Thai Illustrator Makes Colorful Comics That Take Unexpected Turns And Here Are 18 Of The Best Ones
The holidays are coming to a close, and some believe that there‘s no time more bluesy than the one after the festive season. Hence it’s the perfect time to take a look at these heart-wrenching comics from 27-year-old Tum Natakorn Ulit, an artist from Bangkok, Thailand, whose unique style and sad stories are almost guaranteed to squeeze a tear out of you. Though they‘re thematically different, these so often relatable comics always convey a bittersweet sense of tragedy.
Ulit told Bored Panda that he gets inspiration for his cartoon drawings and stories “Mostly from pain and my own experience that I interpreted into comics so that I can express those feelings.”
A sense of tragedy is ambiguous. In some sense, it‘s heart-wrenching, even painful, to see someone in a tragic circumstance. On the other hand, seeing a tragedy is sort of mesmerizing, it catches you in a mysterious way, it connects to you. Catharsis is a feeling of elation and exaltation that comes at the culmination of observing a tragic experience from afar. A great greek philosopher Aristotle has said that catharsis has the power to cleanse a person‘s soul and to reinvigorate one‘s life, making one appreciate it even more. These comics are, in some sense, a highly concentrated form of tragedy. It breaks one‘s heart to seem them unravel the way they do, but even after the most unexpected plot twist, you can see a small ray of hope peering through.
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Soldier boy
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Insert coin here
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Hello again
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Hi and goodbye
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
My precious…
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Ulit says that he realized the good he could do for others when a friend called him after seeing one comic, tearfully telling the artist that he had thought he was the only one. His words pulled Ulit out of a dark time in his life. “I want to turn my situation into something else, something that people can appreciate or might even help them in any way,” he says. “Helping others might just be my own excuse, these colorful drawings might just be my own therapy…”
Cat’s vision
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Almost a miracle until…
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Hug Hug
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
His bio on Facebook reads “Only tears can clear your eyes,” and his creative ideas, all rendered in cartoonish colors and charmingly soft textures, usually have bittersweet endings that show that forgiveness and hope are possible.
In his comics, people who realize their errors can reconcile with their loved ones, and lost love means that if one person turned out not to be the one, better opportunities are yet to come. He sometimes ventures into social commentaries that have no silver lining by nature, such as noting the senselessness of war or the destruction of our natural resources for the benefit of the upper 1%. But in general, the prevailing theme of his work is valuing what we have in front of us, rather than working for unattainable wealth or dwelling on missed opportunities.
Mr. Santa, do you see me?
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Pick colors for your nature
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Only God(zilla) knows
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
I choose you, you eat me
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
“I’m an observant [type] who focuses on the actual world and things happening around them. I enjoy seeing, touching, feeling, and experiencing. I want to keep my feet on the ground and focus on the present, instead of wondering why or when something might happen,” Ulit says. Scroll down for some of his best comics, and have tissues ready.
No matter how high it is
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
And they all lived happily ever after?
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Happiness Begins
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
Same hand that hold you
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
A flower that fits the soul
Image credits: Tum Natakorn Ulit
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Share on Facebookor that love one... Unfortunately for me, I always been stabbed
Load More Replies...yeah some were too long and I feel like captions or dialogue would help to convey the story.
Load More Replies...Morally ambiguous and emotionally charged... I think the artist is looking to be controversial.
The dog and the little girl destroyed me also the criminal whose mother inspired him to become a doctor.
So, I'll try my best to explain most, if not all, of these images for those who didn't understand; i. DOG & SOLDIER: We can see that the first soldier left his dog during the war the first time, and had it killed the second time while trying to battle his enemies. A cruelly tough choice. I feel that in the last panel, it's actually a flashback to when he was a little boy and was friends with the young pup; simple, yet happy times.happy ii. VENDING MACHINE: I don't get this one, although I think it's trying to say that he should stop and appreciate what he has? iii. GIRL & PUPPY: Girl finds puppy, takes care of it, but while playing, she faints. I think she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and thus, she dies. Years later, the dog dies as well, along with the toy the girl had given it, and hopefully, they have reunited in the afterlife. iv. SUNFLOWER & MATCH STICK: sunflowers always look at the sun, so the match stick burns itself to get its attention. (1/?)
xii. GODZILLA FAM: Monsters no longer have to ruin our world, because we humans are doing it already! :) xiii. JUNK FOOD: Corrupted politics hamper our common people, planet Earth, animals, and economy. xiv. COLOURS: The damages we do to our planet leaves a generation - long affect. xv. SANTA: While a couple argues in a poor household, a child looks out the window, hoping that Santa Claus would help them. xvi. FLOWERS: Guy tries to give roses — the ones he had grown — to a girl he likes, gets disappointed when another guy shows up with sunflowers. Then he realises, while scrolling through the girl's social media, that the flowers were meant for her younger sister who was terminally ill and had a fondness for flowers. (4/5)
Load More Replies...ohhh yeah XD the dog is running away with old him. you are so right. i thought it was weird that they had a rando kid on the battle field. kudus!
Load More Replies...These were beautiful. I almost cried with some of them! They’re amazing! I wish I could make comics like these! I love them 😍
The art is not bad. The stories are somewhat predictable, but I see these comics as a cure if you're feeling happy or optimistic.
dont mind me crying over here... not all of them were 10/10 awesome though :/
This is pure cringe... cheap attack on emotions and I dont like it.
In asian culture, they often draw sleeping people with an inflating/deflating snot bubble. It's our equivalent of "ZZZZZ".
Load More Replies...These 4 stories made me contemplate. Dog & soldier tell sometimes give up all we got for the most top priority one. But the vending machine tell we use our time to got the priority but when we achive that we forgot to apreciate that. My precious remind us, family is the most precious one as we got older. Mr santa, well .... Sometimes the poor doesnt know santa
These are depressing 😩😭😭 but some of them didn’t make a lot of sense
or that love one... Unfortunately for me, I always been stabbed
Load More Replies...yeah some were too long and I feel like captions or dialogue would help to convey the story.
Load More Replies...Morally ambiguous and emotionally charged... I think the artist is looking to be controversial.
The dog and the little girl destroyed me also the criminal whose mother inspired him to become a doctor.
So, I'll try my best to explain most, if not all, of these images for those who didn't understand; i. DOG & SOLDIER: We can see that the first soldier left his dog during the war the first time, and had it killed the second time while trying to battle his enemies. A cruelly tough choice. I feel that in the last panel, it's actually a flashback to when he was a little boy and was friends with the young pup; simple, yet happy times.happy ii. VENDING MACHINE: I don't get this one, although I think it's trying to say that he should stop and appreciate what he has? iii. GIRL & PUPPY: Girl finds puppy, takes care of it, but while playing, she faints. I think she has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, and thus, she dies. Years later, the dog dies as well, along with the toy the girl had given it, and hopefully, they have reunited in the afterlife. iv. SUNFLOWER & MATCH STICK: sunflowers always look at the sun, so the match stick burns itself to get its attention. (1/?)
xii. GODZILLA FAM: Monsters no longer have to ruin our world, because we humans are doing it already! :) xiii. JUNK FOOD: Corrupted politics hamper our common people, planet Earth, animals, and economy. xiv. COLOURS: The damages we do to our planet leaves a generation - long affect. xv. SANTA: While a couple argues in a poor household, a child looks out the window, hoping that Santa Claus would help them. xvi. FLOWERS: Guy tries to give roses — the ones he had grown — to a girl he likes, gets disappointed when another guy shows up with sunflowers. Then he realises, while scrolling through the girl's social media, that the flowers were meant for her younger sister who was terminally ill and had a fondness for flowers. (4/5)
Load More Replies...ohhh yeah XD the dog is running away with old him. you are so right. i thought it was weird that they had a rando kid on the battle field. kudus!
Load More Replies...These were beautiful. I almost cried with some of them! They’re amazing! I wish I could make comics like these! I love them 😍
The art is not bad. The stories are somewhat predictable, but I see these comics as a cure if you're feeling happy or optimistic.
dont mind me crying over here... not all of them were 10/10 awesome though :/
This is pure cringe... cheap attack on emotions and I dont like it.
In asian culture, they often draw sleeping people with an inflating/deflating snot bubble. It's our equivalent of "ZZZZZ".
Load More Replies...These 4 stories made me contemplate. Dog & soldier tell sometimes give up all we got for the most top priority one. But the vending machine tell we use our time to got the priority but when we achive that we forgot to apreciate that. My precious remind us, family is the most precious one as we got older. Mr santa, well .... Sometimes the poor doesnt know santa
These are depressing 😩😭😭 but some of them didn’t make a lot of sense
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