Demons, Princes, and Wishes! Oh My

Nikolas Ueber By Alannah Martinez Niki, short for Nikolas, wrote about the comic book El Muerto for the Ezine project. He wants to talk about the different ways the author creates the panels on his comic in his feature story. After he graduates he might go to college but says his ideal life is to travel the world in a van. He is bilingual and speaks both English and German. He enjoys listening to music from all different genres and styles. Deftones, Juice Wrld, Mitski are some of his favorite artists in the music industry.

Alannah Martinez By Minka Franco Alannah Martinez wrote about Webtoons for her magazine idea. Gathering interviews from story creators on the site and turning it into a feature story. This makes sense since reading is one of her favorite hobbies. More specifically the fantasy genre is where her interests lay. When discussing her plans for the future, she brought up her interest in going to college, preferably St. Edwards because she would prefer not to go into a big college. Something interesting about Alannah is that she owns 6 dogs.

Minka Franco By Madoc Elder Minka’s topic for the Ezine was behind the scenes of video games. She plays many different video games and interviewed some game designers for her feature story. After high school, she plans to get into college and pursue her dreams of being a lawyer. Her interests include writing songs and singing. She enjoys visiting her family in Paraguay for the holidays. She likes making new friends and hanging out with them in her free time.

Madoc Elder By Nikolas Ueber Madoc Elder’s topic for Ezine was American cartoons. One of his hobbies is watching American cartoons, because he appreciates the comedy in them. Madoc also plays baseball for fun, and he is on a baseball team. When Madoc grows up he wants to become a pilot in the army. He is very interested in cars, and he likes to talk about them with his friends.

Demons, Princes, and Wishes! Oh My! Webtoon creators share their experiences making their series

Webtoon is an app where artists and writers can post their stories. It originated in South Korea, but has grown in popularity and is now known worldwide. Creators on the app make digital comics targeting specific interests people have, the comics can range from horror to comedy and contain unique stories in every genre. With the number of different genres that exist on the platform, it’s easy for anyone to find an engaging story. Webtoon is home to many popular comics, but there are also many that aren’t well known. Creators that don’t get paid for their work on the app and simply post their creations for fun are called canvas creators. The Webtoons that exist on the canvas feature of the app are usually still developing. Many of the canvas creators on the app eventually get hired to work for Webtoon full-time, promoting their Webtoon and bringing more attention to it. Webtoons that become popular usually gain a large following. Fans play a very large role in the making of Webtoon comics. Not only do they help by supporting the creators, but they also help the Webtoon become noticed outside of the platform. Some very popular Webtoons can even go to become shows on Netflix. Sweet Home and Lookism, both very popular on the app, have become shows on Netflix. The Webtoon community is always growing, whether it may be from fans, or from new creators joining the app. Every

By Alannah Martinez

story and art style differs from the last and brings something new to the table. For many creators on the app, adding pieces of themselves into their work makes it so much different from the rest. Giving the characters aspects of the creator’s personality or life experience makes it easier to build their characters. “Sometimes I think about my struggles with anxiety and worrying about what people think, so I decided to give my main character some of that because I can draw from my experiences,” said Caelem Sky, creator of the canvas series Yellow Lion. Creators like using moments in their lives that were impactful and filled with a lot of emotions. These emotions from the creator portrayed in the Webtoon give the reader a deeper understanding of these moments in the characters’ lives. “Bea was made whenever I was 20 and about to graduate college, so her story being sort of a year after graduation while still having no purpose and her dream not coming out exactly the way it was meant to, her basic story was started because of some of my fears with coming out of college,” said Mei Rothschild, creator of the series Brimstone and Roses. While some moments creators look to for inspiration are sometimes negative emotions, some creators like using good memories to describe scenes in their Webtoons that are joyful. Chelsea Goerzen, creator of the series Asterion, uses her favorite memories from spending time with loved ones as an influence in creating her characters. “Sirius is a lot like my dad, a little bit of a goofball. He’s smart in some ways, but not as smart in others. He was basically made to be a dad so a lot of him was just copy-pasted from favorite parts of hanging out with my dad,” she said. Being in the creative field of work isn’t always an easy feat, especially for artists. It’s undeniable that creators on Webtoon enjoy working on their series, but there is always a need for a steady income no matter what line of work you’re in. Sometimes the motivation to continue working on a Webtoon is simply from the payment. “To continue working half of it to be honest is the money. Not necessarily because I’m interested in becoming rich but more so that I can actually have the income to be able to support myself and do this full-time,” said Chelsea Goerzen. “I draw my creativity from wanting to earn a paycheck and to continue to live on my own,” said Mei Rothschild. As with any other job, money is needed for people to live comfortably and

Photo courtesy of Chelsea Goerzen

also pursue their dreams. Nonetheless, there is still so much effort and time spent on creating these comics. While money is important in giving creators motivation to continue working, another important factor in giving the creators motivation is their fans. Fans of their work are what give many artists and writers on Webtoon motivation to continue producing unique work. Many creators devote their effort and time to their Webtoons in order to see people’s reactions to their work. “There’s a lot of fun in posting it and reading people’s comments