In October, I attended the highly anticipated LightBox Expo in Pasadena, CA, where the leading webcomic platform, WEBTOON, made its LBX debut and brought in four individual Original creators as panelists. Click here to read more about my first LBX experience and see if attending LightBox in 2026 could be for you!
At LightBox, I interviewed Ucheomaaa, a multidisciplinary artist, animator, and comic creator behind the wildly hilarious WEBTOON Original comedy series, Vibe Check!, which launched in January 2022. After the latest rejection of one of his comic pitches, struggling webcomic artist Uche’s confidence is dealt a harsh blow, throwing his vibes out of whack on a cosmic level and drawing the attention of the Vibe Fairy. Yes, you read that right. At his lowest, Uche is approached by the oddly buff Vibe Fairy, who has made it his mission to restore his mojo and build back his confidence. With comedic elements and interdimensional antics courtesy of a cosmic muscleman, Vibe Check! explores the importance of self-love, self-worth, and self-awareness, and acknowledges the epic struggles of everyday insecurities, fear of failure, and an overall lack of purpose.
In this LBX exclusive interview, Vibe Check! creator Ucheomaaa discusses how he was first introduced to the WEBTOON platform and inquired to become an Original creator. Ucheomaaa also offers advice for aspiring comic creators and delves into how psychology played a valuable role in his comic and the misadventures of his main, self-insert character, Uche. Keep reading if YOU want to learn more about Ucheomaaa, his comic, and how he balanced comedic elements with more serious themes like low self-esteem, purposelessness, and self-realization.
For readers who are unfamiliar with your work, can you tell us about yourself, your original webcomic on WEBTOON, and what drew you to comics as a medium?
My name is Uche, and I’ve been drawing my whole life, basically. My love for comics is basically an offshoot of my love for cartoons, which was my earliest introduction to sequential art as a medium. And for me, comics were the closest way that I, as a kid, could replicate the concept of storytelling through just drawings. As a kid, I always loved drawing things in notebooks between classes. Comics became an outlet for me to express my ideas, tell jokes, or share characters that I came up with. And it’s just always been that comfortable place for me.
With WEBTOON, I was kind of coaxed into it. Once I started digital art, I would post comics on Instagram and Facebook, mostly for my friends. And then, I had friends of mine, who were fans of WEBTOON, would say, ‘Hey, WEBTOON is a great platform for sharing digital comics and you should upload your stuff there because it’s free to upload and people love it.’ And it took, like, a couple of years of convincing, but then in 2020, I finally started uploading my Vibe Check! panels that I was doing just for Instagram.
Then, an editor from WEBTOON reached out ot me, and was like, ‘Hey, I’ve been following your comic, and I think it’s great. Would you be down to have it become an Original series?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, that would be awesome!’ So WEBTOON just became a natural progression of my pursuit of doing comics in any form.
How do you pitch Vibe Check! to brand-new readers?
Vibe Check! is basically a story about friendship, with light self-help comedy. It has elements of action, fantasy, and sci-fi, but ultimately, it’s a very grounded slice of life story with wacky gags and silly over-the-top humor. Overall, it’s a light and fun read with a little bit of heart sprinkled in there.
What are some common tropes that readers can expect in Vibe Check!?
The power of friendship is a big one, but I would also say to expect elements of self-discovery and self-understanding. A lot of what I put into Vibe Check! is inspired by my background in Psychology. I wanted to write stuff that felt meaningful and honest, and when you know a bit about Psychology, what is honest tends to relate to ‘Take care of yourself,’ ‘Understand yourself,’ ‘Be patient with yourself,’ and ‘Give yourself a break and time to figure things out.’ Being good to yourself can help you be good to the people around you, and friendship as a means of growing and understanding yourself is a big theme in Vibe Check!
As a creator, how have you incorporated and balanced more serious themes like self-discovery and identity with comedy?
Through primarily writing comedy, I have learned that comedy works best when there’s contrast. In real life, comedy exists alongside parts of life that aren’t super funny. Life is not one genre. Instead, it’s a combination of things. There are things that are funny, and there are things that are depressing, so I’ve taken inspiration from real life, where it can go from super funny and lighthearted to super serious. In a matter of seconds, you could be talking to a close friend about something really funny, and then when it brings up something that impacts you deeply, it becomes a serious conversation. And when I write, I try to keep that in mind and root into the character’s actual emotions in an honest way. It’s just a matter of understanding that genre isn’t rigid. It is a moment-to-moment thing in real life and storytelling.
How would you describe the dynamic between your characters in Vibe Check!?
By the time I had gotten picked up by WEBTOON, the characters in Vibe Check! were in a very different place. In the story, the dynamic changes. Uche, an unwitting hero, has all these crazy things happen to him courtesy of a Fairy Godmother who says, ‘Come on this adventure of self-discovery.’
As things get crazier and crazier, Uche realizes that this Vibe Fairy knows what he’s talking about and is really looking out for him. It then becomes more of a trust dynamic between them, more mentor-mentee, and then friends and even equals. Going into the series, the characters tackle, ‘Do we feel like equals? If I still look at you as a mentor, can I still be on your level? Do you feel like you have to help me all the time?’
Their dynamic is rooted in a lot of real friendships that I’ve had, when I’ve had a friend give lots of advice and look out for me, and I want to be there for them in the same way, but I don’t know how. My characters’ friendship is pretty complex. They’re very, very wildly different people from different worlds, and I thought that was a very interesting angle to pursue.
How would you describe your creative process? Got any go-to snacks for when you’re creating your comic?
It’s admittedly haphazard at times. I’m working on getting better at having stricter guidelines when it comes to workflow. But typically, I just listen to my inspiration and lean into it. If I have really strong ideas for visuals, I will spend hours just hammering them out. And if I have really strong story elements in mind, I’ll spend a lot of time working on those.
In terms of snacks, I should probably invest in more brain food, but I’m, like, obsessed with Oreos. Double Stuf. But since that’s not sustainable, I’m trying to slowly wean myself off those. I also used to have coffee all the time, then pivoted to Celsius.
How did working directly with a platform like WEBTOON affect your creative process?
It changed elements of my process, but ultimately, WEBTOON has been good about letting [creators] work within our existing processes. During onboarding, they’ll ask, ‘What is your process?’ Everybody has their own way of doing things. Everybody has their weird quirks in their process. When it comes to my individual process, I work to meet deadlines, but in a way that I don’t burn myself out.
Since you started working directly with WEBTOON and launched Vibe Check! as an Original, what would you say has been your biggest creative challenge?
Deadlines. Inspiration and motivation come and go, and you want to strike while the iron’s hot. But with deadlines, whether or not you feel like it’s your best work, it needs to be done. It’s the best and biggest challenge to yield the best growth.
Deadlines have inspired me to figure out ways to streamline my process, but it’s tough when you’re a bit of a perfectionist. You have to speed things up, and that can be challenging, even paralyzing. But getting better has been worth the struggle, especially as an animator. My animation process has been greatly helped by having deadlines courtesy of WEBTOON because you have to do [X] amount of panels, or [X] amount of chapters, in [X] amount of weeks, and that’s [X] amount of drawings. The challenge was tough at first, sure, but it’s yielded a lot of really positive results, so I’m grateful for that.
How did it feel to be among the panelists for WEBTOON’s first appearance at LightBox?
Honestly, it was daunting at first. I was up there with some incredibly talented individuals, so it was easy to doubt my qualifications, but it was such a lovely time and ultimately an honor to be up there along with some of WEBTOON’s best. Also, who WOULDN’T want a chance to force a crowd to listen to them talk into a mic about their OC’s for an hour?
While attending LBX as panelists, did you get the chance to explore the expo? What did you do and like best about LightBox and what it had to offer attendees this year?
Absolutely, it was sick. I went to a few panels and gawked with my mouth open at people’s work in the artist’s alley, and also spent like 6 quintillion dollars on prints, artbooks, etc. I also got a chance to attend the concept art awards, which was one of the coolest and most inspiring award shows I’ve seen in a long time. It was genuinely so great to see so many people from across industries, age groups, styles, and cultural backgrounds come together and celebrate the love of their respective crafts. Super cool.
With many current and aspiring comic creators attending LBX, what advice would you give them on comic creation, building their brands, and engaging with their readers?
Learn to love the process. Creation in general is a practice that takes discipline, and that can be scary, but discipline can be fun if you love what you’re making. Engaging with readers can be fun if you love people and love to bond over shared interests and passions. Every part of the process has a piece that can bring you joy if you’re patient enough with yourself to find it.
What would you say to creators struggling to start or return after a long hiatus?
Sometimes you need to just start, throw things at the wall, and see what sticks. Then, see what needs work and see what you could be a little bit more organized with. But, yeah, just starting is the best thing. Just trust yourself, sit yourself in front of your tablet, sketchbook, typewriter, or whatever you use, and just start.
Motivation is also not always going to be there. You’re not going to suddenly have an idea come to you. You have to start with a blank canvas, and you’re going to get frustrated sometimes. You can’t edit something that doesn’t exist, so you have to start making things exist before you can hone in on your voice.
Tell yourself, ‘I’m going to square off some time to draw and write. I’m going to treat it like it’s important.’ That’s a big deal because drawing and writing are often treated as just hobbies. But you need to treat this time with the importance that it deserves. If you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I wish I could draw. I wish I could write,’ then it’s important to make some time in your schedule for it. There’s no shame in saying, ‘I’m going to take thirty minutes every day, or every other day, to draw and write.’
And don’t be scared of long breaks if you need them. You’ll be surprised who’s been waiting for you when you’re back. Come back when you’re ready, and don’t feel like you need to be absolutely perfect. Give yourself some time and grace.
With up to 172 episodes to read for FREE on WEBTOON, Vibe Check! has been on hiatus since early August, but you can follow Ucheomaaa for updates on Instagram and support his creative journey via Patreon!
