First, thanks for the feedback. I actually haven’t thought about the negative message it could have until now. The original idea was that the old guy could be suspected of being a dirty old man with the girl as the prey. But in the end it turns out that it is the other way around. Sort of like a twist.

To be honest though, now that I’ve finished it, I felt like the pacing could have been done better with the “reveal” only lasting a couple of pages in the end instead of half the whole comic.

Whatever the case though, it is too late. I have already submitted the comics and it’s now up to the publishers whether to accept it or not.

Ah well. We’ll see.

another observation. i hope you don’t take this the wrong way and take it constructively instead. it’s to do with putting your real name on the first page, especially your surname. it’s because your surname sounds very asian, more like chinese. the reason i’m pointing it out is because readers might associate your being asian with the message you’re trying to convey in your story. it becomes touchy because readers might think of some characters in your drawings to be have a particular nationality. whether intentionally or subliminally. e.g. in your story, i unintentionally thought of the old man as a regular aussie, and the girl probably asian. don’t know why. maybe it’s just me.

so just a thought, maybe you can use an aussie sounding pen-name instead of your surname. sometimes a name can make or break you.

reminded me of a java programmer from beijing who came here in auckland. after 6 months of trying to get a job wih no success, finally one agency suggested that he use a christian name instead of his chinese name Zou Jang (or something similar) that kiwis can’t pronounce. he did. start putting his first name as Joe and within a week he got a job.