{"id":295532,"date":"2026-02-13T06:10:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:10:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295532\/"},"modified":"2026-02-13T06:10:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-13T06:10:12","slug":"from-moana-2-to-a-dark-indie-web-comic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/295532\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u2018Moana 2\u2019 To A Dark Indie Web Comic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For much of the past decade, David Derrick Jr. has worked at the biggest studios in the world of animation, including DreamWorks, Disney, and now Warner Bros., helping shepherd massive four-quadrant projects across the finish line, most recently the billion-dollar blockbuster Moana 2. Ghost of the Gulag<\/a>, his stark, hand-drawn webcomic set in the Russian Far East, was born from a desire to step away from that system entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to create things,\u201d Derrick tells Cartoon Brew. \u201cI want to be very selfish. I don\u2019t want to make something that the studio is going to want to buy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"DavidDavid Derick<\/p>\n

That impulse, selfish in the purest and most honest sense, led Derrick to a story few major studios would ever greenlight: a brutal, mythic fable about a tortured, blind Amur tiger moving through a landscape shaped by violence, tribal conflict, and the long shadow of Russian history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to tell a gritty, dark story,\u201d he explains, citing formative influences like Watership Down and Princess Mononoke. \u201cSomething that combines dark, messed-up Russian history with these animal clans, the wolves, the boar, and all these allegories that come with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ghost
\nStepping Outside the Studio System <\/p>\n

Derrick\u2019s departure from Disney came shortly after the release of Moana 2, a film whose scale and success only clarified his need for a change.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltimately, I feel like there\u2019s times for every artist when you need to just move on, when you need to find a new mountain to climb,\u201d he says. \u201cDisney was a good experience, but I was more than ready to move on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working inside massive media conglomerates, Derrick notes, requires constant negotiation. \u201cYou\u2019re making a lot of concessions creatively to get something that everyone can agree on,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd sometimes you need a place where there are no negotiations at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ghost of the Gulag became that place, a creative refuge during crunch periods on studio films. \u201cSometimes it became so very stressful,\u201d he admits. \u201cI found working on my comic was like this refuge. There were no concessions. It was literally just me creating in a raw, visceral way.\u201d<\/p>\n

A Living Comic<\/p>\n

Unlike a locked feature film or more commercial comic book or graphic novel, Ghost of the Gulag evolves in the public sphere with input from its readers. Derrick posts chapters online for free and reads every comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the idea that I can put something out and immediately get feedback, what\u2019s working, what\u2019s not,\u201d he says. \u201cI have definitely changed things to make sure the story point I want is landing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ghost \"Ghost<\/p>\n

That feedback loop mirrors animation\u2019s screening process, but without executive filters. The result is a living project, one that grows organically rather than racing toward a fixed delivery date.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found a pace,\u201d Derrick explains. \u201cTypically, I publish on Mondays and Thursdays. There are times I can\u2019t meet that, especially when studio work gets crunchy, but I try to keep an honest contract with the readers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Drawing as a Native Language<\/p>\n

Though known globally for CG features, Derrick insists drawing has always been his primary mode of expression.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrawing is the way I communicate,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s the way I express myself ever since I was little.\u201d<\/p>\n

Transitioning from disposable story sketches to polished, print-ready panels required developing new muscles. \u201c[Animation] Story artists can crank out hundreds of panels fast,\u201d he notes. \u201cBut everything is meant to be thrown away. This was about taking something to final.\u201d<\/p>\n

Animals, in particular, have long been Derrick\u2019s obsession. \u201cWhen I grew up, you\u2019d always hear, \u2018Don\u2019t anthropomorphize animals,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cBut anyone who\u2019s lived with a dog or a cat knows they have emotions. It\u2019s about finding what\u2019s already there and pushing it, while staying true to anatomy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ghost
\nWhy Side Projects Matter<\/p>\n

Now at Warner Bros., developing original projects, Derrick still treats Ghost of the Gulag as essential, not optional.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re not careful, the voice that made you hireable gets swallowed by the giant amoeba of a corporation,\u201d he says. \u201cTo make yourself more valuable, you have to define yourself outside that system.\u201d<\/p>\n

He encourages younger artists to cultivate their own creative outlets, even when exhausted by production schedules. \u201cMake art for art\u2019s sake,\u201d Derrick says. \u201cYou can\u2019t control success, but you can control what you make. Put all your pride into that, and good things will follow.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ghost
\nThe Long View<\/p>\n

Derrick is careful not to frame Ghost of the Gulag as a pitch or a product. It may never be adapted, sold, or monetized, and that is precisely the point.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think you always have to think, \u2018I need to sell this,\u2019\u201d he says. \u201cSometimes it\u2019s just something you can finish, something you can put a little bit of your soul into. That replenishes you.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an era of AI-generated images and risk-averse franchises, Ghost of the Gulag stands as something worth recognition, a handmade work shaped by one artist\u2019s instincts, contradictions, and patience.<\/p>\n

Or, as Derrick puts it more simply, \u201cFor people who feel like they have to create, creating is like breathing.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For much of the past decade, David Derrick Jr. has worked at the biggest studios in the world…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":295533,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[93,61,60,270],"class_list":{"0":"post-295532","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-movies","8":"tag-entertainment","9":"tag-ie","10":"tag-ireland","11":"tag-movies"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295532"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295532\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/295533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}