🎃Happy Month of Spooks. I say this every year🎃
You're on the kohiu.com mailing list, welcome. You get announcement of upcoming events, launched projects, etc. By the time my first Original Comic "Insect Course" debuted, there were a lot of ground works to be done in terms of being a self-publishing comic artist in HCMC, and as a (trick or) treat you get to read my reports about these activities.

A magical encounter between an archaeologist and a Fae.

Right now you can read this (free!) 10 page comic on KOHIU.COM, Fanbox, Download from Ko-fi.

"Heterophyllus" or Heterophyllous was a term I accidentally ran into when I was looking up some of the native South Asia plants studies. For example, this Hibiscus Heterophyllus article from Australian National Botanic Gardens and Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research:

Therefore, I just yanked the term from my random research and used it as a title for this short (not-so-hetero) GL comic. I'm also planning to have a Japanese version on my website with the title Ikeiyousei 異形葉性(いけいようせい)

I'm hoping to share a bit more of my work process toward this comic in later time!

I will be selling comics, artprints and leftover postcards as per usual. A physical edition of Heterophyllus will be included in Cofi17's catalog!

• Table G23
• October 3 - 4
• Color Fiesta season 17: Wonderland
• Sky Expo, HCMC, Vietnam

'From the Land of Beginnings'
​a Bravely Default unofficial sketch compilation
presented by garmmy and KOHIU

Happy anniversary BDFF! It took a full year to finish this scribble zine despite our existing busy schedules, but it is here alas. The cover art was lovingly drawn by my dear friend garmmy. Can you guess which town this is from (✧ω✧)?

This digital zine features old artworks dating back to around 2014, with a few new illustrations, and a surprise collaboration piece! This project was a great opportunity for the two of us nerds to reminisce about REVO’s music, the characters of BDFF, and of course we’ve shared these sentiments behind the creation process within these pages as well. Whether you’re a fan of Bravely Default or not, we would be delighted if you picked up this labor of love created by garmmy and me!

'From the land of beginnings' on ITCHIO (working link is live on October 11).

2026 is the year where I have to force myself to leave the house and touch grass, basically. I ended up participating in numerous local events for artists and promoting my comic in venues beyond just social media.

Most of these events are in Vietnam, I think if you’re an artist living in HCMC (and also aren’t familiar with your local scene like I was…) I hope these reports can be useful to you!

APRIL
Color Fiesta Season #16: Bản Sắc

Impression about Cofi16

Before this year, the only times I participated as a vendor in Cofi was their first season in 2018 and 2024. The vibe has changed a lot in those gap years… I didn’t know there’s an artist catalog for sale(?) which got me questioning why attendees would have to pay an extra fee to be able to get very public information about the artist alley’s activity and its vendor. Yes, the vibe has gotten slimy-er… The concerns from both attendees and artists is that Cofi has gotten far from its original “Artist Alley” formula but more of generic pop culture convention.

I think I got treated well as an exhibitor, the event also invited several guest artists that are (extremely unfamiliar to my older millennial social bubble), they got Akiakane! Here’s an article about it. And I forgot to ask for her signature. I’ve embarrassed myself despite being the first generation of Vocaloids fans.

I went there as attendee or artist’s staff sometimes, although I usually focused on spending time with my artist and weeb friends.

Insect Course’s debut at Cofi16

After repeated postponements, this year's Cofi became the event where I debuted my comic, "Insect Course".

I also made some mistakes at the printers before the event, in which I ended up having 60 copies of my Insect Course comic with moiré pattern in the comic page’s screentone. It is very noticeable considering the third of my comic featured characters with dark skin tone. I was devastated… I sent a message to the printshop’s owner and then cried myself to sleep (I was so pathetic!!) The printshop owner was kind enough to let me reprint the comics at a discount, in a very short amount of time. Basically they had to print and bound the edited copies within a day, I’m grateful at how fast they had to work so I could bring a better version of my comics to Cofi16.

I got my reprinted comics on Friday, at the same time I had to visit the venue to set up my booth. Although I had a vision in mind - to make my booth look like a botany garden similar to the settings in my comic Insect Course, it didn’t look as good as I intended (actually, I’m a bit embarrassed to take a photo and show it to you. The table looks so bare...)

Everything was ready, and we were set to begin sales on Saturday.

Saturday when it was the most crowded in terms of buying customers.

I also brought along Insect Course’s Eng-Viet translator Thinh Lu (aka Yon), he really helped me a lot at the table considering I never noticed how bad my hearing has become… I’m sorry for all the customers that had to repeat themselves several times.

Frankly, Saturday felt like a blur to me. I don’t know if all my emotional exhaustion from preparing the stocks, table setup, and other unfortunate mishaps happened before Insect Course’s debut that the entire day I felt… really numb. I was on total autopilot through the entire Saturday.
After all, I tried to make the most of my Saturday debut. I went with my friends to celebrate over a sushi dinner. It ended up the most fun I had for a long while.

Sunday was the most crowded in terms of attendees, but much slower in terms of sales.

My translator, who’s also my table's helper, had called in sick (!!) in which I ended up tabling on my own. All of the comics (Insect Course, and EVA fanbook) were sold out by noon, since my prints and postcards are still in stock, so I stayed for a while before I was closed for the day. I did get to befriend my booth neighbor, SliceofSugoi, we were bonding over the process of making comics - in which I am always happy to yap about.

Overall, my comic sold out in the two-days event, mostly due to these factors:

• Cofi has a lot of foot traffic
• I had a big display (nearly 4 meters width)
• The organizer and my friends on Facebook had done some promotion for me
• Low priced goods*

*Pricing comics has been a hot debate globally, in which I had picked a side where I’m more comfortable to price my comics to be more affordable to customers. This also doesn’t mean that I underpriced my art(!) as it is easily proven from my commission page. I want to be clear about my intention when it comes to my comic works: accessible, get more people to read it, etc. I’d love to write a long opinion piece about this topic in later newsletters.

JULY
PICOF 2026 (presented by Du But) Report:

I didn’t go to Manila, but my friends kept asking me if I also went there in person (the answer is no..) Du But had their Road to PICOF program where they had picked six artists in Vietnam for them to debut as zines in the Philippines International Comic Festival. Du But also personally wrote and translated our bio and comics (if the original language was written in Vietnamese), Insect Course happened to be the one where I had the comic in English and Vietnamese - I was fortunate enough to be picked in their collection this year.

Original image in courtesy of PICOF2026's wrap up reel.

According to Quynh from Du But, ‘Insect Course’ is among their best selling at PICOF, that’s great news! The earnings I got from Road to PICOF was… a little more than I expected. I think it was a combination of better printing quality, and the comic was priced a little higher than the version of Insect Course I’m selling in Vietnam. The google analytics I’ve gotten from new visitors to my comic website also reached 30+ hits during the event. At the very least, I can say I achieved the goal of getting more people to read my comic!

Hobby Horizon 2026, Report:

This was my first time participating in Hobby Horizon, and this would also be my last.

Generally, I think it’s the case with disorganized communication between organizers and staff. I was rushed to submit my stock sample, even though they didn’t do anything with it in the end.

I was stopped at the gate despite wearing my artist lanyard. I had checked the exhibitor guidelines for Hobby Horizon’s Artist Alley beforehand, and I am certain there was no rule stating that wearing an "Artist/Staff Wristband" was mandatory for the entire duration of the event.

Then what’s the point of having a lanyard anyway…

The section of artist alley where I was stationed had missed a few chairs as well. I and my booth neighbor had to take turns sharing our chair until it was properly provided near the end of the day.

Before this, I didn’t know the ticket price was nearly 20$ per head (???) which is on the higher-end side of convention that takes place in HCMC. As a result, the attendees don’t have that much to spend on artists’ goods after their ticket.

This has counted towards one of my worse experiences yet in terms of being a vendor - however it was turned out to be the best experience in terms of networking and generally good vibes with other Viet artists in which we (trauma bonded) over the horrible experience at a poorly organized event that has “Artist alley” as an afterthought.

I got to meet Callus Ran, Li Di Bo, Happy Bat, and Lenlen from Hobby Horizon! Actually, some of them had known me since April’s Insect Course debut. What a small world!

August
Harumi Artlab, Report:

I was first introduced to this event by a new friend over Hobby Horizon’s trauma bonding, when I had asked other local publishing editors about this “Artlab”, they also hadn’t heard of it.

To my knowledge, Harumi Artlab's format is similar to other writing retreats that are on demand in the US, UK, Canada etc… Usually these retreats would cost a bunch, this comic artist retreat promised you… free of charge? You’d only have to cover your travel fees (around $23 for round trip), other than that, lodging, food, and mentoring fees are covered by the organizers.

Despite my prior skepticism, I put all my current projects on hiatus and packed my outerwear. I was ready for my destination to Da Lat, to Harumi’s Artlab.

Dawn came, the other participants arrived, and the moment I’d been looking forward to most at the comic retreat finally arrived: meeting fellow comic artists!

We hit it off immediately over lunch. People had gathered from all over the country with varying levels of comics experience, and we all got to talk about Vietnamese comics! Well, there were only nine of us, after all. Before I went full gremlin mode with my fellow cartoonists, we were called inside to start our first class.

The subject of this Artlab / Comic Retreat is about the basic of ‘name’ ネーム (or storyboard, comic drafts).

Although I already had some prior knowledge, the instructor, Ms. Ren Suri, carefully explained the basics of structuring a ‘name’ ネーム section by section.

We were also assigned a task to complete a storyboard using this structuring method, but there were a few issues with the assignment... I had received misprints of the assignments, and I hadn't been informed of the actual submission deadline. Because of that, I failed to get valuable feedback on the work we had completed during the training camp.

However, prior to attending this workshop, I was required to submit a completed ‘name’ ネーム. I submitted a draft for “Liar Service” (a GL title I’m working on) and a draft for another secret project. I ended up receiving excellent feedback on “Liar Service” from Ms Ren Suri, which gave me the confidence to revise that old draft. That said, I’m certain she was being generous with her feedback on my work, and everyone else’s. Nonetheless, I must comic harder from now on...

In the launch of Harumi Artlab, I and other participants were kind of Patient Zero for their comic retreat format. I really enjoyed my time with other participants as well as exchanging views on comic publishing. With that being said, my skepticism still remained after the event was over.

Ultimately, I feel that the organizer, drawing on their industry experience, was driven by bold ambition and genuine good intentions in their attempt to bring Vietnam's comic artists together. I’m hopeful that "Harumi Artlab" will remain flexible and open to making further improvements for future events.

Other art & crafts events in HCMC

Although I didn't have the chance to vendor at these events, I got to attend as a participant. I was also able to drag along my queer, introvert, and artist friends to these events as well.

Saigon Artist Fair, HCMC. Instagram / Facebook.​
Hosted around 3 - 4 events annually, they have a smaller sample size of artisan (~30 vendors or so). I got to buy some nice ceramics from SAF in their April event!

LôCô Art Market, HCMC. Instagram​
I already ran out of money by July... so I wasn't allowed to splurge this time. LoCo has a very underground (and misdemeanor) artist vibe from their recent event.
​
​Hội chợ Mầm Non, hosted by Em Yêu Hòa Bình group, HCMC. Instagram​
This art market was organized as a fundraising event to aid Palestinian families in Gaza. My new friend Callus Ran was at this event! Surprisingly, an artist I had met via Harumi Artlab - Gia Hy - was also at this event and she's running a workshop there! Unfortunately I wasn't able to hang out longer and catch up more with other artists, so maybe next time!

I will keep this list updated for anyone interested in local art scene in Ho Chi Minh City! It's been busy busy for this entire summer, I tell you.

Art Highlights

Hatsune Miku Birthday, Published date: 31 August.

Happy 19th Birthday Miku! I actually got her age wrong for the entire two years and only got corrected last year. Her birthday is also around Vocaloid Collection's Summer Contest (20-24 August), I think it's a perfect excuse for me to log in Niconico Douga once in a blue moon and check out new producers in the Rookie Ranking.
This is an impromptu fan art, inspired from the song『恋』by SOHBANA (English: Cherish), it is ranked 2nd place in Top100, congratulations!
I've also uploaded some miscellaneous Vocaloid fan arts into Fanbox (for free!).

​Drakengard's 23rd anniversary, Published date: 11 September.

With last year anniversary piece I was drawing Furiae (multiple) in her final form, this year, I also had to face with time constraint this year that I had decided to draw Seere and Golem instead. I hope you also got to play Seere's Prayer from the original soundtrack on repeat during this time of the year.

That's all for now!
You can support my works via Fanbox, or Ko-fi. or order a ​Commission from me.
If you'd have any further discussion related to the newsletter, you can reply directly to this newsletter email.​
Thank you for being a part of KOHIU.COM newsletters. See you in the next one!

ー Kan Pham (KOHIU)

​KOHIU.COM | Art, Illustrations and Designs 2026 KOHIU Illustrations All Rights Reserved

​​​​​

​Unsubscribe · Preferences​