Shuto Yamaguchi, a graphic design major, created Shonen Soar on a whim around September 2022. Yamaguchi has always been interested in making comic books before attending FAU, and wants to share this fascination with those also interested and who have the desire to learn about comic books. He aims to appeal to those in the full spectrum of art– from writers to artists.   

“I know there are a lot of people who want to be storytellers, artists, writers, and it’s a general club for people to kind of show their skill set and learn from each other because there are a lot of very talented people, including her [Fallon Sapp] that are willing to teach people who are new at comic book making,” said Yamaguchi.

The president of Shonen Soar explained the meaning behind their club name. Shonen comes from the Japanese word ‘少年’ (shonen) which means little boy or young man and is often used to describe comics targeted towards a young male audience. The use of the word soar comes from FAU’s mascot, Owlsley the Owl which soars.

Shonen Soar has around 10 active members which comprise of two “headliner” teams and within each team, there are separate roles. 

Yamaguchi explained that each team has a main writer, a main artist, and an inker. He adds that there is a fourth role, a letterer, which he comprises in both teams.

Fallon Sapp, a studio art major, is the vice president as well as the main artist for one of the headliner teams. She says that she has always loved drawing and that she can do it all day if she wants to.

“Oh, I just have to join because I always wanted to make a comic. I never had the motivation to do it. So I thought joining the club, that’ll get me to do it and everything,” shared Sapp.

Shonen Soar does the majority of their work remotely and their main form of communication is through Discord, where they meet every two weeks through a group call.

Yamaguchi shared that club members get an assignment called a “one-pager” to showcase their talents when joining the club. Basically, the participant draws a scene based on a given prompt.

Kirlan Moreno Lopez, a graphic design major, has two roles in Shonen Soar. She is the club’s treasurer and is the main writer for one of the headliner teams. 

“I joined Shonen Soar due to my interest in visual storytelling. I’m glad to say ever since I joined the club I have made significant progress in this regard,” shared Moreno.

Yamaguchi and Moreno have some previous background knowledge of comic books. Yamaguchi has experience publishing his own work on Webtoon – a digital webcomic publishing platform that originated in South Korea. 

Moreno shared that her knowledge comes from her own personal collection which she did for fun.

“However, now that I am established in a team within the club I have and am still learning a lot in regards to working on a comic

collaborative. This is mainly thanks to the president of the club, Shuto Yamaguchi, who shares his abundant knowledge about comic books and storytelling with the members of the club,” commented Moreno.

Chloe Mathieu, a multimedia studies in film video and new media major, is a new member to Shonen Soar. Despite not having any previous knowledge, she joined the club to help her improve after being invited by one of her classmates.

“Well, I only joined a few days ago. However, I am currently working on trying out for a writer,” said Mathieu.

Yamaguchi has many future aspirations for the club. He hopes to broaden the scope of his teams. Instead of having four people on a team, he would like for two club members to create their own pages for the comics, providing that they feel confident and competent enough. 

Along with this, he hopes to create a compilation of comics, similar to the Japanese weekly manga magazine, Shōnen Jump.

Students are invited to join Shonen Soar to portray their talents and learn about comic books.

For more information about Shonen Soar, email president Shuto Yamaguchi at [email protected]. 

Isabella Mohammed is a contributing writer at the University Press. For more information on this story or others, reach out to her at [email protected].