Webtoon Entertainment booth at the 2024 New York Comic Con | Photo provided by Naver Webtoon
Naver Webtoon’s parent company, Webtoon Entertainment, announced that it successfully concluded its participation in the ‘2024 New York Comic Con,’ held from October 17 to 20 at the Javits Center in New York.
New York Comic Con is one of the world’s largest entertainment expos, attracting around 200,000 visitors annually. It is the annual event where global companies and creators of comics, films, and games gather to showcase their work.
For the first time, Naver Webtoon had its booth at the event, introducing the platform and its diverse webtoon titles. Among the highlights was ‘Duo Unleashed!’—a collaboration with the global language learning app Duolingo—drawing significant attention from fans. Visitors also lined up to take photos with Duolingo’s mascot, Duo, the Owl, participate in signing events with webtoon creators, and purchase limited-edition merchandise.
Ten Naver Webtoon creators participated in various panel sessions. On October 20, during the panel titled “Build Your Franchise and Fandom in Webcomics,” creators such as Rachel Smythe of Lore Olympus, Snailords of Freaking Romance, Red of School Bus Graveyard, and Brandon Chen of Just a Goblin shared insights on transforming ideas into webtoons and building fanbases on the platform. Aron Levitz, President of Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, also participated, discussing how webtoons have great potential for adaptation and how they have attracted large fan followings.
Aron Levitz commented, “Webtoons have enormous potential for adaptation due to their strong storytelling and huge fanbase. The fact that no fixed formula for success makes them even more appealing.”
Wattpad WEBTOON Studios also hosted a booth for its publishing division, Webtoon Unscrolled, where it showcased popular Korean IPs such as True Beauty and Tower of God, along with hit webtoons like GremoryLand and Cursed Princess Club that have gained popularity in the U.S.
David Shinok Lee, Head of Naver Webtoon US, said, “When Naver Webtoon launched its global service ten years ago, webtoons were unfamiliar to comic fans in North America. Seeing the great interest from fans and creators at New York Comic Con today is amazing. We will continue working to expand the webtoon ecosystem in the North American market.”
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