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| A scene from the sci-fi blockbuster "Space Sweepers" / Courtesy of Netflix |
By Park Han-sol
After Korea's first sci-fi blockbuster set in space, "Space Sweepers," conquered Netflix's global Top Movies chart just a day after its debut, Daum and Kakaopage launched the international premiere of a webtoon based on the film's premise, with the same title and characters, in North America, Japan, Indonesia and France, Feb. 8.
The comic "Space Sweepers" was first published in this form in Korea back on May 26, 2020, and so far is comprised of 20 episodes that have had more than 5.5 million views.
On Feb. 8, it premiered on four web comic platforms ― North America's Tapas, Japan's Piccoma, Kakaopage Indonesia, and France's Delitoon. Kakaopage announced that it is also working on releasing the webtoon in other countries, including Thailand and Taiwan.
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Although the film and webtoon are set in the same universe, sharing characters and basic plot points, their main narratives differ. The two marked the beginning of Kakaopage's project, the Space Sweepers Universe, where different media use the same intellectual property to build their own storyline.
The webtoon began as a very rough adaptation of the movie.
"When I first received a copy of the scenario, I thought hard about how I can give shape to the Korea's first attempt at space blockbuster narrative in a webtoon form. The Space Sweepers Universe project was a new challenge for me," its writer and illustrator Hong Jacga said.
He added that readers can enjoy the content in both entertainment forms, while noticing the differences in the methods of expression and interpretation depending on the medium.
Hong, whose real name is Hong Sung-hyuk, has produced many digital comic series throughout his career, such as "Hwaja" (2011), "Necromancer" (2018) and "Star Wars" (2015) under contract with Disney before the local release of the film "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
Set in 2092, the narrative centers on four crew members of a shabby spaceship named The Victory, who scavenge space debris to survive. After their encounter with a mysterious humanoid Dorothy, who turns out to be a weapon of mass destruction, the quartet embarks on a risky deal that leads to unexpected consequences.
