If you’ve ever scrolled through a feed and wondered why every brand is suddenly trying to become your best friend, Bad Influence might hit a little too close to home.
The project includes a partnership with Otherly Production’s debut is HiHi Studios, a manga and anime-led studio, co-founded by Range Media’s Kai Gayoso and streaming icon Valkyrae. It’s a project Valkyrae is proud of and assures folks they’ll be hooked.
The new WEBTOON comic (from writers Orson James and Roman Calais and artist Jor Ros) introduces the city of Weisshorn, a pastel-colored nightmare world where joy is manufactured, rebellion is just a branding problem, and even your favorite mascot might be spying on your neighbors. In the story, we follow Nel (alongside a group of dissidents) in trying to take down the system, only to be faced with “glitches, ghosts, and truths that no one wants uncovered.”
A blend of robust sci-fi, biting satire, and potent storytelling, Bad Influence is a deeply interesting spin on decidedly modern issues. Yet behind the surrealism and giant plush characters is a massively human story about identity, media, and acts of rebellion. Before you enter city limits, though, let’s let James and Calais clue us into the world of Bad Influence.
Courtesy of WEBTOON.
Engineering Happiness (and Dystopia)
James and Calais met working in advertising, designing experiences, selling meaning, and, in their own words, “warping their brains.” That experience became fuel for Bad Influence’s central question: What if joy itself was weaponized?
“We spent a lot of time helping brands design happiness,” James said. “So when we started building Weisshorn, it was almost like taking that logic to its extreme.”
The world they created is a “Disneyland dictatorship,” a place where nonstop parades and smiling mascots mask a deeper, more sinister form of control. But the story’s satire doesn’t drift too far from the real world.
“Everything’s been flattened into content,” Calais said. “News, politics, identity, protest, it’s all junk food now.”
That cultural commentary seeps into every corner of the comic. Weisshorn isn’t just a setting; it’s a reflection of our present-day media diet, dressed in bright colors and relentless positivity.
A Reluctant Rebel
At the center of this chaos is Nel, a young woman described by her creators as a “reluctant rebel.” Her fight isn’t just against the system; it’s also with herself.
“There are really two quests,” Calais said. “One is Nel versus the system. The other is internal, and in some ways, even harder, it’s a fight inside her own head.”
James added, “She’s messy, reactive, often wrong. But she has that voice in her head saying, ‘I’m just not buying any of this.’” That internal resistance, quiet and deeply personal, drives the emotional core of the series.
Style Meets Substance
Despite its heavy themes, Bad Influence doesn’t sacrifice momentum or visual flair. The series careens between action set-pieces and introspective moments, always grounded in character.
“The action’s relentless at times,” James said. “But we punctuate it with emotionally charged, often quiet moments. Then we flip it.”
Calais credits the long-term planning for helping balance the tonal shifts, adding, “We’ve written the story far into the future. So we can track how everything fits together: action, mystery, and emotion. We’re patient with the big reveals.”
Courtesy of WEBTOON.
Created for the Scroll
WEBTOON’s vertical format was never just an afterthought for the team; it helped shape how the story was told.
“People assume webcomics need more momentum,” James said. “But in some ways, the opposite might be true. If there isn’t something that makes the audience feel something every two or three minutes, why not?”
Rather than lamenting short attention spans, James said the team saw it as a creative challenge.
“Audiences are evolving,” James said. “So it’s our job to respect that, and use it artfully, without dumbing down.”
Plush Mascots and Psychological Horror
Visually, Bad Influence is brought to life by Ros, whose background in fine art and love for anime give Bad Influence its signature tension between cute and creepy.
“Our characters might look like plush mascots,” James said. “But with Jor’s style, you can never fully relax. There’s always something slightly off. Some kind of ugliness underneath.”
Added Calais, “He treats every panel like a gallery piece. But he also brings this calm, analytical energy. He deconstructs problems and returns with something you never saw coming.”
Building Beyond the Page
Though Bad Influence is firmly rooted in the webcomic format for now, James and Calais have big ambitions. The world of Weisshorn, with its fake brands and surreal mascots, is ripe for long-term expansion.
“Every format has something to teach every other one,” James said, citing video games as a major influence on how they think about structure and escalation.
But first and foremost, their focus is on telling a story that resonates, one frame, one scroll, and one emotional gut-punch at a time.
Life in Weisshorn?
Asked (as a gag, of course) what roles they’d play if they lived in Weisshorn, both creators had fun with the question.
“I’d be working long shifts at Good Ol’ Mystery Meats,” James said, referencing a location from the comic. “Smiling, playing along, quietly hatching a plan no one takes seriously.”
Calais, meanwhile, has other plans entirely.
“I’d be in a beat-up Benji suit, entertaining tourists for tips,” Calais said. “Still dreaming of being a mascot star.”
In other words: just two nobodies with a dream. But in Bad Influence, that’s exactly where revolutions begin.
Read Bad Influence now on WEBTOON. Just remember: don’t trust the mascots.
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