Webtoons from Korean distributors dominate Best Webcomic nominees at Eisner Awards

"Unfamiliar" (Kakao Entertainment)

Webtoons published by Korean webtoon distributors dominated the Best Webcomic category nominees at this year's Eisner Awards, which are considered the equivalent of the Academy Awards for the comic industry.

Eisner Awards annually recognizes outstanding cartoon works in 32 categories at Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. The awards ceremony is regarded one of the most prestigious for comic books in North America.

Amid a surge in popularity for webtoons, this year, four out of six digital comics published by Korean platform were listed as nominees for Best Webcomic.

The four nominees include "Daughter of a Thousand Faces" by Vel, "Unfamiliar" by Haley Newsome, "Lore Olympus" by Rachel Smythe and "3rd Voice" by Evan Dahm.

"Daughter of a Thousand Faces" and "Unfamiliar" are distributed by Tapas Entertainment, a North America-based web novel and webtoon platform parented by Kakao Entertainment, while "Lore Olympus" and "3rd Voice" are distributed by Canvas, Naver Webtoon's platform for amateur cartoonists in North America.

However, no works by Korean artists were nominated for Best Webcomic this year.

Last year, Kakao Webtoon's "Navillera," authored by HUN and illustrated by Jimin, was nominated for Best Webcomic but did not win.

Meanwhile, Naver Webtoon's "The Horizon," written by JH (Jung Ji-hoon) was nominated in the Best US Edition of International Material -- Asia category, along with five other nominees. The category honors outstanding comic books initially published in Asia and subsequently printed for sale in the US.

Last year, "Lore Olympus," a contemporary reinterpretation of the Greek and Roman myth "The Abduction of Persephone," which became a New York Times bestseller upon its release in book format in 2021, secured its second Eisner Award in the Best Webcomic category.

This year's Eisner Awards will be presented during a grand ceremony at the San Diego Hilton Bayfront Hotel on July 26.

By Lee Yoon-seo(yoonseo.3348@heraldcorp.com)