What's a Webtoon?

@keii4ii keiiii
Sun, 31 Jul 2016 20:00:14 +0000

@keii4ii wrote:

It depends. When you're talking in Korean, "webtoon" = ANY AND ALL WEBCOMICS. Doesn't have to be vertical. "Manhwa" is even broader. It's 'comic,' both print and web. Origin doesn't matter. Format doesn't matter. Garfield is a manhwa in Korean. Unsounded is a webtoon in Korean.

But in English? Ehhh.

It's kind of like the Japanese word "manga." In Japanese, it's just a word for comic, but in English it's come to specifically mean comics that have distinct traits that are common in Japanese comics. Webtoon/manhwa aren't as widely established in English yet, but it may be a matter of time before all vertical webcomics are called webtoons. (Which makes me weep because I personally really hate the term, but that's neither here nor there.)