How Web Comics Are Tapping New Talent and Building Fandoms More Easily for Big Screen Adaptations

As adaptations continue to be ripe fruit for Hollywood studios, a new wealth of source material is emerging in that realm: web comics. And they’re coming with built-in fandoms, thanks to the interactive nature of the medium.

• Webtoon’s Kim, creator Jessica Ramsden and Warner Bros.’ Register explain how web comics are shaping the future.
• They also broke down how individual creators were making their own content online, bypassing the traditional publishing route.
• “What is exciting is that these stories already have a blueprint, like global audience fandom and millions of global page views, which make them really compelling for adaptation,” Kim said.

Speaking at The Wrap’s Creators x Hollywood, in partnership with Whalar and The Lighthouse, on Wednesday, a half-day event exploring the intersection of creators, culture and the entertainment industry, WEBTOON Entertainment president Yongsoo Kim noted that there is change happening in the comic world, for the better.

“We are seeing a shift in where great stories start,” he said. “They originally started mostly from starting inside traditional publisher or studios, but today, we are seeing more and more coming from individual creators, digitally, online.”

Speaking on the “How Creators are Building Multimedia Universes” panel, presented by WEBTOON, alongside creator Jessica Ramsden and Sam Register, President of Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network Studios & Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe, Kim added that webcomics are quickly building their own legions of fans, simply because they adapted to the consumer habits of Gen Z.

“Today’s fandom grew with storytelling on their mobile and it is almost second nature to them,” he explained. “Webcomic contents are serialized and social, so our fans keep revisiting our app to check how the story develop, and relationship with characters, and community on platform is developing. Then over time, users realize that ‘I want to check the next episode’ and build a habit of returning to our platform.”

As those readers return, Register noted, they’re also developing direct relationships with the creators themselves, which is proving to be an exciting shift on his side of things.

“There is the relationship between the author and the audience that I do not have in traditional animation,” he said. “So after I’ve greenlit an episode, made it, produced it, gave it to the network, it’s 18 months from beginning to end, and it’s out there, and either the fans are going to be happy with our decision or not happy with our decision, but there’s a lot more going in. And I think what’s great about digital is, the author and the audience, they are seeing that reaction immediately.”

“What’s great about digital and being able to publish that quickly is that reaction is so fast, people can pivot quicker,” Register continued. “And so me, as a studio, when I’m looking at that stuff, I’m looking at something that has been crafted along the way, because that relationship and that immediate reaction is so gratifying.”

Ramsden readily agreed, noting that while she keeps a buffer between herself and those reactions — she’s generally about six months ahead in her stories — the immediacy of them proves beneficial.

“If I can see, ‘Oh, they really love this character, OK,’ I can think of a storyline where I can add them more, where I can have more of that really positive interaction, more of that positive representation,” she said. “So it is really nice to be able to kind of get that instant gratification.”

Now, Warner Brothers Animation and WEBTOON are partnering for 10 new series based on web comics, spanning across genres including action, fantasy and romance, according to Kim.

“What is exciting is that these stories already have a blueprint, like global audience fandom and millions of global page views, which make them really compelling for adaptation,” he said.

TheWrap’s Creators x Hollywood Summit is an invite-only gathering of the top creators, entertainment leaders and brand partners who are shaping the future of storytelling and the new entertainment economy.

The event is presented in partnership with global creator agency Whalar and The Lighthouse, both part of the Whalar Group. It is sponsored by City National Bank, Fox Entertainment, Lionsgate, Loeb & Loeb LLP and WEBTOON.

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