Introduction to Webcomics
And how they're different from the other comics that you may be more familiar with!
Hello, Everyone!
Welcome to my Substack, a new home for my webcomic thought dumps. You can find my slightly more formal introduction here, but in case you want to dive right into my first post, here’s a TLDR.
I go by the name of TurtleMe, and I am the current author of the webnovel and webcomic The Beginning After the End. I have been an avid reader of webnovels and webcomics long before I published TBATE myself, so I’m excited to have a platform where I can dig into different titles and works with all of you.
I really want to introduce more folks to the world of webcomics, and I realize entering an unfamiliar terrain might feel a little intimidating for some people. Here’s a quick casual guide to what a webcomic is and how it might be different from what you might recognize as a
‘regular’ comic or manga. This is by no means a formal review (don’t worry, no quiz), just a rundown of my own experience with a medium that I very much love.
What’s a webcomic?
Well according to Wikipedia, a webcomic is a “comic published on a website or mobile app.”
Which…yeah. If you know what the world wide web and comics are, I guess the name seems pretty self-explanatory. But as with all media, there are different layers to be peeled back. In my work and my discussions, when I refer to webcomics as a medium, I am more specifically referring to manhwa.
According to Wikipedia, manhwa is “the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons.”
(Again, thank you Wikipedia.)
If you’re a general American comic reader, the term manhwa might be new to you, but I’m willing to bet that the term manga isn’t. Comics and mangas have been much more popular on an international level, but these past few years really allowed manhwa to enter the market. Maybe it’s because of quarantine or our growing dependence on our cellphones…but you know what, it’s probably both. Either way, they’ve become so popular that webcomics from other countries, such as the ones published in the US, now follow the blueprint that manhwa has created.
How do you read webcomics or manhwa?
Manhwa has a continuous format, optimized for reading a story on your screen. You need to scroll down for each new panel, and because of that, the reading experience is really different compared to regular print comic or manga. I will specifically be focusing on the action-fantasy genre, the space that is the most familiar to me.
American comics read left to right, while mangas read right to left:
Webcomics and manhwa are top to bottom.
There are no pages to turn, and there’s a lot of reliance on panel positioning and length to invoke certain emotions and build suspense or tension.
Look at how long this panel is:
There’s an exhilarating emotion that comes from holding your breath from the top of the screen all the way to the bottom—something a book doesn’t quite lend itself to.
As a writer in the action-fantasy genres, I’ve had to read all types of comics. I might be a little biased when I say this, but I find the effects and the styles of action-fantasy webcomics very pleasing!
Fighting sequences just… hit differently.
Not to sound like the millennial I am or encourage increased screen usage, but the endless scroll depicts movement in a more fluid and organic way, because your eyes are moving in time with the action being depicted.
Think about it; as soon as you flip the page of a comic book, you can’t help but see where things are going. Take this typical black-and-white manga page below: Your eye immediately catches onto the action effects and the movement before you have time to process the events by order of the panel, right?
Sometimes mangakas (manga artists) strategically dedicate a whole page to one large panel for a bigger impact:
With webcomics and manhwa, you can only see whatever the artist or scriptwriter wants you to see within the confines of a screen. Your smartphone makes it hard to peek ahead.
Here’s a recent action sequence in TBATE’s season 5:
Technically, that sequence is four panels. If you measure a typical comic or manga page by the number of panels on a page, should you measure a webcomic/manhwa sequence by the number of seconds it takes to scroll? Hmm… give TBATE a shot and let me know what you think ;) (Just kidding. (Kind of.))
What if I don’t like to read?
No worries! There are more pictures than words—and a large variety of art styles.
But I know reading comics isn’t for everyone, especially if you’re an iPad kid. Chances are you like watching things more than reading them. It’s not uncommon for people to only engage in the movie or television adaptations of the classics.
The best examples?
I’m willing to bet everyone and their goldfish knows of this:
Or even this:
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is currently unmatched in its international popularity, and Naruto is pretty much a household name. Marvel started with comics before becoming a film juggernaut, just as Naruto started as a manga before it became an anime.
So it probably won’t surprise you to know that a few popular South Korean dramas have been adapted from manhwa.
And the most recent hits on Netflix’s Top 10 included:
That’s right, ‘All of Us are Dead’ (지금 우리 학교는) is a South Korean drama based on a webcomic of the same name, which you can find on Webtoons here. If you enjoy watching shows that are based on novels or comics, I would definitely recommend to go read its original story to see how it compares. You might just find yourself enjoying the original comic more…
What if I do like to read?
Well, if you do like to read, then this opens up even more doors for you…
A lot of popular webcomics are based off of webnovels. Yup, that’s right, even more adaptations on adaptations on adaptations!
And I can’t believe I managed to get to the final stretch without mentioning this title, but I can’t write a post about webcomics or webnovels without mentioning what is arguably the most popular series:
Solo Leveling (나 혼자만 레벨업) is like… the Naruto of manhwas.
It began as a webnovel before it was adapted into a manhwa, but overall, it was a major success.
Now, the term ‘webnovel’ is used mostly to refer to the many stories published on the internet that originate in South Korea—but it’s a very broad umbrella term. Because I’m a Korean-American writer, my work often gets categorized with these South Korean originated works, even though my work is released in English on Patreon and Tapas before it gets translated into any other languages.
Where do I start reading webcomics?
I hope this introduction to the world of webcomics was both appealing and helpful. If it made you even the slightest bit curious about webcomics, I consider it a win! Even though I’ll be focusing on action-fantasy titles in this Substack, there are popular and great stories in every genre, from romance to comedy to horror.
I hope you find your niche and a webcomic that changes the game for you because it really is a whole new world over here.