In the summer

"Summer is the season of encounters."

The debut work of the most anticipated new generation Korean cartoonist, Starley, in recent years.

Two chance encounters in summer unexpectedly become turning points—

In "In Summer," Juchan is an introverted boy who is bullied by his peers at school. His only friend is his cat, Kiki. However, Kiki disappears, and the neighbors tell Juchan to find Kiki's soul before the rainbow appears, or he will lose Kiki forever. As Juchan searches for Kiki, he meets a mysterious girl, Jisu, who seems to understand every move a cat makes...

In "Panorama," Haeri travels alone to Okinawa to fulfill the wish of her bullied friend, Sumi. On an Okinawan beach surrounded by the sea, a student named Chie, who looks strikingly similar to Sumi and is wearing a sailor uniform, inexplicably steals Haeri's camera. As Haeri tries to get her camera back, she accidentally discovers that Chie is being threatened by delinquents. The images of Sumi and Chie gradually merge into one person in Haeri's mind. This time, can Haeri help Chie?

"What I am doing now is capturing the scenery of everyday life that might one day disappear, or has already disappeared, and trying to record them accurately on paper." —Starley

In her first commercial work, "In Summer," Starley uses delicate yet luminous colors, rendering through watercolor the seemingly unchanging streets, vegetation, and beaches under the dazzling sun. Children use these as stages where they lose their precious things and run with all their might to fill the emotional voids within them. Amidst the rising heat and buzzing cicadas, Starley observes the cruelty of youth. What is lost will eventually be lost, but new relationships forged through chance encounters can bring transformation and the possibility of healing.