Fresh Media On the Regular with Webtoon

Usually the advertisements on YouTube are annoying or completely irrelevant to my tastes, and I like to skip over them as soon as possible. But one day, a trailer of some kind (or what I assumed was a trailer) started playing. Then I realized it was actually a series of still images with voice-overs. My next thought was this was a visual novel game ad. But it wasn’t. Instead, the ad was actually for an app called Webtoon. I don’t have many extraneous apps on my tablet — at all — but the artwork was nice and the little slice of story made me curious to dig a little deeper — and then download it.

Webtoon is an app that is exactly what its name should indicate — it’s a place where you can read dozens upon dozens of different digital comics/illustrated stories that range in styles as well as genres. It originally began in South Korea, so you’ll find a lot of the creators are from there as well as surrounding areas; until 2014, you couldn’t get the comics or stories in English except through fan translations. But because of the jump in popularity, folks like me who live smack dab in the middle of the United States can now also leap onto the wagon and enjoy the hell out of some fresh media.

So, I’ve decided to showcase several of the Webtoons I’ve been soaking up in the past few months.

Midnight Poppyland by Lilydusk

After making a grisly discovery in the countryside, a small town book editor’s life gets entangled with a young Mafia lord and his intimidating bodyguard…even as every step she takes draws her deeper into the dangerous underworld of the city.

Almost all the Webtoons I follow are speculative in some nature, but I can’t leave this one out because it’s the Webtoon that got me started. I’m a sucker for well-drawn guys, and Tora is no exception. I’m also a sucker for badass dudes with redemption arcs. Plus, I love the artwork in general; it’s very atmospheric and beautiful. The woman Tora has bumped into, Poppy, doesn’t know what she’s stumbled upon, but they’ve both fallen for each other and now it’s just a matter of discovering how their stories are going to play out. Tora’s in pretty deep with his organization, so it’s going to be a challenge for him to escape and for both of them to come away from everything unscathed.

My Giant Nerd Boyfriend by Fishball

Having a boyfriend who’s a full foot taller than you might seem adorable at first, but it usually just ends up causing a whole bunch of minor inconveniences. Follow Fishball as she navigates the Malaysian life with her 6’5″ geeky boyfriend.

Since we’re all geeks here, I figure this one counts, too. It’s also one of my absolute favorites to read because it is hysterical. Each comic is short but features a little slice of life of what it’s like to be a short girl living with a huge boyfriend — and Biscuit, their Pomeranian. The drawing style is simple and fun, and once you bump into the Pikachu shirt, life will never be the same. No, I will not elaborate on that. It’s something you have to see for yourself, but it’s fantastic. I cannot express how much I want to shove this comic at everyone and demand they read it. If you like goofy comics like Sarah Andersen‘s Sarah’s Scribbles, then you’ll love this one.

Eggnoid by soul

When a handsome guy comes out from an egg and starts calling you mom.

Yep. That’s the summary. But there’s really a lot more to it than that, involving multi-dimensional worlds, advanced human engineering, a murder mystery, and more. While the name “eggnoid” will never stop sounding like a weird choice to me, it’s been an interesting read with some really quality artwork that ranges from just how stunning some characters and their outfits look to just how freaking adorable one of the main characters, Eggy (the one that came out of the egg) looks when he gets into chibi (tiny and exaggerated) mode — bonus points for when he’s also oblivious while in said mode. Frankly, I’m astonished at how fast the author is cranking these out, but I will absolutely not complain.

Soul on Hold by Austen Marie

Ayden seems to live a pretty normal life…normal that is except for the voice in his head haunting him 24/7. It takes meeting Maggie, the cute barista, to uncover the horrifying truth behind the madness. Together with Maggie, Ayden discovers that the voice in his head is actually a servant of a demonic force who collects souls once they’ve matured on their 30th year. With Ayden’s birthday just around the corner, he and Maggie join forces to find an alternative to their fated demise.

Won’t lie — I started my original Webtoon hunt looking for more romance once I hit the stopping point for Midnight Poppyland and eventually started reading this one out of curiosity. Now I’m hooked. The answer to whether Ayden dies resolves itself surprisingly fast — but then things go careening into Way More Interesting town. The artwork doesn’t have the same uber-sleek and polished look that some others do, but it’s nice to break now and again from a lot of the shiny, manga-type work into something that feels a little looser. Something that I can easily picture animated. Plus, Ayden and Maggie are pretty cute together.

Freaking Romance by Snailords

A sexy supernatural story about being out on your own, finding your dream apartment and discovering that your new place is haunted by a handsome spectral stranger from another dimension. Sure, HE can’t see you and YOU can’t touch him, but who said every relationship starts out perfectly?

Look, I told you I was hunting for romance, didn’t I? But this still quickly falls into the spec fic section because of parallel dimensions high-fiving each other. I’d actually forgotten all about the summary so when I dove in it sounded like a ghost story — and then the ghost didn’t act like a proper ghost and everything started to shift until the parallel dimension theory popped into the story. It’s taken a turn into the surprising (pinch of horror, anyone?), and again I really like the art style, which is mostly very smooth and gorgeous with the occasional goofy, exaggerated moments for additional effect, plus a bit of fourth-wall breaking. I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes and how our girl and guy eventually end up together.

Escape Room by 10PARK

An escape room that is a game of life or death. One wrong move and you will lose everything.

Think Saw for this one. While the art style occasionally doesn’t quite appeal to me, my curiosity has gotten the better of me. As the reader, you have no idea why these people are in this bizarre collection of rooms with equally bizarre puzzles. The real props go to the author for cooking up these rooms and puzzles, something that my brain just can’t do and, judging by the comment section, can be said for most of us. I’m not terribly far into the series, but I get the feeling things are going to get even weirder as I progress…

The Red King by Heylenne

Being young, rich and handsome doesn’t always bring you happiness. Just ask Ivan, the black sheep of his family. If he wasn’t busy drinking, partying and being a royal screw up, he could be building a career in his father’s vast business. As if Ivan’s volatile family dynamics couldn’t get any worse, he accidentally helps a supernatural entity steal a secret that could sink his father’s entire corporate empire.

I’m playing catch-up on this one, but I’m already quite intrigued. I love the artwork, especially things like Ivan’s tattoos and his hairstyle, as well as other elements, like the hand gestures or facial expressions his sister makes. There’s already been a supernatural entity on the digital page, and I need to dive back in because I’m curious as to when Ivan and the entity will bump into each other again. Not for romantic purposes, but all because of some strange tree and a golden apple. What really is that thing? What are these creatures? And why could Ivan see her but no one else? I look forward to seeing all these questions answered, as well as how Ivan matures when faced with them. Bonus: Ivan has a cute little dog that I’m pretty sure he would die for.

Webtoon doesn’t ask for any money or even any information from the moment you download it (other than whatever the app might glean from the service you download it from — assuming it does). I didn’t even have to make a profile before I started reading. But I eventually did so that I could subscribe to the various comics I got interested in, as well as to be able to “heart” each episode I read and comment if I choose. If you do pay anything, it’s your choice. What you buy are Coins that you can then redeem for early access to Webtoon episodes (should the author have some ready for future posts). Even so, Webtoon occasionally has events that earn you free coins, which are easy and fun. I’ve already earned 15 coins — 5 per event — and an episode is typically 5 coins to unlock. The real trick? Figuring out which series you want to read early. Many authors also have Patreon pages that you can subscribe to in order to get even more additional content while supporting the creators you love.

I never thought I’d say this, but I’m glad I saw that Webtoon advertisement to discover a whole new world of stories and their creators. The most difficult part now is waiting for a new episode to go live — and to not start accumulating a massive number of Webtoons while waiting for that to happen. Which, I don’t know, maybe isn’t all that bad…