Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Availability

Open Access Thesis

Keywords

Webcomics;

Abstract

Webcomics have now existed as a form of graphic literature for slightly over thirty years, evolving along with computer technology and in turn reflecting the changes in culture, style and preferences for both independent artists on the Internet and their audiences. The evolution of the webcomic illustrates how the changing trends in technology and profit interests shape stylistic and narrative sensibilities. In turn, the offshoot medium of webtoons, whose history parallels the webcomic directly, illustrates the way the presentday independent webcomic sphere is shaped by the demands of contents platforms that demand its creatives constantly produce content to maintain active streams of revenue, forcing up and coming artists to trade creative freedom with the ability to publish and own their work independently. This system ensures that the platform controls the stylistic, narrative and aesthetic choices of the art made in it, and in turn the direction of the medium in the mainstream. The following analysis uses two examples of successful webtoons to illustrate ways in which platforms control the form of their contents, as well as the ways in which they cultivate new content to profit from through a process of artist incubation and competitiveness, while comparing them to the medium of webcomics that Webtoon spun off from.

Year of Submission

2022

Degree Name

Master of Arts

Department

Department of Languages and Literatures

First Advisor

Brooke Wonders, Chair

Date Original

12-2022

Object Description

1 PDF file (vi, 61 pages)

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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