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 By Kim Sue-young
Staff Reporter
Seo Na-rae, the creator of ``Narm's Life,'' had a bitter experience while serializing her Webtoon on Naver.
One day, she heard a funny story from her mother and ran one episode based on what she heard.
She expected some giggles and appraisals from viewers, but what she got was rather different from her expectations.
``I learned from Internet users that what my mom and I heard was a famous anecdote from a radio program. It became the talk of the town a long time ago,'' she said in an interview with The Korea Times.
She recalled receiving some criticism via posted comments that she had just rehashed a famous story.
Seo, who posted the series for more than two years, said unexpectedness is considered a charm of Webtoons.
``I thought I could forecast readers' response: This would be funny or people would laugh here. But totally unexpected factors often produce good responses,'' she added.
In one episode, she changed the hairdo of Narm, the persona of the artist herself, to make it look more feminine. Many viewers enjoyed the change because the female character looked more like a macho general from the old days.
She also picked easy access to the Internet as a factor to make Webtoons popular.
``To read a printed comic book, you should go to a rental store at least and pay some money, which is quite active,'' she said. ``But, nowadays everyone accesses the Internet every day and can easily visit a Webtoons page.''
Asked why Narm is always wearing a yellow all-in-one sweat suit, the popular Webtoon creator answered with a bashful smile that she just did not want to be bothered drawing costumes.
``I majored in design at a university but I never learned how to draw comics,'' said Seo, who had just came back to Seoul from a short holiday on Jeju Island. ``Since the comic series ended, I have been studying it hard.''
Even though she is now a professional Webtoons creator, she had never dreamed of having this job.
``Actually, I hadn't seriously thought about what I would do in the future like most ordinary young people,'' she said, confessing that she graduated university after six years with bad grades.
``I attended other majors, too, while at the school and soon realized they were not my thing. But I felt a strong desire to keep drawing Webtoons,'' she said.
She has rejected interview requests where she was told she had to be photographed.
``The Webtoon is about myself. I don't want to shatter viewers' imagination by comparing the `real me' to Narm.''
Nothing about her next work has been planned but she wants to return to the Webtoon world with version 3 of Narm's life, based on a travel essay.
``In a month or so I will take a trip. Probably to Europe in late March or early April,'' she said.
ksy@koreatimes.co.kr
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yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
