Naver Webtoon Opens First Booth at New York Comic Con... Successfully Concludes

Creator autograph session, panel discussion, and various programs 진행

Webtoon Entertainment, the parent company of Naver Webtoon, announced on the 21st that it successfully concluded its participation in the '2024 New York Comic Con,' held from the 17th to the 20th (local time) at the Javits Center in New York, USA.

New York Comic Con is an entertainment exhibition featuring global companies and creators from fields such as comics, movies, and games, attracting about 200,000 visitors annually.

New York Comic Con Naver Webtoon Booth View
Photo by Naver Webtoon

This year, Naver Webtoon opened a booth introducing the Naver Webtoon platform and its works for the first time at New York Comic Con. Naver Webtoon showcased various webtoon titles to fans, including 'Duo Unleashed!,' a collaborative content with the global language learning app Duolingo.

The photo event with Duolingo’s representative owl mascot character ‘Duo’ was very popular among attendees. Fans showed great enthusiasm at the Naver Webtoon booth, lining up to participate in autograph sessions with various webtoon artists and to purchase limited-edition merchandise.

Ten Naver Webtoon artists participated in panel sessions on diverse topics. On the 20th, a panel session titled 'Build Your Own Franchise and Fandom in Webcomics' featured Rachel Smythe of 'Lore Olympus,' Snailords of 'Freaking Romance,' Red of 'School Bus Graveyard,' Brandon Chen of 'Just a Goblin,' and Aron Levitz, head of Watpad Webtoon Studio, a subsidiary of Webtoon Entertainment. They discussed how to turn ideas into webtoons and the secrets to building fandoms on webtoon platforms.

Additionally, Watpad Webtoon Studio hosted a booth for Webtoon Unscrolled Publishing, responsible for global webtoon book publishing. They introduced print editions based on Korean intellectual properties (IP) such as 'True Beauty' and 'Tower of God,' as well as popular local webtoons like 'GremoryLand' and 'Cursed Princess Club.'

Lee Shin-ok, Head of Naver Webtoon’s North American Service, said, "When Naver Webtoon launched its global service 10 years ago, webtoons were unfamiliar content to comic fans in North America. But after 10 years, many comic fans and creators visiting New York Comic Con showed great interest in Naver Webtoon and our booth. We will continue to strive to further expand the webtoon ecosystem in the North American market."