I'm actually pretty new to WebToon and probably fall outside of the platform's typical demographic. Currently, the audience skews 60-65% female and 16 to 24-year-olds as the largest age group. I guess that is to say it's not the typical Western comic-reading demographic (this could be changing). Apparently, this is a huge deal for some even going as far as to say it's not a legit audience.

Anyone that reads any type of comic is a comics reader. Age, gender, job, etc shouldn't determine that. Really anything that makes comics more accessible is pretty awesome in my book. Do these comics look like the ones I grew up with? Nope. I'd even argue they're probably better quality than the books I grew up reading. Sure on WebToon Canvas (where I publish), the quality is a rollercoaster, but all of the Originals (paid creators) all look pretty damn good. Is a comic on Instagram a comic? Yes. Is a comic drawn and written on a folded piece of 8.5"x11" piece of paper a comic? Yes. I don't think the medium should matter, it's all sequential art at the end of the day.

I realize digital and webcomics have been around for a while now, so they're not new. WebToon certainly isn't a perfect platform, but it has promise. Like many creative platforms (e.g., Twitch and YouTube), there are discoverability issues that I'm hoping will be fixed in the future. Discoverability relies on the creator to market and to push their content out through their social channels.

The best thing about WebToon and Tapas is that users are seeking out specific content, in this case, webcomics. How users get to your webcomic is an issue. Something that would be a useful feature for creators would be a simplified URL or vanity URL. An example would be something like webtoons.com/YourComicName. Alternatively, I use TinyURL for Myth and it's not optimal, but it does give me insight into how many people have clicked. This brings me to analytics. It would be great to see additional insights and analytics on the creator dashboard. Some sort of drill down to days or weeks instead of just a monthly snapshot of a few stats. Just a few ideas.

The comics I chose to "Draw This In Your Style"

Zyrak from Stray Souls by Maf

Stray Souls is one of the first comics I actually came across on WebToon. Maf has a really lovely style, both in writing and art. I might be a little biased though, I really love pencil work and Maf really doesn't go too crazy into inking. It creates a raw feeling that goes really well with the story.

Hades from Lore Olympus by Rachel Smythe

What an awesome idea, it's so freaking clever I wish I had come up with it. Take old mythology and turn it on its head as a romance comic. Again a beautiful style that has some traditional art qualities and is kind of rough, even though I feel like it comes off as a kind of softness in this comic.

Fishball from My Giant Nerd Boyfriend by Fishball

I don't read a lot of slice-of-life comics, even though I kind of would like to do one myself. Fishball is amazing at capturing expressions and moods. Sometimes even going from super childish to extreme manga and pulling it off beautifully.

Ghost from The Uniques by Comfort and Adam

The Uniques is probably the most Western type (both in content and art style) of WebToon I subscribe to. I think I originally saw it on Instagram and was blown away by the quality of the art. Even when they end their comic episode it has the feeling of traditional comics with the ads they make, it's inspiring and makes me want to do more with my own work on the platform.

Tyrell from Blood in the Water by caw-chan

Caw-chan has a really cool style that fits well for the concept of the comic. I really like how it bounces around from fun and almost mature-ish style to the next panel where it's chibi and cutesy. I also enjoy the really unique character designs throughout the story.

Yu from The Boxer by JH

The Boxer is what you'd expect out of a typical manga/manhwa, but it's still really fun to follow. You have the power levels and the fighting and the brooding, excitable, wild characters. I would not be surprised to see an animated version of this on Crunchyroll or Netflix in the future. It's very well executed and keeps you wanting to read more.