Look Into My Eyes Vol. 1 - by Rubine (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

RJ, a conspiracy-obsessed teen, investigates her classmate Suzy's disappearance in Cravenwood, aka the "Quiet Island." As a new social app called KNOCK KNOCK emerges on the island, horrifying monsters evolve, unleashing chaos and revealing the dark secrets hidden on the island. With QR codes expanding the lore, this comic blends horror, social critique, and interactive storytelling.

Look Into My Eyes is an innovative horror comic series combining a gripping narrative with interactive storytelling. Set in Cravenwood, a small town on Fortune Island nicknamed "The Quiet Island," where cell phones don't work due to a vast radio telescope.

The story begins with the mysterious disappearance of Suzy, a high school student. Cravenwood, seemingly peaceful, hides a dark history of Indigenous curses, witch hunts, and serial killers. The arrival of CannonCorp's 1CC network introduces the social platform Knock Knock, reshaping the lives of its residents and creating toxic social hierarchies while masking a sinister corporate agenda. At the center is RJ Nguyen, a conspiracy-obsessed teenager and editor of the zine The Twisted Eye.
Skeptical of Knock Knock's influence, RJ investigates Suzy's disappearance and uncovers disturbing truths about CannonCorp's experiments. QR codes embedded in the comic allow readers to access multimedia content like social media profiles and podcasts, immersing them in Cravenwood's world. As horrifying, full-of-eyes monsters emerge--symbolizing the insecurities of Cravenwood's teens--RJ discovers CannonCorp's decades-long manipulation using pseudoscience and technology to test their theories for a New World Order.

The series explores themes like social media's impact on mental health, generational disconnects, and societal control. Influenced by Junji Ito's body horror, Serial Experiments Lain, Black Mirror, and Twin Peaks, Look Into My Eyes blends visceral horror with sharp social commentary. Its interactive format elevates it beyond traditional comics, offering readers a unique bridge between print and digital storytelling.

About the Author

I'm Rubine, a comic book artist and writer passionate about graphic novels and manga. My story begins with a rare illness I suffered during childhood, which kept me bedridden for many years. During that time, comics became my refuge and salvation: through their pages, I traveled to other worlds and lived countless lives, even from the cold confines of a hospital room. These stories helped me endure and fueled my dream of one day creating my own adventures. Thanks to this, the love of my family, and a complex surgery followed by a lengthy rehabilitation, I overcame that challenging chapter of my life. Since then, I've pursued a clear goal: to inspire others and make them dream, just as my favorite creators did for me. Throughout my career as an artist, I have been defined by my versatility and a constant creative curiosity that has led me to explore a variety of styles. Now, I'm embarking on a new chapter as a writer, fulfilling the promise I made to my younger self: to craft stories that pay tribute to the classic films, video games, and comics that shaped my childhood while blending them with my current passions to deliver a contemporary, innovative, and experimental vision. As a millennial who grew up during the transition from analog to digital, my work reflects this duality--combining the nostalgia of the classics with a disruptive approach designed to surprise and inspire my readers. My work Look Into My Eyes is the first result of this creative phase, where I believe I've best captured this mix of tradition and innovation. And this is just the beginning--I hope you'll join me on this journey! (The Expanse-Boom! Studios, Voltron-Lion Forge, Search for Hu or Astronaut Down-both for AfterShock).