[인터뷰] Popular U.S. webtoon writer Woo Ru-chan says, “Easy-to-read webtoons have great potential in the U.S. as well.”

‘Unordinary’ nominated for 2024 Harvey Award… “Webtoon competition is getting fiercer in the U.S.”

Naver Webtoon enters the U.S. 10 years ago… Secured first place in the market and was listed on Nasdaq last June

Woo Ru-chan, author of the popular American webtoon ‘Unordinary’

(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Ji-heon = Author uru-chan of the popular American webtoon ‘unOrdinary’ attended the ‘New York Comic Con’ held at the Javits Convention Center in New York, USA on the 17th (local time). (NYCC) 2024′ being interviewed by Yonhap News at the event venue. 2024.10.18 pan@yna.co.kr

(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Ji-heon = Author uru-chan of ‘unOrdinary’, a popular webtoon in the United States, said that webtoons have great potential even in the United States, where comics are mainly read in print, and the advantage of easy-to-read webtoons. He said he expects this to attract many readers in the future.

In an interview with Yonhap News at the ‘New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2024’ held at the Javits Convention Center in New York, USA on the 17th (local time), writer Woo Ru-chan said, “Many Korean webtoons have been made into Netflix dramas, animations, or books. “As I watched it being created, I thought that American webtoons also had great potential,” he said.

Artist Uru-chan is from Massachusetts, USA. He has loved Japanese comics and animation since he was young, and is said to have taught himself how to draw.

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His work Unordinary, which is being serialized on the ‘Webtoon’ platform, the parent company of Naver Webtoon, was published as a book by the famous American publisher HarperCollins. In addition to English, it is serialized in seven languages: French, Thai, Spanish, German, Chinese, and Japanese.

This year, Unordinary was nominated in the digital book category of the Harvey Awards, one of the most prestigious awards in the American comics industry, along with the webtoon ‘Lore Olympus’ drawn by author Rachel Smythe.

Writer Woo Ru-chan said, “Unordinary is a story about an ordinary boy living in a world full of superpowers.” He added, “We held a contest on the topic of superheroes in a webtoon, and I thought it would be interesting to draw a story where the main character is an ordinary person while all the characters around him have superpowers. “That’s when I first thought of the idea,” he said.

Artist Uru-chan explained, “Ever since I was young, I always liked drawing, and I used to post comics I drew online,” adding, “I was looking for a place to expand my readership, and I discovered the webtoon platform.”

He said, “The big advantage of webtoons (web comics) is that they can be easily read by scrolling down on mobile devices.”

Waiting line for author autograph session at Naver Webtoon exhibition hall

(New York = Yonhap News) Correspondent Lee Ji-heon = Fans are waiting in line for the author’s autograph session held at the Naver Webtoon booth at ‘New York Comic Con (NYCC) 2024’, which opened in New York, USA on the 17th (local time). 2024.10.18 pan@yna.co.kr

He said that at the beginning of his career, there were not many webtoon works in the United States and competition was relatively not fierce, but he felt that competition in the U.S. webtoon market was becoming increasingly fierce.

Writer Uru-chan said, “Because other writers make an episode long, I feel like I have to make it that long,” and added, “I also feel pressured to retain readers with each episode.”

Naver Webtoon took its first step into the global market 10 years ago, launching its English service in July 2014. Currently, Naver Webtoon has secured a 70% market share in North America and maintains its overwhelming first place among digital comics platforms.

Naver Webtoon’s parent company, Webtoon Entertainment, was listed on the U.S. NASDAQ market in June, attracting local investment and laying the foundation for the company to leap into the mainstream of the global entertainment market.

pan@yna.co.kr

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2024/10/19 04:38 Sent