In February, artist Crimson Chains released her first published comic about a love story among the stars, Star Crossed. The tale follows Prince Polaris and Knight Yildun, as they navigate their feelings and protect the kingdom. With his celestial paint brush, Polaris paints constellations that transform into living star creatures who aid him. Asia Blooming sat down with the artist to discuss creating comics and diving into Star Crossed.
Since she was young, Crimson Chains was always interested in telling stories. Growing up on comics like Calvin and Hobbes and Garfield, she shared, “The idea of sequential arts is just so natural in my brain now. I think in panels when it comes to planning stories.” She continued, “I’ve been drawing comics since I was 10. My longest one was like 1,600 pages back in high school. Actually, I’ve never had a period in my life longer than a year that I wasn’t drawing a comic of some kind.” Throughout the years, it became common practice for the artist to post her comics online.
During the pandemic, Crimson Chains began developing Star Crossed in an organic way, with no plans to create an overarching story from the start: “I actually just wanted to draw little vignettes of the characters and their interactions.” She first developed the characters, with certain characteristics in mind. For example, when she first started drawing the prince, she was simply compelled to draw a big flowing cape. Upon looking at him, she decided he would be the prince of the stars. From there, she began following a celestial theme, naming other characters after stars. As she continued to explore her characters, she started to develop stories around them. She shared, “While I was chatting on Discord, I came up with stories based on my drawings. Like in one picture, I drew Polaris with his eyes closed. I thought, ‘Maybe it’s because he’s not allowed to look at the knight,’ and that became a part of the story.”
The heart of Star Crossed is the budding romance between Prince Polaris and Knight Yildun. Despite their mutual feelings, Yildun struggles to believe he can actually have a relationship with the prince due to their differences in status. “I definitely wanted to approach their relationship with the idea of how putting someone on a pedestal can get in the way of your relationship, even though Polaris doesn’t care about that,” she began. “The real hangup is Yildun’s idea of his own self worth and where he fits into the relationship, so that’s an issue that they have to get over.”
Also, no royal family tale is without sibling conflict, as Polaris fights his older brother, Alcor, for the throne. Crimson Chains said, “I’ve always liked the idea of a family being able to overcome the challenges of their upbringing and the things that initially split them apart initially. And then realizing that they do just really care about each other, so they can be close together again.”
One major component of the story is the royal family’s ability to bring their paintings to life using a special paint made of their own starlight blood and other unique materials. “It’s like a metaphor about how your creations are a personal part of you,” she started. “I really enjoy that what brings the constellations and their powers to life is based less on what the drawing itself is and more on how much of yourself you put into it and how much of the drawing aligns with your ideals.”
Star Crossed was one of Crimson Chains’ comics that she was self-publishing, but that was about to change in 2022 at an anime convention. While she was selling her artwork at the event, a Tokyopop editor came by and saw her comic. Not long after, Tokyopop reached out to the artist via Instagram, expressing interest in publishing Star Crossed. “At the time, I was at another convention, so when I read the message on my phone, I was so surprised. I had to make sure it was legit. I was so excited! I followed through, and I’m happy to say now we’re here.”
As for what’s next, Crimson Chains is currently working on Volume 2, which will wrap up the current arc and include Alcor’s story. Fans can expect to see the growth of Polaris and Yildun’s relationship and learn more about what Prince Arcturus is plotting with the star creatures. Star Crossed Volume 2 is planned to release in June 2025.
Asia Blooming is hosting a giveaway on Twitter and Instagram for one lucky winner to receive a Star Crossed postcard signed by Crimson Chains! Entrants can enter the giveaway on either Twitter of Instagram. Enter on both Twitter and Instagram to increase your chances of winning!
To enter the Twitter giveaway:
- Follow Asia Blooming on Twitter: @AsiaBlooming
- Retweet the pinned post
- Bonus entry: Tag a friend in a comment for additional entries. Each comment with a tagged friend is one extra entry.
To enter the Instagram giveaway:
- Follow Asia Blooming on Instagram: @AsiaBlooming
- Like the pinned post
- Bonus entry: Tag a friend in a comment for additional entries. Each comment with a tagged friend is one extra entry.
Only U.S. participants are eligible for this giveaway. Also, giveaway-only accounts are not eligible. The giveaway closes at 5:00pm PT on August 2, 2024, and the winner will be contacted shortly after. Good luck!