At Fan Expo Boston 2025, webcomic creator Brion Foulke didn’t just meet fans, he put on a show. Sitting at his table, he wordlessly held up a card reading “hello,” before flipping to reveal more about his long-running manga-inspired fantasy series Flipside. The simple trick wasn’t just a playful icebreaker; it was a strategy born of necessity.
“I actually came up with it when I lost my voice,” Foulke explained. “It worked so well I just kept doing it. It gets people’s attention without yelling, saves my voice, and it’s fun. You have to do whatever you can to stand out—especially now, when webcomics aren’t as common at conventions as they were in the 2000s.”
First published online in the early 2000s, Flipside follows Maytag, a split-personality jester, and her knightly protector Bernadette. Foulke deliberately contrasts their personalities, Maytag as the talker, Bernadette as the fighter, while ensuring both have meaningful roles in the story.
“The most important thing,” he said, “is to not be boring. Whatever everyone else is doing, do something different.”
That philosophy drives his avoidance of traditional good-vs-evil narratives. Instead, Flipside thrives in moral gray zones, with even so-called villains given layered, believable motivations.
“Good and evil are subjective,” Foulke said. “I try to make characters’ actions make sense from their own point of view. For a long-running story, depth and realism keep things interesting.”
Over 12 volumes, Foulke’s art has grown more confident, though his core storytelling approach remains intact. Shifting genre trends, however, have inspired new angles, including unconventional takes on classically heroic characters.
In Flipside, magic is less a mystical force than an everyday utility, a functional part of life in his world. While deeper mysteries exist in the background, most characters take magic for granted. “It’s just a useful tool to them,” he said, noting how this grounded approach sets his setting apart.
“To be frank, I think magic doesn’t actually need to feel mystical. I actually just think of it purely in terms of form and function. But there are certain revelations within the story that do touch upon the overall mystery of what magic is and where it comes from. I think the characters in their everyday lives probably take magic for granted as simply a useful tool to do things, and often don’t see it as mystical.” Foule said, adding, “I do certainly have mysteries within my story, but they exist alongside a general magic society where people often take things for granted.
Equally distinctive is what Flipside leaves out. There are no elves, dragons, or familiar fantasy races. “Those things are overdone,” Foulke said. “Fantasy can be whatever you imagine. Tolkien-style worlds are so familiar they’ve become mundane.”
Despite the scope of the series and its unique approach, Foulke maintains a consistent Monday-Wednesday-Friday update schedule—something he credits to discipline and passion.
“Comics are hard work,” he said plainly. “There’s no getting around that. The most important thing is to have a good work ethic and love what you’re doing.”
With Flipside, Foulke continues to prove that in both the crowded convention hall and the vast world of online comics, there’s still room for something truly different, if you’re willing to put in the work and make it memorable.
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