga. And then it's about a guy.
The main character is actually a guy, even though it's for a shojo genre, which means for girls, right? Then he kind of like time travel back to the ancient Japan. He met this princess that is super hot. And then he was like, and then he has all this more. She was sick. But he has all these modern medicine with him. So I was like, yeah, I'm going to save you. And she was in a relationship with this super abusive prince or whatever. And then it was like that kind of story.
It was a little mature, but I it anyway. It was so young and that thing, must have been like rated or whatever, but yeah. Isn't that the difference though between like Western animation and Eastern animation is that Eastern animation is so okay. Just being more mature. almost like they respect, you know, the younger audiences a little bit more. And I've always appreciated that about like, even like, I would say like studio Ghibli for instance, like you could show a young kid, studio Ghibli.
And of course there are like mature themes, but I feel like that's what makes it so impressive and, you know, beautiful in a way. yeah. That's, one thing I appreciate about the buy as well. actually do like mature theme as a given. think anybody who's looked at your art. already knows that. Yes, that's how I like it. Well, I guess, but I feel that, know, John Redder have always been really attracted to dark fantasy. So I kind of more into a darker stuff. have always been attracted to it.
I guess present to me at least, I'm not sure if anybody thinks the same way. It present a more rounded, more complete picture of a whole human experience. You know, it feels like When you're trying to make it more suitable for everybody, you have to omit certain parts out. You cannot talk about certain things. I personally don't really like it. I don't mind that kind of story, but I prefer for us to be able to talk about everything that represents a human experience.
That's really well said actually. think, and I totally agree with you 100%. Like life is not all rosy and round, right? Like there are parts of our lives that are kind of, they're sad or angry or disgusting or what have you. And to omit parts of that, you know, parts of that in your life is sort of, like you said, sort of a damnation to the better story. understand why some people choose to.
do it that way but for me the story that touches me the most are the one that is delve a little bit deeper and darker into the human experience like you said you know human, we are capable of many great things but we are also capable of many know unsavoury things as well so I prefer to and I always like it when the story actually talk about it and you know like it's like Instead of like just a party conversation, it's more like, okay, it's a heart to heart
real talk between, it's a private conversation between two people. Okay, you know what, the writer just sit down with me and decide to tell me about his thoughts that it's actually what I think about this situation, about this world. I'm not going to just censor it. I'm just going to tell you how it is. So to me, I love that kind of story. Yeah. Same. I've always been obsessed with this sort of relationship. It's part of the reason why I love comics so much.
And what I would say even storytelling in general is that when a fan picks up a book, if they pick up the wonderverse saga, for instance, and they're reading through this and they've actually never had a chance to meet you, Rachda. I will say like, sometimes as a reader, I feel like I know the writer in like a very intimate way because I've read their work. Right. And that's interesting. Right.
Because then then as a fan, I go up and I try to meet you at like say a convention and you don't know me at all, but I feel like I know you so well. Isn't that interesting? Yeah, I guess so. It happens to me sometimes, I guess when you read some artists' works, sometimes they don't hold themselves back. just write their thought process. so I'm like, okay, this is a...
I'm usually very touched by it, know, for them to actually come out and... write something like that, like, you know, they don't hold anything back. I always appreciate that, effort and also the sincerity in their work. Yeah. So really quickly to stay on the manga topic, if you were to recommend someone a manga that is similar to the wonderverse saga, just to sort of like a prepper, just sort of catch the tone. How, how, would you describe here or what would you recommend?
I guess you would say for a manga. that is sort of similar to the Wanderverse saga. Okay. Wow. That is tough. guess, okay, there's no real direct copy, but I have, I think there's a few that has similar theme, although it might not be exactly the same. promised Neverland is about a story about, how should I say it? I really love that story by the way. It's a story about a group of children being kept in captivity.
But it's a kind of a different theme than this one because in that story it was like, should I spoil you? Yeah, go ahead. Spoil away. That's okay. I don't to spoil anybody. I don't mind spoilers myself. My editor has told me that, you know, this is one of the inspiration that I can go take a look at and read it as a part of my learning experience. So he gave me a few. This is one of the stories that people brought up. From Miss Neverland, Attack on Titans.
sure. Attack on Titans, I think that one is famous, most people know about it. It's about the human versus titan. It also has dark theme and pretty gory as well. So I guess that one is a good example. I think there are more, but I these two were probably the one that a few of my editors mentioned for me. I'm showing my ignorance when it comes to the manga subgenre. And actually it kind of reminds me of the first time that we met at San Diego where we had a what not show together.
And you found it hilarious that I didn't know who the Demon Slayer character, Nezuko was. Like you, guess you had a Nezuko commission or maybe like a print or something. And I held it up and I was trying to describe who it was. And I think I maybe said like girl with thing in her mouth. But you were like, no, that's, that's the girl from Demon Slayer. Do you not know who that is? I'm like, no, I don't know who that is. my God. Because for a while she just exploded in the, in the artist alley.
And then keep, there is this one convention and Drew and myself drawn like 10 commissions of Nezuko or something. Like really, she is so popular. I'm wow. I mean, I the anime. I love the anime. I really love it. And Nezuko is one of my favorite characters. So was very happy to, to, that people seem to love her a lot. But it was like, wow, she's really hot. Yeah. Like very popular. Now, again, as we said a moment ago, the, you know, the wonderverse saga is going to be.
a kickstarted manga, a hundred page hardcover, all the first volume all collected into one. My final question for you on the Wanderverse Saga is what has it been like kind of behind the scenes? Is this your first time kickstarting something or have you done this before and you're just sort of used to the process now? wow. Okay. To be honest, I have done quite a few, quite many kickstarters for my other projects, but usually it's like smaller ones. This is first ever comic manga Kickstarter.
I usually kickstart my drawing illustration project. But this is first one that I did for my manga. To be honest, I'm a little nervous because this is my first time doing this. And it's subject that is very close to my heart because this has always been my passion since I was young. How should I say? The feeling is different this time. It's just an illustration, it's something that the... I wouldn't be overstating it if I say that manga has shaped me to become who I am today.
So it's something that is really big for me emotionally. So I'm like, like I said, I'm a little nervous. I try to do my best, but you know, mean, it's my first time so I might... I might miss something out too. Let's see guys help me out to a KLB. there's anything I can do better, please, please always let me know. I always appreciate your opinion and feedbacks. Yeah. I'm very confident in the team that you have over there between you and Darren and everybody else.
It's going to be a very successful campaign. I'm sure. And I know speaking, you know, from my end, I cannot wait to back it. I'm excited again, everybody who's listening right now. It'll already be live by the time that you're listening to this conversation So make sure you guys check out the link in the in the show notes to back the wonderverse saga How long is it running by the way? How long is the wonderverse saga running on Kickstarter?
Stumped everybody Okay, okay I'm not saying shaggy was like I believe it's 18 days. It would be running for 18 days from Okay, what I remember is from the start of Alpha, Anime Festival in Singapore to the end of Tokyo Comic Con. Yeah, so Tokyo Comic Con ended on around, 10. So I think it will be a few days after Tokyo Comic Con if I'm not wrong. But because this part is handling, I mean, I have a team that helped me out to do the kickstart. I'm not sure what their final decision is, but...
Last I checked, was after Tokyo Comic Con. Like I said, everybody, if you're listening to this right now, it is live. So go check that out. you know, Rasha, I have one more question for you before I let you go. So we like to end every conversation here on the show by asking our guests what they've been enjoying recently. So if you could pick one thing, it could be any form of media, could be a comic, could be a movie, a video game, podcast, manga, anime, whatever you want.
something that you've been loving here recently, what would you like to highlight for listeners? wow. Okay. If it's just recently, it's a little boring because I have been obsessed with work. There's a lot of work to do, but I have been watching a lot of documentaries about octopuses and squids. So, okay. It's very weird and boring because okay, it's actually part of my upcoming. I haven't really announced. It's also a manga project, but yeah, it's part of my research.
Actually, I love watching documentaries, so it was kind of fun to look at the animals. yeah. Everyone really had time. What's name of the documentary? Just a lot of them. Just a lot of them. Some went to YouTube. Then it's just a whole... whole library of it. I even watched some people who kept octopuses and they're like talking about their pets. I'm like, so it was very interesting. Yes. So Racha is doing a ton of research on octopuses. Yeah. So I, actually I love them. Yeah. I love them.
They are very smart creatures. Sorry. I love it. Sorry about being a weirdo. No, that's not weird at all. I just was not expecting that, but I love it. I love it. I was listening to the pox. Is there anything else more fun than have done recently? A lot of octopus. Is there any more fun thing that I did? it just finished Penguin. Yes. Penguin. the TV show Penguin. Yeah. The TV show Penguin is actually a pretty good. Yeah. Really good. was surprised. was like, Hey, that's not bad.
I watched until the last episode and it was really good. So yeah. Yes. That's the fun thing that I did. Yeah, it's more suitable for your podcast. Yes. that was quite a while back. I forgot about it. Well, Rasha, like I said before, it has been an absolute pleasure having you here on the show to discuss not only the wonderverse saga, but everything that we've talked about here in between.
And again, as I said earlier, I'll reiterate it once again, always a pleasure to get to see each other at these conventions. And I cannot wait to see you at the next one sometime in 2025. I'm happy to see you next time too. Maybe at MegaCon. Yes, maybe MegaCon in Orlando. That could possibly happen. And then also before I let you go, I'm going to hand it off to you one more time. Is there anything that you want to plug? Any socials you want to highlight?
Anything that you want to let the listener know about besides the Wanderverse saga? okay. I guess, my gosh, off the top of my head right now is just Wanderverse saga. What are your handles on social media? Okay. yeah, rush starting. My name is a little tricky. A lot of people misspell it. So I C H T a L I n you can just type my name now on social media. can find me on Instagram, Facebook. Sometimes they do Twitter. Okay. I kick started. yeah.
You can actually go on to my Kickstarter rush.com slash Kickstarter. then you can, one of the side I currently is like, you know, pending so we can click follow the project and yeah, that would be great. I'll be very happy if you do that. but yeah, but when the, when this thing is like the Kickstarter would be like already what I'm talking about. That's all right. They know everyone listening right now knows that they want to support the wonderverse saga, it is in the show notes right now.
So, Rasha it again, it has been a pleasure. I appreciate you, I cannot wait to see you at a con and we'll talk to you soon. Thanks for today.