Korean comics industry has been in the doldrums except educational cartoons. Traditional comic books have had a hard time being published and soon discontinued repeatedly. 'White Paper for comics industry' in 2007 indicates that the trend of spending ...
Korean comics industry has been in the doldrums except educational cartoons. Traditional comic books have had a hard time being published and soon discontinued repeatedly. 'White Paper for comics industry' in 2007 indicates that the trend of spending spare time is moving toward use of multi-media, which is a threat to publication. In spite of these unfavorable conditions, however, the whole field of comics industry manages to maintain growth. Not only educational comics but also mobile-based cartoons and webtoon are expanding the base and online service of the comics increases. Furthermore, Manga(Japanese comics) fever contributed to promoting export of Korean published comics.
Webtoon, which has a positive influence on vitalization of the comic book market, is characterized by web-based service. Since publication in print is distinguished from online posting in their characteristics as a media for the comics , authors try to adjust themselves to online and digital form by bring variety to expressive techniques and directing techniques that have been suitable for traditional publications. For this reason, the comics for paper printing show different features from the web-based comics. This study examined changes in the formal characteristics of the comics under changing media environment and conducted comparative analysis of the common points and differences between formal features of existing comics and webtoon. The analysis showed that while they have properties in common as comics, there was a clear distinction between them depending on forms of expression. The results of this study can be summarized as follows. First, in terms of spacial composition, though both printed comics and webtoon have something in common in importance of spaces and adjustment of time as authors select such factors as the size, shape, color, brightness, chroma, and boundary line on their own intention, printed comics are free to select space and make variations, while webtoon has a fixed form due to limitation of horizontal arrangement and a best condition to be readable. In addition, while they have something in common in that they have spaces for drawing with the technique of painting, some experimental webtoons can extend the drawing space unlike printed comics.
Second, in terms of time, while there is commonness in that they have no mechanical time measurable by any absolute standard, there is a time difference caused by order to be readable. Though they don't have a consistent dramatic moment, printed comics have some definite length of dramatic moment because the amount of publication is determined by the number of pages.
Third, both of them show flow of time through the groove between frames, and varied degree of importance depending on the size, so that this size have a function of controlling mechanical time. On the other hand, printed comics are represented by turning the pages, bleeding, and use of the whole page, and webtoon have real time through scrolling due to vertical arrangement and create the effect of continuity of time and cartoon animation. Printed comics is difficult to express outside the frames as they are much confined by frames, while webtoons have larger grooves and separate functional spaces for the words, drawings, and the background. One can organize the order of reading by intention more often in printed comics than in webtoons which have less horizontal division. They have cartoon metaphor by intention, which is not features on accordance with media. Both of them don't stick to the narrative structure like a drama, but may have complicated narrative structure in each volume according to the amount of publication. Besides, forms of dividing each volume vary depending on media. While webtoons also have traditional properties of cartoons which are changed from scene to scene mainly by change of motion and subject, they are more likely to have scene shifts as they use the same images repeatedly. Webtoons are more frequently represented with the use of computer-aided technique as they are optimized in the web environment.
These common points and differences between printed comics and webtoon do not intend changes of properties of cartoons but imply forms of expression according to media for cartoons. As printed comics are being served on the web, there is much change in the form of expression, which can be seen as formal features of webtoon. But we cannot say it has arrived in the finished condition. We have to recognize that they are in transition period to adjust themselves to changing media environment and try to make various attempts. In addition, a webtoon is also published in print, which causes another formal alteration. These phenomena are expected to continue in mutually complementary relationship between printed comics and webtoon.