Inside Caster Comix
Riot·9/3/2014, 9:00:13 PM·0 votes·14,233 views
The full transcript of this interview can be found here, where Skyen drew a comic to answer each question. Amazing!
Fan art has been a tradition in video gaming culture for decades. In the days of Nintendo Power and Playstation Magazine, fans would send in pictures of their favorite characters to be included in the next month’s issue for all the readers to see. Today, that art can be posted online for the entire world to share and enjoy.
League of Legends has enjoyed its share of outstanding fan art since its inception, and the best work frequently appears on Reddit, Facebook, and other social media sites. One fan, however, has chosen to not only turn his fan art into a webcomic, but has found a unique niche to fill by creating a comic entirely about the LCS.
Skyen has been drawing comics long before the dawn of Caster Comix, and said that the idea for a comic about the LCS was a very organic process. “I make comics about things that interest me,” he said. “This new LCS thing I was suddenly obsessed with watching was bound to become a subject sooner or later. So I made a silly comic about Sjokz and Deman, someone put it on Reddit, and suddenly its 100 plus strips later and Caster Comix is a thing.”
He has even branched out from the comic to give voice to a song parody written by Counter Logic Gaming coach Montecristo. Lord Loco, a parody of “Prince Ali” from the movie “Aladdin”, lauds the accomplishments of Locodoco, coach of the summer split champion Team SoloMid. While the lyrics were written by Montecristo, Skyen created the entire audio track himself. “I used a few voice filters and a lot of overdubbing to get the choral and crowd effects. My voice was entirely destroyed afterwards, though. I guess now I know how the casters feel after a long day at the desk.
You can see more of Caster Comix at www.castercomix.com. For more of Skyen himself, check out his Patreon or follow him on Twitter @tbskyen. The full transcript of this interview can be found here, where Skyen drew a comic to answer each question. Amazing!
FROM FAN TO FAN ARTIST
“Like a lot of people, I got into League because I had that one friend who wouldn’t stop sending me referral links,” says Skyen, purveyor of Caster Comix. While not an avid player of the game at first, he fell in love with League of Legends through its competitive scene. “Season 2 World Finals showed me a side of the game I didn’t know existed…and since then I’ve been irrevocably hooked.” As the LCS began, Skyen said that his interest in the sport extended to the personalities within the community. “Sites like Surrender at 20 and Reddit kept me hooked into what was going on with the game, and the interest just kept growing.” When asked to name his favorite LCS team, Skyen gave a very clear response:
Skyen has been drawing comics long before the dawn of Caster Comix, and said that the idea for a comic about the LCS was a very organic process. “I make comics about things that interest me,” he said. “This new LCS thing I was suddenly obsessed with watching was bound to become a subject sooner or later. So I made a silly comic about Sjokz and Deman, someone put it on Reddit, and suddenly its 100 plus strips later and Caster Comix is a thing.”
LOTS AND LOTS OF LEAGUE
While most of Caster Comix updates center around the LCS and its various personalities, Skyen has created a few comics about other leagues such as Korea’s OGN. “If it was up to me,” he said, “I’d be following all of the leagues all of the time, and then drawing comics about them.” While his fans would certainly enjoy that much content, Skyen said that there are issues with watching too much League of Legends. “Unfortunately, staying up for more than 36 hours at a time to catch all the matches tends to make me hallucinate that the carpet is trying to eat me, so I’ve learned to limit myself.” He added that he keeps up with OGN as well as the NA and EU Challenger Series as much as possible.
He has even branched out from the comic to give voice to a song parody written by Counter Logic Gaming coach Montecristo. Lord Loco, a parody of “Prince Ali” from the movie “Aladdin”, lauds the accomplishments of Locodoco, coach of the summer split champion Team SoloMid. While the lyrics were written by Montecristo, Skyen created the entire audio track himself. “I used a few voice filters and a lot of overdubbing to get the choral and crowd effects. My voice was entirely destroyed afterwards, though. I guess now I know how the casters feel after a long day at the desk.
ALL FOR THE FANS
Caster Comix has grown dramatically since that first image hit Reddit. New updates frequently make the front page of Reddit, with the subjects often discussing the comic on Twitter. Skyen’s work allowed him a behind the scenes tour of Wembley stadium when the EU LCS went to London, and he has recently opened the site to donors through Patreon. This service allows fans to make recurring monthly donations to content they love in exchange for various rewards from the artist. While he’s pleased with the donations, Skyen said that his experiences with his fans are what make Caster Comix such a great experience. “It’s been a dream. Every time I have any interaction with my fans, I’m blown away by how patient, kind, and generous they can be. I wish there was a non-cliché way to say it, but my fans are honestly the best and everything I do is for them.
You can see more of Caster Comix at www.castercomix.com. For more of Skyen himself, check out his Patreon or follow him on Twitter @tbskyen. The full transcript of this interview can be found here, where Skyen drew a comic to answer each question. Amazing!
