Do you love webcomics? Of course, you do. Why else would you be reading this? Do you love paranormal romance? Then, I have the series for you! 

For nearly the past decade, original creator Snailords has been working officially with the sensational storytelling platform WEBTOON and bringing his many fans new content, and earlier this year, in April, it was announced that Snailords’ hit romance series Freaking Romance would be adapted into a live-action film by Skybound Entertainment, the studio responsible for the well-renowned The Walking Dead series! Freaking Romance is a supernatural love story starring Zylith and Zelan, two young people who were born in separate dimensions and somehow destined to be together. Currently, Freaking Romance is an ongoing graphic novel series, with two volumes published by WEBTOON Unscrolled available to the public and sold at mainstream bookstores. Fans can expect a third volume of Freaking Romance in March 2025! In the meantime, grab the first two volumes at your local Barnes & Noble and get ready to be hooked!

With nearly 500 million global views, it is no surprise Freaking Romance has become a fan favorite amongst comic enthusiasts worldwide and has been announced for a film adaptation. In ten years, Snailords has established a strong, loyal fanbase that loves his work. As a webcomic enthusiast and aspiring comic creator, I have been following his creative career for several years now and adore his work as well. If you want to support Snailords, consider signing up for his Patreon for as little as two dollars a month and be a direct part of his creative journey!

For the first time in my news writing career, I sat down with WEBTOON creator Snailords in person, as a representative of The Game of Nerds at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC), for an exclusive interview to discuss his hit webcomic series, its upcoming film adaptation, and his creative journey as a comic creator over a near ten-year-span! If you are interested in learning more about Snailords, read the following passage, reflecting on my in-depth Q&A with the renowned comic creator, who happily goes into detail about what it takes to be an original creator, what brought his hit webcomics to life and what keeps them going!

For starters, can you tell us about yourself?

My name is Aidyn Arroyal. I am a father of two dogs. I’m a Boba addict, and I write stories to traumatize other people instead of going to therapy. [Therapy is expensive. My content is free.]

What would you argue was the main inspiration behind Freaking Romance? What drove you to tell this particular story?

I am single a lot. I have been single for eight years, and the chances of me walking outside and finding an alligator inside my pool are way higher than me walking outside and finding love. I don’t even have a pool. That’s how bad it is. I kept joking with my friends and family that my soulmate must have been hit by a bus or got born into the wrong universe, and that blossomed into Freaking Romance.

What would you argue is the central theme behind Freaking Romance?

If you live long enough, someone somewhere has taken your heart, ripped it out of your chest, and stomped all over it. Be it a friend, a parent, or a lover. You’ve got your heart broken at one point. I wanted Freaking Romance to be a story about healing from toxic love.

How do you anticipate the story of Freaking Romance being translated to the big screen?  Do you foresee the theme evolving with the movie adaptation?

I have no idea what to expect, but I am excited because I trust the studio, Skybound Entertainment, that is adapting Freaking Romance. They’re normally known for horror and thrillers, and I love horror and thrillers, but Freaking Romance is a romance so I am excited to see what they come up with. I especially hope the monsters make it through.

As a comic creator, how would you describe your creative process? What went into creating Freaking Romance? 

I pitched a story to my editor, back when I didn’t know anything about story writing, so he started recommending a lot of writing tips and books that I could check and read as references. I gave him seven different drafts for the beginning of Freaking Romance because he wanted me to keep trying to see if I could come up with something better. After the seventh draft was shot down, we finally finalized and landed on the first episode of Freaking Romance you see today. I nearly gave up after the sixth draft was shot down. 

I read through a lot of popular stories because it’s a lot about research beforehand. With Freaking Romance, it was a story that was updated weekly on Friday nights, so on Saturday and Sunday, I was sketching and storyboarding the next episode and then finalizing them within the seven days of that week. At first, I was working by myself and then I started adding more people to the team – colorists, inkers – to help me out. We started expanding into a small team to help me finish the weekly episodes. As for the story writing, I read the comment section to see what my audience was interested in, what part of the story was not clear, and what I should clarify. 

With Freaking Romance being adapted into a full-length movie, do you have any other projects in the works? 

I have three. Currently, I am working on Death: Rescheduled, which resumes August 23 and is a story where you can be born into a world where you can kill one person a year and the main characters are trying to end that practice. After Death: Rescheduled is UnAlived on First Date, which is a story about a very normal twenty-one-year-old who has resurrection powers he will use to resurrect a serial killer to ask the whereabouts of his dead soulmate, and it is going to be a thriller romance comedy.

What would you say to aspiring comic creators?

When I was doing my research for my stories, there was a quote I came upon. I don’t know who said it, but they said: There are only rules to writing a successful story, and unfortunately, no one knows what they are. For me, story writing is about trial and error. For someone just starting, they should not put too much pressure on themselves to write the “perfect” story. Just start writing. Learn what works and learn what doesn’t work by doing the fieldwork. You can read all the books you want. I did. I read them and applied them to my story. A lot of it worked on my audience, but a lot of it also didn’t work, so it is about customizing your storytelling style. Ask yourself, what kind of audience are you trying to target? What kind of story do you wanna tell? 

What initially led you to use WEBTOON as a platform to showcase your comics? 

I have always wanted to draw comics and I was considering moving to Japan to become a manga artist. Then, WEBTOON started popping up with the new age generation of comics being posted online and serving directly to an audience, and I was like, “Wow! I don’t have to move to Japan and learn Japanese to become an artist!” I first started posting on DeviantArt, and then WEBTOON hosted a contest about comic-making, and I was like, “Woah! That’s something I wanna do!” I entered the contest, I didn’t win, but WEBTOON offered me to become a full-time creator, which was my dream. I said YES and I have been with WEBTOON since 2015. 

How has collaborating with WEBTOON and Skybound Entertainment benefited you as an original creator?

It’s such a flex! Imagine being like, “I’m an artist,” and people are like, “Whatever. You probably eat ramen and live on the streets, begging for money!” But when there’s an adaptation, especially when it’s by a very well-known studio, and people start to take you more seriously, it’s nice. I am hoping this will bring a bigger audience to my story.

Lastly, is there anything else you would like to tell your fans about the future of Freaking Romance and other projects? 

If they are someone who has been following my journey for a while now, then I appreciate that they’re not bored of me yet and that they’re still sticking around. It’s because of fans like them that inspire me to write even when I don’t feel like it because I know they’re behind their phones, still reading. As for fans that don’t know me yet, I hope that they will give my stories a shot and if they don’t like it, I didn’t write it. Someone else did.

Photo Source: WEBTOON PR

Death: Rescheduled will resume on August 23, updating every Friday night, and Freaking Romance will debut with its third printed volume on March 4, 2025! Stay tuned to The Game of Nerds and Snailords’ social media channels to stay up-to-date with news about the live-action adaptation of Freaking Romance and the future of his additional projects!