Mike Birchall Discusses Top Horror Webtoons: Nothing to Worry

Just in time for Halloween, Mike Birchall sits down with CBR for an exclusive interview in which he discusses his popular horror webcomic, Everything is Fine.

Mike Birchall Discusses Top Horror Webtoon Nothing to Worry About at All

Webtoon: Nothing to Worry About!

Everything is Fine is an excellent choice for a Halloween read this year due to its status as the best ongoing horror serial on WEBTOON and a nominee for the 2022 Harvey Award. Sam and Maggie are the protagonists of this psychological and dystopian horror thriller. They appear to be a typical couple who live in a quiet neighbourhood. However, things are not as they seem in this webcomic. The characters are coerced into ignoring the pain and tragedy that surrounds them by an authoritarian governing body and intense surveillance.

The creator of Everything is Fine, Mike Birchall, sat down with CBR for an exclusive interview to discuss the creation of the comic, as well as his intentions for the future of the series and other works. He discussed the significant works that had an influence on his writing and emphasised the significance of the enormous success of the series to him. In addition, Webtoon was responsible for the creation of the cover art for the forthcoming graphic novel titled Everything is Fine Volume 1, which will be released in May of 2023.

Cover of the Everything is Fine Graphic Novel.

Mike Birchall: Writing was always something I saw myself doing. When I was around eighteen years old, I start getting interest in comic books again, despite the fact that I hadn’t really read any comics seriously since I was a youngster. Prior to that, I had actually entertained the notion of working as a writer for a video game company for quite some time. After only a few years, I found that the world had become entirely foreign to me. Instagram or webcomics created by individuals were quickly becoming more popular than printed comics.

After discovering WEBTOON, I was immediately captivating by it and became aware of the enormous possibilities that the scrolling format had. In the beginning, I was looking for an artist but I was unable to pay anyone for their services. I was neither charming nor talented enough to persuade someone to work for free, so I began drawing my own. When I first began publishing them, the commenters were so kind that I immediately realise I’d found a place for them!

What was the impetus behind the conception and development of Everything is Fine?

One day while I was trying to think of something spooky to draw, I was doodling around, and I created a man in a suit and a woman in a dress, both wearing these smiling cat heads. The fact that they were smiling despite the fact that something was plainly terribly wrong for them to be in that scenario was what struck me as particularly powerful about that image. As a result, the phrase “Everything is Fine” immediately sprang to mind when I saw it. I kept asking myself why the characters were in this circumstance and jotting down the reasons as I went along. To this day, I continue to write in the same manner.

Everything is Fine, which features Maggie wearing a cat mask, has been comparing to well-known dystopian and horror novels such as 1984 and The Purge. Have other works, in addition to those, been as a source of creativity for you?

Certainly the year 1984.Mike Birchall further says,  I have to admit that I haven’t heard anyone compare it to The Purge. But it makes perfect sense. The fact that I am a fan of those films makes it even more surprising that I did not notice that! There’s also a lot of inspiration from anime like “Attack on Titan” and “The Promised Neverland.”This is in which the characters get themselves into seemingly hopeless situations and have to figure out a method to get out of them. Ito’s work in general, but particularly Uzumaki, is a significant source of motivation for me, and I make it a point to write or draw anything at least a little bit horrific.

Cat heads design:

Your one-of-a-kind character designs that make use of cat heads are often the subject of discussion. Could you take me through your creative process and explain how you came up with your distinctive artistic style?

During the early days of flash animation, when I was learning how to draw digitally, I used Adobe Flash. Not only was the broad cartoony style really formative for me, but as a direct result of it, I continue to use Adobe Illustrator. Which is a similar vector-base product, even now. It’s good since I don’t know of any other WEBTOON artist who employs it. Which is responsible for a lot of the one-of-a-kind qualities, in my opinion. People who aren’t familiar with the sector may find it hard to believe. But software has a significant impact on style, particularly with regard to the constraints that each programme imposes. I also reference, or more accurately, shamelessly replicate. There are a number of techniques from animation shows like Bob’s Burgers and Adventure Time. Which I believe merge with horror in a really interesting way.

(1) From the Everything is Fine Webtoon

You have been considering for the Harvey Award for Digital Book of the Year for 2022 for your work titled “Everything is Fine.” What did that nomination mean to you. Also what does it tell you about the popularity of your series?

It’s an absolutely fantastic sensation. One thing is for me to be nominating alongside some personal heroes. But the reaction from fans as a whole is just beyond everything I could have ever asked for. I am so grateful. My hope was to one day make a living doing this, but I never imagined that so many people would read my work, comment on it. This create fan art and costumes, and theorise about it. It’s simply insane, and I can’t believe how blessing and thankful I am.

In what ways do you hope the series will develop in the years to come? Do you currently have any other projects or series in development?

It is my goal to complete all five parts of Everything is Fine before dozing off for the next few hundred years. After that, I want to make a variety of webcomics, novels, and other things; but, I’d like to move away from illustrating. So that I can pass off some of my words to some of the wonderful artists who are out there. Since I’ve only lately become a fan of D&D and other role-playing games (RPGs), and since I enjoy coming up with my own homebrew rulesets and worlds, it would be awesome if I could one day work on a project that involved those genres.

What do you think viewers will take away from the second season of Everything is Fine? I was wondering if there was something you’d like to say to all of your admirers.

Season 2

I have high hopes that Season 2 will have a more expansive atmosphere. Also a more “morally grey” tone than Season 1. Now that we understand the rules and the stakes, we truly get the chance to see how various people react to this terrible scenario. Also I think fans will be surprising by who they end up pulling for or loathing by the end of the show. One of my favourite things is to see people in the comments debating the actions and motivations of the characters. So I know I’m doing okay when there’s a nice discussion there. This is with legitimate points on both sides of the argument.

Thank you for being so passionate, amazing, and kind to both me and each other, my fans, especially those of you who want to argue and theorise about my work. I intend to satisfy your obsession with the macabre by terrifying you for an extended period of time.

On Webtoon, readers may access both seasons 1 and 2 of the Everything is Fine web comic.

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