[PRESS RELEASE] Marked by History? Leave a Scar: Difference Engine Launches “Tiger Girls” as Its Debut Webcomic

18 July 2024 – Difference Engine (DE) marks its first foray into the world of webcomics with Tiger Girls, a new young adult fantasy series by a Singaporean creative team comprising writer Felicia Low-Jimenez of the award-winning middle-grade Sherlock Sam series and illustrated by Claire Low. Unfolding across eight episodes in full colour, Tiger Girls debuts with a two-episode release in the first two weeks of its immediate launch on 26 July 2024 before following a monthly release until February 2025. 

Based on the Chinese superstition that girls born in the Year of the Tiger zodiac are bringers of bad luck, Tiger Girls turns that myth onto its head in a dystopian narrative that features amphibious water warriors, mysterious islands, and a diverse cast of strong female characters. Originally written as a short story by Felicia Low-Jimenez for the Singaporean speculative fiction anthology Fish Eats Lion Redux, Tiger Girls sees this myth of the Tiger zodiac taken to an extreme in a world overrun by misogyny where girls born in the “wrong” year are sentenced to an ominous fate.

Tiger Girls opens through the lens of the protagonist Suling, a teenager living amongst other Tiger women on an unnamed island hidden among the shadows. Suling begrudgingly fulfills her duties as record-keeper while yearning to be on the frontlines fighting alongside her sign sisters who are part of the formidable Water Tigers – warriors who patrol their beaches as the first line of defense against potential attacks from the mainland. As the keeper of the island’s history, Suling is painfully aware of the implications of being a Tiger Girl. Her unhappiness with her place in the world comes up against a moment of reckoning when the discovery of a mysterious visitor dredges up a threat that might upend life on the island.

On the motivation to write a story based on the Tiger zodiac myth, Felicia Low-Jimenez shares, “In recent years, I’ve encountered stories from family and friends about girls and women who face discrimination for being born in the Year of the Tiger. Even though it’s a myth rooted in Chinese culture, this superstition has had an impact across ethnic groups in Singapore’s multicultural society where ethnically Chinese female babies might be given away to Malay-Muslim families because they were thought to be bad luck.”

Set against lush tropical greenery, coastal life on kelongs or offshore wood houses, and with the heaviness of the monsoon season hanging in the air, Tiger Girls occupies a fictional world inspired by the historical landscapes of countries in Southeast Asia – places that have had to reckon with zodiac superstitions and similar cultural beliefs that continue to discriminate against women. 

Like most dystopian narratives, Tiger Girls straddles fantasy and reality with themes that hit close to home as much as they stoke readers’ imagination. Fighting to survive covertly under an oppressive eye, Tiger Girls invites questions about who gets to write history, the kinds of stories we tell ourselves and each other, and the dangers of clinging unquestioningly to our beliefs. On the relevance of the Tiger Girls story today, Low-Jimenez adds, “Women around the world are seeing how our agency can be quickly lost, how female bodies are increasingly policed, and the way power and control are easily wrested away from us. Given the real-life horrors being perpetuated on women these days, the world of Tiger Girls doesn’t really seem all that fantastical.”

Amidst the perils faced by the women on the island, Tiger Girls also sees Suling’s story unfold as she faces difficult and character-defining choices that place her at a crossroads between her ambitions, duty, and expectations. Low’s emotive manga-inspired art style captures the emotional intensity of these young adult themes but also does not miss a beat as it quickly pivots from tense moments to action and comedy scenes with characteristically manga-like pacing and flourish.

While the attitude and voice of Tiger Girls draws parallels to shows, manga, and comics such as The Legend of Korra, Bungo Stray Dogs, and Squire, the visual world of Tiger Girls stands out as distinctly Southeast Asian in a genre largely dominated by East Asian tropes and cultural references. Sharing more about how her character designs and concept art were directly inspired by iconography found across Southeast Asia, Low shares, “Even though Tiger Girls is a work of fantasy, Felicia and I set out to build a dystopia that still reflects Southeast Asia in the real world. It was important that we kept every design detail true to the culture, geography, and symbolism of the region, from the weapons that the characters carry to the armour that they choose to wear.”

With the global webcomic platform Webtoons recently launching its IPO and major traditional publishers launching imprints adapting webcomics into print, Tiger Girls comes at a time when demand for webcomics is at its peak. DE sees this as an opportunity for Southeast Asian comics as DE’s Business Development Manager Charlene Shepherdson explains, “Releasing Tiger Girls as a webcomic first is both a strategic decision and an experimental opportunity for us to explore how community engagement in the digital space might bring Southeast Asian comics to new audiences on their mobile devices. We’d love to see how the characters and story of Tiger Girls evolve and take on different lives in the future, whether it’s through adaptations or fan-made content.”

Tiger Girls launches as a webcomic on 26 July 2024 at tigergirlscomic.differenceengine.sg. A print edition that includes never-before-seen bonus content will be released in May 2025. Download the Tiger Girls press kit here.

Follow Difference Engine on:
Website: https://differenceengine.sg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/differenceenginesg
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/differenceenginesg
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@differenceenginesg

For enquiries, contact:
Olivia Djawoto
Marketing and Communications Manager
Difference Engine
olivia@differenceengine.sg

ABOUT THE CREATORS

Felicia Low-Jimenez believes that stories have the power to change the world. She’s also one half of the writing team AJ Low, authors of the best-selling middle-grade mystery series Sherlock Sam. Find her at aj-low.com.

Claire Low has a deep interest in storytelling and is always seeking to bring unique experiences to audiences across mediums. She is the illustrator of the 2024 Southeast Asian fantasy webcomic Tiger Girls, and her works range from graphic and editorial design to comic illustration and scriptwriting. In her free time, she bakes bread and posts fantasy-inspired works under the Instagram handle @comatomato.