Shi Kurai Comic and Art Archive

7-31-2005

First off, this comic is a touch larger than the page allows, so right click and open it in a new window/tab to see it fullsize.

Shi is such a fun character to write.  I figured she would make this comic fly by, but I underestimated the artistic mettle I had at the time.  I was a little too swamped to do it properly, so I abandoned the entire concept after 12 strips.  Still, though, I plan to bring Shi along on my latest venture, so it’s worth this look back on this for that reason (and others, as you’ll see down the road).

Unfortunately, I did not keep very good tabs on my notes from this comic, so I have no ancient reflections to share like I do with Snow Dragon.  You’ll have to deal with me in the present. :p

Tripod kicked my site off inadvertently about 5 times during that stretch of Wildcat Online.  I petitioned them to restore it, and I was told every time that it was an error due to their “Appropriate Content” web troll or whatever thinking it had found something naughty on my site and promptly shutting it down with no other contact or explanation.  Because of that, I censored the comic’s profanities to avoid giving Tripod an actual piece of evidence to point to as a legitimate reason as to why the sites were locked off.  That’s why “bitches” is missing the “i”, and any other piece of moderate to severe swearing is asterisked.

Shi is so damn giddy – I love it.  I’m sure someone else came up with a hyperactive Asian goth well before I did, but I don’t know if they have had as much personal enjoyment out of devising their character’s dialogue as I have with Shi’s.

I wish I had some insight on what I drew on her shirt, but I can’t make it out.  Who knows?

The comic’s full name was The Adventures of Shi Kurai and Friends.  Nowadays, Shi Kurai suffices.

8-26-05

A quick introduction to five of the cast – Janelle, Mike and Claire ought to be familiar, but the other two shouldn’t be (unless you actually remember this comic).  The cat-person is Bobby.  He was based on my own cat, and somehow integrated himself into a Foo Fighter-shirt wearing magic user.  He’s been retired since this.  The woman on the right is Kryst, and she’s a rogue from Black Blood.  Neither of these characters seem all that happy, do they?

Janelle and Mike look great, in my opinion.  I love Janelle’s shirt – it remains a part of her wardrobe.

Didjital was the antagonist to Bobby in his universe, but it’s another Jamiroquai reference.  Foo Fighters and Jamiroquai…quite the melting pot.  I think Didjital has been retired, too.

I missed one of Janelle’s fingernails, I see. XD

9-25-05

This comic is really light, and I apologize for that.  It almost is impossible to see.  XD

Anyway, this is Blade.  He’s an interesting character that I’ve had since 1996 or so.  He’s a “bad” guy, but doesn’t operate like a stereotypical villain.  If that makes any sense.  He’s got some hidden motives, but has a bit of compassion, too.  Shame you can’t really see him. XD

3-31-06

Six bloody months.  I don’t have any clue why I dropped the ball like that. XD  If my eyes are not deceiving me, this was drawn in 2005.  Why did it take so long?  Was it…oh, it may have been the six month period we had no internet because we moved.  That’s it.

Anyway, Shi’s back, and I love writing her lines, as I’ve written over and over again.  The monster is lame as hell, but it was on purpose.

I like Shi’s bracelet freaking out as much as the rest of her is.

4-20-06

This is a little larger than the page allows.

Drew made his stunning debut here.  This was a fun comic to draw – may be my favorite out of Shi Kurai’s bunch.  I love his face on the right.

Shos Juice…heh.  I need to put up a sketch section for these, so I can explain that better.

All Yellow or Flecked with Brown Man is from Engrish.com.

5-24-06

Kryst shows off her Shadowslip talents.  This comic did give me a chance to play around with my paint program, that it did.

Second favorite!

I can probably do this scene better now.  I hope so,  since I’m doing a comic based on Kryst’s universe… XD

7-6-06

Heh, Kryst is a bit of a doomy character.

I like the effect on Kryst.  It makes her both stand out and represents her abilities.  Win!

May have OD’ed Drew a bit here. :p

8-8-06

Lindsay makes her debut.  That shirt is clever.  Probably the most intense comic I did.  Alas, she never got a chance to further display her fury.

Miniboss was tied to Bobby’s universe, but he too is gone. :p

Lindsay’s calling out to her friends, because she’s kind of lost it.  Shi’s description of her is pretty apt.

8-9-06

Shi’s ability wouldn’t look like that today.  I think I just needed a visual representation of what she can do, and whipped this up to serve my comic’s purpose.  I do kind of like the image reentering her eye, though.

Wow, two comics in a row.  I must applaud myself for that.  It was rare. XD

8-10-06

Correction – three days!

April has since lost her Spanish, because I felt I would be butchering it.

I like the thug’s jingle.  He looks lame, but at least he’s got a catchy line. :p

8-11-06

Whoa – four days!?!?!

You can see Didjital on the right.  He could force bone spikes through his flesh.  Fun guy. XD

Bobby collected Alphabet scrolls to gain magic in his universe, so I carried that over.  He has the “I” scroll here.

10-5-06

And here’s where the comic grinds to a halt.  What a cliffhanger. XD

Claire had the power of illusions.  She’s swapped that for something better, but that’s classified. :p

I like Blade’s teleportation method.  His design has altered a lot since this comic, but then I changed it back. :p

And that’s that!  It was short, but I did enjoy the time with it, even if it did end so abruptly.

Lastly, here’s the official art for all of the cast, with some notes:

Shi – I adored this when I did it, and it’s still pretty good art of mine.  Shi’s not that busty these days, though. :p

April – April loves to fight, so I tried to give her an action pose.  It looks a little odd. :p

Kryst – Another example of her Shadowslip talent, which looks pretty neat.  Her hair is stained with her sister’s blood, FYI.

Bobby – Bobby’s colors are inspired by The Colour and the Shape. He was black, but using true black made it hard to see his face, so he’s more of a dark gray.

Blade – Another favorite of mine.  He’s so hardcore. XD

Claire – Sort of laid back compared to the majority of the cast art for this.  I guess I wasn’t sure what to do with her Illusion magic at the time. XD

Janelle – She used Shadow magic, but it worked a little different than Kryst’s.  I like this one, too.  She wouldn’t wear such tight pants these days, though. :p

Lindsay – Simple, but I like the colors I used.

Mike – Mike had an magical Orb that would shred apart the Undead, and he batted it around with that staff.

And that’s that!  Thanks for looking!