Hermit Moth Comics

Creator's preferred medium: Digital. But with beautiful texture that makes you think of traditional ink and wash art. This texture is a deliberate style choice to make the story gothic and old. Every artistic choice the creator makes – even the brush made for their software – is chosen to enhance the atmosphere of the story they are telling. It’s completely holistic, so even the most technical elements are used to further the soul of the story.

I've got a neat way to lay this out that kept my weekend binging from turning into a confused mess. If you want the definitive reading order for 'Dross', start with the main run in publication order — that usually means issue #1, #2, and so on — because the creative team builds character beats and reveals across issues. If 'Dross' is collected into trade paperbacks or volumes, those are often arranged by story arc and are the easiest entry points: read volume 1, then volume 2, etc. When a crossover or mini-series pops up, treat it like a detour: read the issues that directly tie into the plot immediately after the main-issue breakpoint that references them, but don’t worry about variant covers or reprints — they rarely change narrative order.

If you run into single-issue one-shots, origin stories, or specials labeled as 'annuals' or 'extras', check whether they’re listed as prequels or side-stories. These are best enjoyed after you know the characters — unless the special is explicitly called 'prelude' or 'origin', then feel free to read it first for context. I also use fan-made reading guides and the publisher’s official order (if available) to double-check. Digital storefronts sometimes mis-sort issues; always verify issue numbers and publication dates.

Personally, I like alternating between trades and single issues depending on my patience level: trades for lazy Sundays, single issues to savor cliffhangers. Above all, follow the numbering and publisher notes — they’re there to save you from narrative whiplash — and enjoy the art, because in 'Dross' the visual pacing is half the story. I still get a kick out of spotting tiny details on my second read.

Webtoon. I wrote that title so you’d read this piece about the act of reading Webtoon comics. Yes, the vertical scroll is perfect for building to suspense and comedic moments. An artist can use the length of the scroll to control the pacing of a scene. For example, a reaction panel can be placed just off the bottom of the screen so that the reader has to scroll down to see the character’s expression in that moment. If a comic were online and all the panels for a page were displayed all at once or the comic was read horizontally page by page click by click then the comedic moments would not be timed as well. The medium is the message and ‘Mi Casa Es Tu Casa’ is a Webtoon comic designed for a specific Webtoon size “canvas” and so it must be read on Webtoon in order to get the full intended experience of the comic. Any other format would be a watered down or compromised version of the work, much like watching a wide screen movie pan and scan to fit a smaller old TV.

My own experience with webcomics is not nearly broad enough to make a definitive list like that. As I said, I read a couple of long-running webcomics many years ago from the authors’ own sites. Since then, the rest of the webcomic scene has exploded and moved to a host of new platforms. Maybe I’ll check some of them out.

Another point of view on this is that of a discovery channel. The so-called “free series” on Lezhin are not leftovers. Sometimes Lezhin posts a completed work by a new artist, and other times a Lezhin is trying to jumpstart a particular genre. This free section can be so much fun to go through to look for hidden gems among which you might even find a new favorite story that you would not have read were it not for the free offering. The legal free offering provides risk-free discovery. You read works by artists you never would have tried otherwise, and once you find one you like, you might even subscribe to read their next series. The free section is an exploratory tool, do not dismiss it as leftovers.

For me the pacing of the story is by far the most notable feature. The plot takes its time to progress to each new stage of our protagonist’s decline, allowing the reader to fully feel the full extent of her losses. Time jumps are rarely used, instead we get to witness her health and sanity slowly but surely erode away. It makes for a powerful and disturbing read, yet at the same time it’s a work of art, and how much of that is mere titillation as opposed to valuable insight into human suffering I’m not sure. But for me it was a switch from ‘tragic’ to ‘suffering gratuitously’ about halfway through.

What is the official stance of Shueisha (or other companies) towards fan-created comics? I assume they are legal under fair use when used as parody or commentary, but the line gets blurred when a fan writes a completely alternate story. Most fan-created comics are non-commercial, which would likely be the reason they are left alone by big companies. They are extremely fascinating, but also sort of anxiety-provoking to me. I really like ‘I See You’ but I fear that one day a company may send a cease-and-desist and the comic will be taken off of the internet. So, I silently download all of the pages to my computer in case.

So, from a writing craft point of view, Nemesis is a high-concept pitch: ‘Batman as the Joker’. The original 4 issue miniseries fully explores this concept. Subsequent sequels and crossovers will essentially rehash this premise in some form or another. So the most efficient way to read Nemesis would be to start with the original concept in its purest form.

The very best introduction to “Nemesis” would be the first four issues of the first miniseries written by the original creators. This story has a clear beginning, a compelling middle, and a satisfying end that perfectly encapsulates the very high concept of “What if Batman was the Joker?” ‘Reloaded’ is a fun second serving of the same song and while the crossovers are all very cool and deliver their own unique twist on the ‘Nemesis’ concept – kinda like hearing a few lines from the song ‘Nemesis’ used in a different artist’s track – they don’t deliver the full concept in as pure a form as the original miniseries.

So people are still searching for this? I thought that creator had been long forsaken by all in a bygone era of discourse. Huh.

What platform did you read it on? I read the eBook version and the animated cover for the final chapter was really sweet – just a simple loop of the moth’s wing dust falling like glitter. It really made the reading experience so much more immersive for such an ending. I even heard that the special edition hardcover has a hidden illustration under the dust jacket showing the knight’s new life in the forest. The little production touches like that really make the ending of a book an event which you can then ‘discover’ in all its different forms.