ECCC 2019: Irene Koh geeks Out Over Korra And Teases New Project
by Tito W. James
Tito W. James: You’re known for your work on Legend of Korra: Turf Wars. What attracted you to that character and that world?
Irene Koh: Well, Korra is a queer Asian coded character, which I’d never seen in popular media before. She’s also strong, which is really great. But it was Korra’s developing relationship with Asami which was the most poignant and interesting thing to me. And it was cool to see that in the mainstream.
TWJ: Do you identify with the character of Korra?
IK: Absolutely, yeah!
TWJ: I heard a rumor that you do wrestling or something like that.
IK: Yeah, I’ve done martial arts for most of my life. I started as a kickboxer but moved to grappling. And I totally fell in love with grappling. So, mostly Judo but I supplemented it with wrestling.
TWJ: Wow, so it sounds like you have more in common with the character than I originally suspected. So, you’ve got the fighting aspect. Do you have any superpowers?
IK: None that I can speak publicly about.
[Laughs]
TWJ: So you’ve got a book on your table called fighting waifus. Do you have a waifu?
IK: I do not. I have a husbando. My husband is Patrick Miller, he’s deep in on the fighting games community. He works at Riot Games.
TWJ: Super! But if you had to pick a waifu though, who would you pick?
IK: Oh gosh. I mean I would probably pick Asami
TWJ: Asami is best girl.
IK: She is best girl!
TWJ: What can you tease about what you’re working on now?
IK: There’s not a lot I can say. But I am working on my own original graphic novel. So that’s been cool. I’ve also been doing some work in video games.
TWJ: Without getting into spoilers. Why should fans of your work on Korra be excited for your next project?
IK: There’s definite overlap if they liked Korra. The premise is about retired Magical Girls, but it’s bleak and very queer. So I think it’ll be a good match.
I’d like to thank Irine Koh for taking the time for this interview. The Legend Of Korra: Turf Wars is available now from Dark Horse.
