Daryl Toh (born April 15, 1986) is a Malaysian

comic book artist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...

and writer. Toh first gained attention through his

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

webcomic ''Tobias and Guy'', published on his

Tumblr Tumblr (stylized as tumblr; pronounced "tumbler") is an American microblogging and social networking website founded by David Karp in 2007 and currently owned by Automattic. The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a sho ...

account, and focusing on the relationship between the human Guy and demon Tobias. Toh would go on to work on various

independent comics Alternative comics cover a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to mainstream superhero comics which i ...

or self-published projects. In 2018, Toh worked on the second volume of Greg Anderson-Elysée's ''Is'nana the Were-Spider'', focusing on the son of mythological figure Anansi; the comic would win a

Glyph Comics Award The Glyph Comics Awards is for the best comics made by people of color from the last calendar year. The goal is to award the People of Color for their awesome work in the comics industry and also to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds t ...

the following year. In 2020, Toh worked alongside Steve Foxe on the graphic novel ''Cheater Code'', which was published by Oni Press. Citing H. P. Lovecraft and Junji Ito as some of his inspirations, many of Toh's works connect to the

horror genre Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to frighten, scare, or disgust. Horror is often divided into the sub-genres of psychological horror and supernatural horror, which is in the realm of speculative fiction. Literary historian ...

and often include

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

characters and themes in them.

Early life

According to Toh, ever since he read the science fiction-horror novella '' At the Mountains of Madness'', he became interested in H. P. Lovecraft's other works. Some of his inspirations as an artist include Mike Mignola, especially concerning horror, as well as Richard Corben,

Tyler Crook Tyler Crook is an American comics artist. He broke into comics in 2011 with ''Petrograd'', written by Philip Gelatt and published by Oni Press, and in 2012 he won the Russ Manning Most Promising Newcomer Award. He is best known for his work on M ...

, Guy Davis, Junji Ito, and Masahiro Ito.

Career

Toh first gained notoriety through his

-based webcomic ''Tobias and Guy'', which started in 2015, and focused on the human Guy and his demon boyfriend Tobias. '' ComicsVerse'' described the series as one of the best magical-themed LGBT webcomics, praising its ability to humorous and heartwarming, but also dealing with topics such as

coming out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

, depression, and mourning. In the same year, Toh also worked as an artist on Luc Labelle's psychological horro

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

''Outer God'', based on the

Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...

by H. P. Lovecraft. During the same year, Toh would work on another Cthulhu-inspired project, as an illustrator for Imp House Game Company' dice game ''Chaos of Cthulhu''. In designing the Elder Gods, Toh attempted to ensure they resembled

frescos Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

. Toh worked with comic writer Ryan King in 2016, on the horror comic ''The Games We Played''. They would work again a second time in 2017, publishing the comic series ''Nico's Fortune'', which was funded through

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

. The comic was described as an

-friendly horror story that took inspiration from films such as '' Rear Window'' and ''

Fright Night ''Fright Night'' is a 1985 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Tom Holland (in his directorial debut) and produced by Herb Jaffe. It stars Chris Sarandon, William Ragsdale, Roddy McDowall, Amanda Bearse, Jonathan Stark, D ...

''. Another Kickstarter-funded project Toh worked on was the second volume of Greg Anderson-Elysée's ''Is'nana the Were-Spider''. Anderson-Elysée had been a fan of Toh's ''Tobias and Guy'' and was amazed at a pin-up he had drawn, which started their friendship and resulted in Toh working on the comic. In 2019, during the 14th

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is for the best comics made by people of color from the last calendar year. The goal is to award the People of Color for their awesome work in the comics industry and also to inspire young writers from diverse backgrounds t ...

, an award ceremony recognizing the best comics created by and for people of colour, the comic won Story of the Year. In 2018, Toh would again work with Imp House Game Company on the game ''Mad Love''. Since 2019, Toh has been illustrating the

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on a website or mobile app. While many are published exclusively on the web, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or comic books. Webcomics can be co ...

''Black Key Incubus'', written by James Schleisman. The comic focuses on witch Norman Castor who in an attempt to prove his abilities summons forth a Caliban, a demonic prince participating in a battle royal. The two men quickly realize they are soulmates and begin a relationship, while attempting to navigate both of their supernatural-based issues. As part of its Limerence Press imprint, which focuses on erotic and sex-education comics, Oni Press released ''Cheater Code'' in 2020, with Toh working alongside writer Steve Foxe. The graphic novel focuses on Kennedy who is a gamer and, after having a fight with his boyfriend, is sucked into his video game library. Foxe described the story as taking inspiration from '' Shortbus'', wanting it to contain sex but also "real emotional undercurrent and worthwhile story". In 2021, Toh worked alongside Caleb Palquist on another Kickstarter-funded comic titled ''Unicorn: Vampire Hunter''. In 2022 it was announced that Toh was working on the

anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

title ''Young Men in Love'', published by A Wave Blue World and featuring 20 different stories focuses on gay romances. All of the stories are written and illustrated by

queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

men and

assigned male at birth Sex assignment (sometimes known as gender assignment) is the discernment of an infant's sex at or before birth. A relative, midwife, nurse or physician inspects the external genitalia when the baby is delivered and, in more than 99.95% of birt ...

non-binary individuals that are attracted to men. Toh worked on two stories; the pirate-themed "The Treasure Map to My Heart" written by Oliver Gerlach, and "Bright Idea" written by Charles Pulliam-Moore.

Bibliography

* ''Tobias and Guy'' (also writer; 2015–2016) * ''Outer God'' (with Luc Labelle; 2015) * ''The Games We Played'' (with Ryan King; 2016) * ''Nico's Fortune'' (with Ryan King; 2017) * ''Is'nana the Were-Spider'' (with Greg Anderson-Elysée's; 2018) * ''Black Key Incubus'' (with James Schleisman; 2019—present) * ''Cheater Code'' (with Steve Foxe; 2020) * ''Unicorn: Vampire Hunter'' (with Caleb Palmquist; 2021) * ''Young Men in Love'' (2022)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Toh, Daryl 1986 births LGBT comics creators Living people Malaysian comics artists