WEBTOON, the world’s largest digital comics platform has announced a series of deals and a slate of content that will bring some of the biggest names in web novels and web fiction adapted as webcomics on the platform, giving fans a new way to enjoy their favorite web novels in a serialized webcomic format.
As part of the new webcomic slate, WEBTOON has partnered with some of the most exciting publishers in web novels and web fiction adapt popular titles from Aethon Books and Moonquill, as well as WEBTOON’s Wattpad and YONDER platforms.
The new slate of web novel adaptations will expand WEBTOON’s global IP & creator ecosystem, which now includes webcomics, web novels, serialized fiction, TV, film, podcasts, audiobooks, and print publishing. As part of the WEBTOON’s family of brands WEBTOON, Wattpad, Yonder, and Wattpad WEBTOON Studios & creator ecosystem will allow WEBTOON to adapt IP across a variety of formats, turning fan-favorite stories from each brand into multi-format franchises, reaching new fans around the world and helping creators monetize their work in new ways.
In a press release from WEBTOON, David Lee, VP of Content at WEBTOON said about the announcement:
“Web novels are one of the most exciting new categories in fiction, with new voices bypassing traditional publishing to share their stories and build global fandoms online. With richly-built worlds that take genre fiction in creative new directions, web fiction is uniquely positioned for web comic adaptations. We know WEBTOON readers and web fiction fans will fall in love with these stories in their new visual format as webcomics.”
Among the first group of titles that will receive webcomic adaptations in 2023, are Zogarth’s “The Primal Hunter” series, which has sold more than 100,000 eBooks and 50,000 audiobooks across nine volumes; InadvisablyCompelled’s “Paranoid Mage” series, which has over 3.5 million views online and has sold more than 25,000 ebooks, reaching Amazon’s top ten bestseller list for Urban Fantasy; and Erratic Errata’s “A Practical Guide to Evil,” which has over 30 million views online for the completed series.
The first slate of WEBTOON’s 2023 web novel adaptations will feature high-profile fantasy and romance titles, including:
- RE: Trailer Trash by FortySixtyFour – In this fantasy series, Tabitha Moore’s 2045 mind is transmitted back into the body of her younger self. Now it’s 1998, she’s thirteen years old, and she has to confront her long, miserable lifetime of failures—and once again being trailer trash—all over again. RE: Trailer Trash has reached #2 on Royal Road’s Best Rated ranking.
- The Primal Hunter by Zogarth – This action-fantasy LitRPG series follows Jake and a group of co-workers taken from their average office and transported to the dangerous Multiverse. Unlike his faltering colleagues around him, Jake finds himself thriving.
- Paranoid Mage by InadvisablyCompelled – When Callum learns that the monsters and beasts he has seen his whole life are a result of him being a mage, he suddenly finds himself at the mercy of unexpected powers.
- A Practical Guide to Evil by Erratic Errata – A serialized fantasy novel about a young girl named Catherine Foundling making her way through a world that fundamentally operates on narrative tropes – where good and evil are more than theoretical concepts.
- Chasing Red by Isabelle Ronin – This 260M-view Wattpad romance finds heartthrob Calab Lockhart chasing the cynical Veronica Strafford who refuses to be the campus player’s next conquest. But as they learn to lean on one another their secrets threaten to break them apart.
- Float by Kate Marchant – This YA summer romance follows Waverly Lyons shipped off to Holden, Florida, and faced with spending the summer living next door to Blake Hamilton, the moody lifeguard. When Blake discovers Waverly’s secret, he offers to do the unthinkable – help her. Float has more than 26M reads on Wattpad and was previously published by Wattpad Books. Robbie Amell (The Flash, The Babysitter, The Duff) and Andrea Bang (Kim’s Convenience, Luce) star in the upcoming film adaption from Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, Lionsgate, and Collective Pictures.
Erratic Errata, creator of A Practical Guide to Evil’ had the following to say:
“Comics were always what I figured to be the most likely adaptation of ‘A Practical Guide to Evil’ and in many ways the one that can stay the truest to the original books – so I’m very excited to be embarking on this project with WEBTOON! I hope all who’ve been wanting to see Catherine’s adventures in a visual medium will enjoy the results of our collaboration.”
Launch dates for each title will be announced at a later date.
WEBTOON also recently adapted Rebecca Sullivan’s popular Wattpad web novel Night Owls & Summer Skies, where the webcomic series now has more than 3.2M views. The web novel has more than 750k views on Wattpad and has previously been published by Wattpad Books.
Other web novel adaptations on WEBTOON include MoonQuill’s WEBTOON CANVAS webcomic adaptation of Michiel Werbrouck and Hadi Bendakji’s Lord of Goblins. The original web novel sensation has sold more than 20,000 ebooks online and the webcomic adaptation has surpassed 4.3M views on WEBTOON’s CANVAS platform.
The webcomic series will move into WEBTOON Originals in 2023.
Jimmy Shi, CEO of MoonQuill said the Lord of Goblins series:
“The MoonQuill team has had a great time adapting ‘Lord of Goblins’ into webcomic form and it’s been a real treat for the team to see those who read the novel enjoying the story in a whole new format. Beyond that, WEBTOON’s platform has helped us bring ‘Lord of Goblins’ to a vocal, passionate audience. We’re really looking forward to what the future holds for ‘Lord of Goblins’ and other stories we plan on bringing to the platform.”
Stay tuned for further announcements from WEBTOON.