WEBTOON and IDW Team Up for Reimagining Godzilla and More

IDW has partnered with WEBTOON to bring some of their fan-favorite series to a new format and, hopefully, a brand new audience! Godzilla is just one of the popular franchises that will be launching a webcomic version this month.

The first titles in WEBTOON’s slate of digital comic adaptations with IDW Publishing include:

• Godzilla: Unnatural Disaster – The three-part saga featuring Godzilla’s iconic rogues gallery, epic kaiju battles, and a thrilling adventure spanning different time periods – including a trip to the underworld.
• Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees – A dark and twisted tale about Samantha, a small-town bear who lives a double life. By day, she’s the helpful hardware store owner, and by night, she’s a serial killer.
• They Called Us Enemy – The graphic memoir follows actor George Takei as he revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps during World War II in a gripping tale of courage, country, loyalty, and love.

“WEBTOON has become the destination for comics of all kinds, including some of the biggest franchises in entertainment,” said Yongsoo Kim, Head of Global WEBTOON at WEBTOON Entertainment. “This partnership with IDW Publishing is an exciting step in expanding our diverse library and connecting more fans with the stories they love in a whole new way.”

“Partnering with WEBTOON to bring a selection of our beloved IDW books to their platform is an exciting step forward in expanding our reach and engaging with a broader audience,” said Davidi Jonas, CEO & Publisher of IDW Publishing. “We’re thrilled to work alongside such an innovative platform, and we can’t wait to see how our stories resonate with WEBTOON’s global community. This collaboration is an important part of our mission to bring comics to fans in creative and accessible ways.”

As a big fan of WEBTOON as a platform, I love announcements like this. I know I’ve decried live-action remakes of animated films in the past (or always), but in general I am a fan of multiple adaptations of things. (Mo Dao Zu Shi has a novel, an animated version, a live-action, and a comic, and I have seen/read all of them because I have no shame.) Whatever gets people into a series; whatever gets something more fans. (The recently launched webcomic adaptation of Fantasy High is a great example.)

And, to be perfectly honest, with all of the everything going on in the United States right now, anything that gives more eyes to something like They Called Us Enemy can only be a good thing.

But also, I think it’s a great idea to do things like this because I feel like WEBTOON as a platform is very accessible. I’ve read comics and manga in the past, but buying physical copies just gets too expensive after a point. That’s why I’m such a fan of apps like Marvel Unlimited or Shonen Jump, which allow you to read a number of titles for a relatively low monthly price.

WEBTOON has an app and a website, and you can choose which you prefer. Also, the bulk of everything that you read is free, but you do have the option to purchase chapters in advance (which I have absolutely done in the past) in order to help support the creators.

Anyway, I love this for IDW, which I think has a lot of franchises that would work well with the WEBTOON format. I’m excited to see what else they plan on reimagining.

The first batch of IDW titles will launch on April 25, with more to follow later.

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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