Webtoons grow as entertainment industry tool to expand intellectual property

The BTS-inspired webtoon series, "7FATES: CHAKHO" / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

By Park Han-sol

Day by day, it is becoming more difficult to define "webtoons" simply within the genre of comics.

As more K-pop agencies, drama production houses and even game developers are joining to create web comics based on their original content, webtoons have become a crucial marketing tool to expand the scope of their intellectual property (IP) and build unique "universes" that will attract devoted fan bases.

This month, the webtoon that created an instant buzz within the industry was none other than the BTS-inspired comic series, "7FATES: CHAKHO."

Borrowing the idea of the "chakhogapsa," or professional tiger hunters from the Joseon era (1392-1910), the urban fantasy series revolves around seven monster hunters, with each character inspired by a member of the septet.

The webtoon, released in 10 different languages, surpassed 15 million views worldwide just two days after its release on Jan. 15, setting an all-time record high for digital comics released by Korea's web portal service, Naver.

In addition to "7FATES: CHAKHO," BTS' agency, HYBE, has also released two other popular original fantasy web comics featuring its artists: "Dark Moon: The Blood Altar" with the rookie boy band ENHYPEN and "The Star Seekers" with Tomorrow X Together (TXT).

But of course, K-pop agencies are not the only companies taking advantage of the growing popularity and potential of webtoons.

The webtoon series, "Our Beloved Summer," which serves as a prequel to the SBS drama of the same title / Courtesy of Naver Webtoon

SBS' "Our Beloved Summer" became one of the latest shows to produce a webtoon based on the romantic comedy narrative surrounding its two protagonists, Choi Ung and Kook Yeon-su.

As a prequel to the drama, which follows the reunion of ex-high school sweethearts, the webtoon of the same title takes the readers back to the two characters' school years.

KBS' 2014 romance thriller, "Healer," and JTBC's 2019 rom-com, "Be Melodramatic," are some of the other K-dramas that will be adapted into webtoons in the coming years.

Games publishers are one of the new players that have joined in on the trend of creating webtoons as a narrative platform to expand their universes and characters.

Last November, KRAFTON released three separate webtoons inspired by its representative multiplayer battle royale game, "PUBG: Battlegrounds," where each player scavenges for weapons and items to kill others on the island. The three comics ― "100," "Silent Night" and "The Retreats" ― have merged the genres of action thriller and science fiction to tell gripping stories of each character set in what the company calls, the "PUBG Universe."

Lee Hee-youn, the head of IP business at Naver Webtoon, told The Korea Times that these projects are all part of the unprecedentedly diverse efforts of content experimentation, made possible by the growing collaborations between the webtoon and entertainment industries.

Jang Min-gi, a professor of media communications at Kyungnam University, explained that the phenomenon can be seen as "the fusion of different content formats."

The previously strict boundaries between entertainment genres like webcomics, dramas and music are disappearing in lieu of one gigantic, complex IP 'universe' that can be further developed and elaborated on according to different platforms, she explained.

Whether it be K-pop, games or dramas, "Each type of original content and character development is becoming something that can be expanded and subsequently consumed in multiple formats [including webtoons]. This allows users to get invested in their stories for a longer period of time," she said.

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