Grindrail Tagwriter (title pending) is a Y2K futurism cyberpunk graphic novel about tagging walls and punching fascists. If this premise sounds at all familiar, you'd be correct. Basically, it's my take on a Jet Set Radio-style story, with a more grounded realistic edge. A wider range of Y2K aesthetics are represented, the personal stakes are upped, and the focus is heightened on the interpersonal relationships of the characters and gangs. The evil corporation in this plot is kept more mysterious, as internal secrets are kept more under wraps to the characters and the reader than in JSR or BRC. If there's one thing I've noticed about JSR writing, it's that most of it is just 'DJ K tells you to go here, you do the thing and the corporation is gone.', which is cool, but I've always wanted something more from a plot like this.
I've been working on this on and off since Late 2024, and I'm making some decent progress on writing the plot. My goal is to have the first few issues up on Webtoon within the next year or so. Excited to finally have a page for it on here after so long!
In the far future, the island of Neo-Orlando is bought out and taken over by an all-seeing tech conglomerate called the Paracelsus Corporation. The corporate regime stifles all free speech and creativity, but despite that the back alleys are filled with diverse graffiti gangs. A rogue experiment created to serve Paracelsus' oppressive company agenda escapes and falls in with a misfit crowd of graffiti writers. The experiment, Azoth, must save the vibrant street culture of the island from this corporate regime before they are all systematically wiped out. Along the way he will have to battle with robot clones, rival graffiti crews, and the pressures of the system they've all been subjected to.
Set in the far future of the 22nd century, our story takes place on a huge metropolitan concrete block island in the middle of the ocean. The island is called Neo-Orlando, as it was built over where Florida used to be before the sea levels rose. Paracelsus Corporation owns the island and runs it like a hyper-sanitized utopia devoid of creativity or anything “unorderly”. Propaganda, both obvious and subtle, is all over the island. Even the graffiti crews themselves aren't immune to the propaganda, as they make assumptions on other crews based on what Paracelsus wants them to think.
Azoth
Azoth is an artificial lifeform created by the Paracelsus Corporation to enact an unknown agenda. Azoth escapes from the laboratory immediately upon learning the nature of his existence. He ends up starting a graffiti crew called The Concept of Rebellion with the goal of uniting all the crews on the island to start a revolution against the company that oppresses them. Azoth is a free spirit, and a strong optimist. He’s an adrenaline junkie, always seeking new thrills and adventures. He can be snarky and airheaded, but he's very kind to those in need.
Karak
Karak is a Tagling, a kind of 2 dimensional humanoid made of aerosol paint. He’s the first person Azoth meets out on the streets, and they develop a close friendship. He’s a no-nonsense kind of guy, but he keeps a cool head about him. But when push comes to shove, he's a very capable brawler. He teaches Azoth everything there is to know about the street scene.
Alk4h3st??/?
Alkahest (AZ-02)███████ Paracelsus Corporation █████████████████████ robotic ██████████████████ clone army ██████████████████ visually resembling ███████████████ replace ██████████ Azoth ███████████ company agenda ████████████████████████████████████████ failed experiment requiring euthanasia. ███████████████████████████████████████ envy █████████████ betray his purpose ███████████████████████ Burning Hatred ████████████████████████ IMMEDIATE ██████████████████ TERMINATION. ███████████████████████████████
- FURTHER PORTIONS OF BIO EXPUNGED BY THE PARACELSUS CORPORATION.
Toonforce
Toonforce is a gang made out of Taglings, sentient 2D people made of aerosol paint. For the physics of it, think Parappa the Rapper characters if they were in real life. Taglings usually look like shorter humanoids (~4'11"-5'9") with shape heads and bright, colorful skin. Their aesthetic motif is 90's hiphop, and they mostly listen to genres like Boombap and G-Funk. Toonforce hangs around the slums of Grissom City, and is the first crew Azoth encounters out of the lab.
The Rudeboys
The Rudeboys are the first rival gang Azoth and Co. encounter. The Rudeboys are Ska-Punk skinhead types. Fedoras, checkered shorts, hawaiian shirts, mutton chops, ties and all. They're tricksters who play mean-spirited pranks on the inhabitants of Suntown, the shopping district. Oftentimes, they'll play their trumpet-filled pop-punk anthems in the street, daring the police to come after them for their inflammatory lyrics.
Magik Kingdom
Magik Kingdom are tech wizards. They dress in fancy suits and robes and wear wizard hats, but also have techy bracelets that let them "cast minor illusions" like smokescreens. Because they're good with technology, other crews come to them with favors and commissions often. A majority of Magik Kingdom members are oldheads to the scene, so they remember what life was like before Paracelsus moved in. Magik Kingdom hangs around the tourist hotspot casino district of Atlanteopolis. When they're not tinkering around with devices or reminiscing about the good old days, they're jamming out to acid techno and big beat.
SkeuoAero
SkeuoAero is the most reclusive crew, making their home in the heart of the capital of Neo-Orlando. They're rarely ever seen, preferring to stay in their secluded solarpunk hideout, which contains the only greenery on the island. Not much is known about them, but they take the street code very seriously, and hold the most respect out of any crew out of principle. Their style looks straight out of a Frutiger Aero wallpaper, with flowing water and greenery motifs to symbolize the unpredictable nature Paracelsus tries to suppress.
As of Spring 2025, the rough outline of act 1 is complete, and act 2 is about 50% done. My lore bible has about 4000 words and 8 pages thus far, and I've barely scraped the surface in terms of lore stuff listed here. I made a Toyhouse for it, if you want to learn more about the setting! If you have any questions or ideas about the story, feel free to reach out on discord or twitter!! Socials can be found on the main page, as always.