WEBTOON Adds BOOM! Studios Comics in Vertical Scroll Format

WEBTOON has announced a new partnership with BOOM! Studios that will bring several of the publisher’s popular titles to the platform in vertical scroll webcomic format. The collaboration makes WEBTOON the exclusive home for digital scroll editions of four titles: Something Is Killing the Children, Wynd, Fence, and Lumberjanes.

Something Is Killing the Children comes from writer James Tynion IV and follows the unsettling disappearances of children in the small town of Archer’s Peak. Most of the missing never come back, and the ones who do carry terrible stories. Wynd, also by Tynion and artist Michael Dialynas and the recipient of a GLAAD Award, centers on a young boy whose secret is the magical blood running through his veins. Fence follows a young competitive fencer named Nicholas Cox as he works to make a name for himself and honor his father’s legacy. Lumberjanes, an Eisner and GLAAD Award winner, tells the story of five friends at a summer camp where supernatural happenings are simply part of daily life.

Launch dates for each of the four titles on WEBTOON have not been announced yet and will be shared separately.

The BOOM! Studios deal continues a busy run of publisher partnerships for WEBTOON. Earlier this year the service added titles from IDW Publishing, Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist, and a slate of comics from Dark Horse including The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077, The Legend of Korra, and others. WEBTOON also struck a global deal with Disney to adapt around 100 comics from Disney, Marvel, 20th Century Studios, and Star Wars in vertical scroll format, and announced a Paramount partnership to bring Star Trek comics to the platform.

My take: WEBTOON has been on a real expansion run lately and adding BOOM! Studios to the mix feels like a natural fit. Lumberjanes in particular seems like a great match for the vertical scroll format, and it will be interesting to see how these stories translate.