$50,000 comic contest debuts new system for webcomic artists to become published and reach new audiences.
LOS ANGELES -- LINE Webtoon, the popular webcomic service available on smartphones, tablets and web browsers, has officially launched Challenge League, a new feature that allows for artists to submit their webcomics for a chance to become an official LINE Webtoon artist. Challenge League is free for webcomic fans and aspiring artists looking to showcase their talents and gain recognition, while discovering the best comic content available via mobile and desktop.
To officially launch Challenge League, LINE Webtoon will host a $50,000 competition globally, to discover the best new webtoon artists. Anyone over the age of fourteen can participate in the competition by uploading a webcomic in English at www.webtoons.com/challenge. To be eligible to win the prizes, the content will be judged based on audience engagement, such as number of views and shares. Additionally, LINE Webtoon’s staff will evaluate the content based on creativity, originality and the artist’s ability to publish webcomics on a weekly basis. The prizes include two $5,000 third place prizes, a $10,000 second place prize and a $30,000 grand prize. The contest is free to enter and will run until January 25, 2015. The winner will be announced on January 30, 2015. LINE Webtoon will continue providing the Challenge League service on its official site after the contest.
“We have spent over ten years discovering and showcasing some of the best webtoon artists and content to our fans, and now we’re giving them the chance to become official LINE Webtoon webtoonists through Challenge League,” said JunKoo Kim, Director and Head of the LINE Webtoon Division. “Based on Challenge League’s popularity in Korea, where 73.4 percent of LINE Webtoon artists are discovered through Challenge League, we are excited to launch the competition globally and discover the next generation of webcomic artists.”
In sharing their creations, Challenge League artists can meet their audience and communicate with them through the simple and easy to use interface. This ecosystem was created to help creators gain popularity and become official webtoonists within the LINE Webtoon service. LINE Webtoon also offers opportunities to recreate the webcomic across diverse media such as movies, TV series and more to expand beyond just webcomics. LINE Webtoon is dedicated to helping artists launch a full time career, with some Webtoon artists earning up to $80,000 a month.
LINE Webtoon, launched in the U.S. and globally on July 2, 2014, currently offers approximately 53 webcomics, including multiple globally heralded series among the 520 original NAVER webtoons. Popular titles include “Noblesse,” “Tower of God,” “The God of High School,” and more. LINE Webtoon users can enjoy multiple genres of webcomics, easy access to download content on-the-go and can receive update notifications when newly-released webtoons are available. Featuring advanced social sharing and comment functions, LINE Webtoon also includes a rating system to drive more exposure for popular artists.
To download LINE Webtoon, visit the Apple App Store and Google Play. Beginning November 27, fans can read Challenge League content through these mobile applications.
Source: NAVER Corporation
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
