Innovations in Digital Comics
A Popular Revolution

Webcomics devised for mobile screen reach millions of readers worldwide. What types of authors and stories do they include?

Francesca Benatti (Author)

9781009319966, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 3 October 2024

100 pages
17.7 x 12.7 x 0.6 cm, 0.11 kg

The success of popular webcomics (comics produced and read entirely digitally) is the greatest revolution in the comics medium of the last two decades. Webcomics exploit a socio-technical convergence between digital platforms and participatory cultures, enabling global authors to work together with global audiences to transcend established print comics structures. After defining digital comics, webcomics and webtoons, this Element presents a case study of Korean platform WEBTOON, which achieved 100 billion global page views in 2019. The study analyses data from their website, including views, subscriptions and likes, to quantify and assess whether WEBTOON's commercial and critical success is connected to its inclusion of a wider range of genres and of a more diverse author base than mainstream English-language print comics. In so doing, it performs the first Book Historical study of webcomics and webtoons. This title is also available as Open Access on Cambridge Core.

Disclaimer
1. From digital comics to webcomics to webtoons
2. Diversity and platformisation in comics and webcomics
3. Female and Nonbinary authors in WEBTOON Originals
4. Conclusions, next steps, bibliography.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]