Generational shift in cartoon industry

Conventional cartoons — comic books and magazines — seem to be giving way to the new generation of digital comics. / Korea Times file

• Published Feb 20, 2014 4:37 PM KST
• Updated Feb 20, 2014 4:37 PM KST

Korean comics expand horizon from webtoons to graphic novels

By Chung Ah-young

It is no accident that web cartoonist Yoon Tae-ho renowned for “Misaeng” and “Moss” has been invited to the 2014 London Book Fair along with a slew of high-profile local authors such as Shin Kyung-sook, Hwang Sun-mi and Kim Young-ha.

His inclusion in this lineup reflects how web comics or “webtoons” have become one of the nation’s cultural powers thanks to the widespread circulation of digital devices, particularly smartphones, and a thriving Internet culture.

Also, Lee Chung-ho, 47, became the first “web cartoonist” to be elected as the new president of the Korea Cartoonist Association in last month’s general session. His election must have shocked established artists who grew through the apprenticeship system and gained popularity when their comic books or magazines sold well.

At the moment, conventional cartoons seem to be giving way to the new generation of digital comics.

According to a cartoon industry report by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, sales in the industry (books or magazines) rose slightly by 3.5 percent from 2009 to 2011. Meanwhile, the sales of Internet-based cartoon content soared by 10.1 percent during the same period.

More than a decade after the portal site Daum launched the nation’s first web cartoon service in 2003, major portals will expand their webtoon services to overseas markets this year.

The rapid growth of the web cartoons has enhanced the status of the creators. They are no longer low-profile, underground artists but attention-grabbing celebrities receiving high returns and popularity from the public.

Traditional artists who began their careers in the 1980s and ‘90s endured long and hard apprenticeships from their mentors who ruled the industry in the 1960s and ‘70s. Their rise took time. In the case of web cartoonists, some rose to stardom overnight with an immediate response from Internet users. Thus, their way of expression and content are different from the conventional medium. While conventional comics put more emphasis on the art of drawing, web cartoons might be less artistic but are story-oriented and palatable to the public taste.

In-between generations: Yoon & Lee

There are cartoonists however like Yoon and Lee who have successfully made the transition from conventional print medium to digital platforms.

They made their debuts in the 1990s when print still dominated the industry as “manhwabang,” or comic shops, were booming. They turned their eyes from the magazine-based cartoons or comic books to educational and newspaper comic strips in the early 2000s. Then they marked a watershed in 2007 by publishing their works on portal sites.

For them, changing the working environment was a challenge as the digital format means scrolling down instead of traditional page flips.

Better known for his digital comic “Murim Susadae,” Lee points out that this environment forces the artists to use a different technique to effectively deliver the story as readers scroll down the content instead of turning the pages. The ideas and stories matter more than the art of the drawings in webtoons. Yoon’s representative works “Moss” and “Misaeng” put more emphasis on the storylines rather than the details of the drawings as a majority of readers are young adults.

Next step for graphic novels

Bong Jun-ho’s blockbuster film, “Snowpiercer” is based on the 1982 French graphic novel “La Transperceneige,” one of the Europe’s best comics. Graphic novels are a popular genre in Europe and the United States, also evolving from classic comics.

International book events have dealt with graphic novels as an influential genre due to their soaring popularity. This will be highlighted at the upcoming London fair.

However, graphic novels in Korea are not as popular as they are in Europe and the United States because web cartoons are dominating the scene.

In the London fair, Korea will introduce Yoon as the nation’s representative cartoonist who is reshaping the industry with fast-changing digital platforms, the equivalent to graphic novels overseas.

Critics say that graphic novels will be the next spin-off as they will diversify and further develop the cartoon industry with their in-depth storylines and complicated plots.

“Now, people are enjoying cartoons much more than ever before. Webtoons are more like entertainment while the current print comics exist for educational purposes. But graphic novels will improve the reading habits of Koreans who shun serious reading, through quality that can lead to boosting the publication cartoon industry,” a critic said.

Graphic novels deal with serious topics such as history and philosophy with lengthy coverage that can be hardly found in digital comics.

In Korea, graphic novels have been published by major publishers such as Minumsa which have brought European and American works to local audiences.

The publishers cautiously predict a growing interest from Koreans in graphic novels through the successful sales of “Blankets” by Craig Thompson and “A Taste of Chlorine” by Bastien Vives despite the high price tags and heavy volumes.

Also, a handful of authors such as Choi Gyu-seok and Kwon Yong-deuk began grabbing the attention of the public for their graphic novels.

Concerning the widespread popularity of graphic novels in other countries, the genre seems to be a new opportunity for Korean cartoonists to widen their scope and make further inroads into the global market and also diversify the cartoon scene in the digital era, according to critics.