In the Beginning...

​When I painted “The Ghosts of Funnies Revisited” awhile back, I thought about creating some kind of a serialized story with these characters. The idea of, “Nine Bits,” came about at a time of my own personal dilemma regarding life hereafter, but it is not itself a declaration about life after death. Also, it’s not meant to glamorize any particular faith or belief, let alone to worship Satan. It’s simply storytelling through these mischievous characters. The concept is loosely based on a life experience but it’s not autobiographical. Needless to say, all episodes and events portrayed are purely fictional.

Here’s the rough outline:

Mr. Az owns a little coffee shop, Café AZ, somewhere in a rural part of the country. He doesn’t know why, but he started to experience Twilight Zone-like episodes: he meets nine ghosts which seem to find comfort in being with him. They all seem to be children of 9 or 10 years old, dressed as by-gone silent film era comedy characters. Mr. Az reluctantly accepts them, having gone through séance and psychiatrist with no concrete resolution.
Word gets around the community about the coffee shop being haunted. The shop becomes something of attraction to customers. Curiosity seekers visit Café AZ and Mr. Az gets more businesses by having publicly described the shop as “mischievously haunted.”

​-Yukio Kevin Iraha