I’ve known for some time, but the news is finally percolating to the surface publicly: ShiftyLook will no longer be producing new webcomic content by the end of this month.
I wrote a plethora of strips for the site at different points in its development: Wonder Momo, Klonoa, Sky Kid, and Dragon Spirit. Getting the chance to create new stories and characters for so many game properties was a blast. The gang at ShiftyLook were incredibly supportive and hard working, and gave the creative teams brought on board lots of latitude to create the stories we wanted to tell. We were well paid and well treated through and through.
The original purpose of ShiftyLook, a streamlined way to reintroduce older Bandai-Namco IPs and put them in front of as big an audience as possible for a fraction of the cost of developing a new video game or anime, was forward thinking and had a lot of potential. I wish it had lived up to that more fully and hope the work created for it stays around in one form or another.
Klonoa: Dream Traveler of Noctis Sol doesn’t wrap up with a definitive ending, so I hope Hitoshi Ariga and I are able to revisit it at some point down the road. Even still, it was great adding to such a beloved cast of characters.
Wonder Momo: Battle Idol will be wrapping up with strip #200 and it has a solid ending that’s been planned for some time. I’m really proud that Erik, Omar, and I were able to bring Momo back to the masses and build it up into ShiftyLook’s most popular strip, which was then spun off into an anime mini-series and upcoming video game. I hope Wonder Momo carries on with the momentum we generated.
In any case, these kinds of things are out of our control. Like any work for hire project you can only do what you’re assigned to the best of your ability, and that’s what all of us on the team did. Thank you for your support!
If you enjoyed the Wonder Momo story online, please consider pre-ordering the upcoming print collection coming from UDON:
 | Momoko was a typical Japanese teenager with dreams of becoming a famous pop idol, until an alien powersuit transformed her into the spectacular Wonder Momo! This cosmic hero punches, kicks, and hula hoops her way through monsters, henchmen, robots, and her most dangerous foe… the dreaded paparazzi! |
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Makeshift Miracle
I just hope Namco Bandai (soon Bandai Namco) will revive the Klonoa series, maybe using the awesome story you started. I expected some fanboy like story when I saw that a big Klonoa fan would do the story, but instead it had a lot of quality. I don’t know about Wonder Momo as I never really followed the serie, but thank you to you and all the Shiftylook team for the well done job.