Interested in a comic that explores corruption, justice, and superpowers? Well, look no further, my loyal readers!
I am pleased to introduce the creator, Diggymungo. Diggymungo is the author and creator of the Action WEBTOON series, Lily Crown, which follows the story of newly crowned queen Lilinae and her two knights, Vi and Carna, who have been stolen from their kingdom of Shootend and must find a way home. But secrets surround sweet little Lilinae; secrets that even her own knights are unaware of. Interested in learning more about Lilinae? Read the series and see how this little girl kicks butt in a wedding dress!
Personally, I love Lily Crown and its array of characters. As I began to read the series, I thought, “This is very anime, and I love it.” I won’t give away any major spoilers, but this is the series for YOU if you love manga or anime! It is chock-full of action, with a power system that will leave you drooling for more! Read along to see how Lilinae and her knights take on powerful enemies and entire nations!
To support Diggymungo and his partner, Mallowboo, and gain access to behind-the-scenes concept art, consider signing up for their Patreon for little as one dollar a month. The artwork is incredible and fun to look at simply!
Suppose you want to learn about Diggymungo’s comic and creative process. In that case, the following passage includes a Q&A that delves into what it takes to be a comic creator, what it took to build Lily Crown, and how Lilinae became the new Queen of Shootend.
- What led you to become a comic creator?
Growing up with Japanese parents, the bookshelves in my home always had manga! That had naturally led me to create my own characters and worlds in my head, but with the stories always playing out in a panel-to-panel, page-to-page way. I was always drawing, but I drifted away from the idea of creating comics until my junior year of art college. I took a graphic novel class, which reignited my passion for visual storytelling!
- What inevitably led you to use WEBTOON as a platform?
I graduated college in the spring of 2018 with a BFA in Illustration. During the summer of that same year, some friends told me they were humoring this idea of working on a submission for a WEBTOON contest. Mallowboo, my girlfriend (who graduated with me), and I also decided to give it a shot. By August of the same year, the two of us came up with the first draft of SKATE!!! Fire 100! We didn’t even make it into the honorable mentions, but it was enough to put us on an editor’s radar, and we eventually got picked up as Originals creators!
- What inspired Lily Crown? What drives you to tell this particular story?
Weirdly enough, COVID-19 had a pretty big impact! Mallowboo and I moved out of our parent’s places in early March 2020, and not even a week after settling in our new place, I caught COVID, and the whole world went into lockdown right after. It really was not what I was expecting my independent adult life to start like. During the lockdown, my parents also moved to a new apartment, so my old room just ceased to exist. The character of Lilinae began as just a projection of me trying to go home.
- How did the original idea for Lily Crown evolve into what it is now?
During my time in college, I had brainstormed a few story ideas. One of them was an escape story of a princess running away from a political marriage. This initial idea mixed with the new characters I had come up with: Lilinae and two parental figures (they were not Vi and Carna just yet). Adjusting them to be a diadem and knights and coming up with a power system, Lily Crown became what it is today!
- Who is your favorite Lily Crown character, and why?
My favorite would be Dahlia. Something I love in stories is when specific rules are set in place, and a character actively tries to break them/ take advantage of those rules for personal gain. Dahlia is the chaos factor of Lily Crown, the one wild card that does whatever she wants. She’s the one cog that refuses to fit in the machine. Writing her is just as fun as drawing her! Actually, never mind – I might like drawing her a teensy bit more.
- What would you suggest to any aspiring comic creators?
There are so many things that go into creating comics. Scripting, character writing, worldbuilding, storyboarding, character designs, compositions, (sometimes) coloring, etc. The best way to see what you lack is to try doing a comic. It doesn’t have to be your magnum opus story; just a short small test should suffice. Brushing up on your weakness will be a lot easier once you figure out what it is, and you will grow faster than just sitting on an idea and waiting until you think you’re ready.
Though I would argue that much of what you’re lacking will improve naturally as you do more comics anyway. So, in the end, this was just a long-winded way of saying, “Just start it!”
- If you had the Diadem’s Crown, what would your power be? Would you use it for good or evil?
I’ve always loved teleportation as an ability, so if I were to take an existing one, I would definitely take King Roaldton IV’s crown! Though if I were to come up with my own, I would have a crown that would allow me to merge objects, basically, glue things together. That power would allow me to build large structures like a LEGO set, and it would help a ton if my apartment leaks again! I don’t think I’m smart enough to use my powers for evil, so I think I’ll behave.
- How was it to collaborate with Mallowboo on Skate!!! Fire 100?
It was a great learning experience! We both took the same graphic novel class for one semester, and that was the closest thing to actually learning comics. It was also the first time either of us collaborated on a project, so we both basically jumped in blind! The scroll format was also brand new to us as well. We wrote the story together, I did the inks, and she colored. We came up with the general concept of SKATE!!! Fire 100 within a week and ran with it, so we were surprised to see an email from WEBTOON in Mallowboo’s spam folder!
Finding the balance between work and private life was a struggle at first, though. We were always spending time together, but we weren’t going on any dates, and we had to set boundaries for when and where we talked about our comic stuff.
Now we’re working on individual WEBTOON Original projects, me with Lily Crown and Mallowboo with Do You Remember! We are also currently engaged and planning to get married this fall!
New episodes of Lily Crown debut every Thursday, so check them out and follow along Lilinae’s journey back home! And wish Diggymungo and Mallowboo a happy engagement!
Until my junior year of art college, I strayed from the idea of doing comics, even though I was usually drawing. My love for visual storytelling was sparked when I attended a class on graphic novels!