Chapter 135 – Korean Comics, Please Fail (No, Just Kidding)
“I originally worked as an assistant in Comic artist Shin Pil-ho’s studio. Since I was doing relatively less stimulating works there, this time I wanted to do something with a stronger, more impactful…… stimulating flavor in my own work.”
“Ooh, so it was true that you worked as an assistant in Shin Pil-ho’s studio.”
“Yes, I received a lot of help from Comic artist Shin Pil-ho. Thanks to him, I was even able to get into Animation High, which I currently attend.”
Tap tap tap! Tap tap tap tap!
Editor Ki Cheon-yong typed away excitedly with an interested expression as he listened to Kang Min-hyuk’s story.
‘So the rumor was true.’
Of course, this wasn’t entirely new information to him.
Despite appearances, Ki Cheon-yong had eyes and ears everywhere — he was a man with connections all over the place.
- I heard that when Comic artist Shin Pil-ho was preparing his new work, he received quite a lot of help from David.
- David? The one from Brave King?
- Yeah, that guy worked as his assistant. Shin Pil-ho said he helped a lot from the planning stage.
There had been rumors that Shin Pil-ho had received great help from David and even considered him a benefactor.
In fact, the style of the work had changed dramatically at that time, and the changed style had produced very successful results.
Because of that, even before he knew Kang Min-hyuk was a high school student, Ki Cheon-yong had been quite interested in him.
And now, the protagonist of those rumors — a high school student (even a middle school student at the time) — had released the outstanding work Brave King and had even won the Grand Prize at the Bucheon Comic Awards.
How could he not do an interview?
‘It would be dereliction of duty.’
The news had covered it, and all kinds of internet media had talked about Kang Min-hyuk for a whole week.
But.
The “young genius comic artist” narrative that the news kept pushing wasn’t the kind of interview Ki Cheon-yong wanted.
Focusing on the fact that Kang Min-hyuk was a high school student might create temporary buzz, but as a comic fan, he wasn’t particularly curious about that.
What Cheon-yong truly wanted to know was:
What kind of philosophy this monstrous artist held.
And what kind of influence he would have on the future of the Korean comic industry.
“Hooo…… So, the sudden change in Shin Pil-ho’s art style back then — was it related to you working as his assistant?”
“It wasn’t that I did anything special. Comic artist Shin Pil-ho worked incredibly hard at that time. I learned a lot about the attitude and way of thinking a comic artist should have.”
Ki Cheon-yong kept nodding.
‘He’s humble and has a good attitude. He really doesn’t seem like a high school student no matter how you look at it.’
Once again, he understood why Comic artist Yang Jae-han and the New Chance editorial team had made such a fuss over this kid.
After that, he continued asking questions.
“In the last few months, you serialized two episodes every time a magazine came out. How on earth did you manage the deadlines? It couldn’t have been easy while attending school.”
“The school gave me a lot of consideration. And my classmates helped me tremendously as assistants. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them again.”
“Now, I’d like to ask about your favorite episode.”
“I think it has to be the Gyeongbokgung Palace episode. There was an incident while designing the Reverse Heaven’s Monarch who appears there.”
From small anecdotes to the various hardships he faced while drawing the work.
Min-hyuk seemed quite immersed in the interview as well, speaking with great enthusiasm.
How much time had passed like that?
“Huuuu, well, that’s enough about the past episodes. Shall we move on to the final question?”
“Yes.”
“Comic artist Kang Min-hyuk, what are your plans for your next work?”
“My next work?”
“Yes. The serialization will obviously be with New Chance, but…… I’m very curious about the genre, the plot, or rather, above all, when you plan to return. Do you have any plans regarding that? I think many readers are wondering about it.”
He wasn’t just saying that.
In reality, comic-related communities were already extremely interested in what kind of work the “genius high school student” Kang Min-hyuk, who had won the Bucheon Comic Awards, would do next and when he would return.
“Hmm, I plan to return as soon as possible. There’s a work I want to do, so I’m already preparing for the screening.”
“Ooh! Already?”
Ki Cheon-yong’s face brightened as he typed excitedly.
For most printed comic artists, they usually took at least half a year off because they were so exhausted after serialization……
So for a big name like Kang Min-hyuk to say he would return right away, Cheon-yong couldn’t help but be happy.
At that moment, Min-hyuk stroked his chin and continued,
“And regarding serialization, it looks like it will be done simultaneously with both New Chance and Bluehouse.”
“……Yes?”
For a moment, Cheon-yong tilted his head.
“Blue…… house?”
There was no comic magazine named Bluehouse.
That name was……
“Are you perhaps talking about the internet portal ‘Bluehouse’?”
“Ah. Yes. I’m planning to serialize my new work there in webtoon format.”
“Webtoon?”
Deep wrinkles formed on Cheon-yong’s forehead.
‘What the hell is this about webtoons? Comic artist Min-hyuk…… Did he eat something wrong?’
The words almost rose to his throat.
What even was a webtoon?
Wasn’t it just the den of heretics who couldn’t debut in the ink-scented world of printed comics and were instead sniffing around, drawing something that only resembled comics?
He found it unpleasant that the word “toon” was even attached to it.
From Cheon-yong’s perspective, webtoons weren’t comics at all — they were nothing more than internet posts patched together with text and pictures.
He scratched his head with a deeply troubled expression and asked,
“Um, I’m having a bit of trouble understanding. You’re saying you’ll serialize simultaneously with both New Chance and Bluehouse?”
“Yes. I’ll draw the comic and edit it into two different versions to release.”
“Uuuuugh…… Then, how do you plan to handle the black-and-white versus color issue?”
“I’m considering either going with unified black-and-white, or working in color and then converting it. Right now, both options are on the table.”
He had already thought this through?
Cheon-yong’s expression grew even worse.
‘Then wouldn’t the quality drop significantly?’
It was obvious.
What he was saying was essentially that he would double the editing workload.
For a genius artist who should be exploding with growth while fully focused on his work, wasting talent on something like this……
“A little…… no, I’m quite shocked. I naturally assumed your next work would also be a printed comic, Comic artist Min-hyuk.”
“……I believe the era of printed comics will soon come to an end.”
“Excuse me? Why do you think that?”
Min-hyuk repeated the words he had said many times before, like a recorder.
That the full-fledged era of webtoons would arrive alongside smartphones, and that this would align with Korean readers’ preferences, causing Korean comics to evolve into an entirely different form……
He organized and spoke the words based on events that would happen in the future.
However.
Cheon-yong, who was listening, found it extremely difficult to accept.
The positive part was that this high school student artist was looking at the industry from such a macroscopic perspective and drawing comics accordingly.
The bad part was……
“This may be presumptuous, but shouldn’t you, Comic artist Min-hyuk, be protecting the printed comic industry? After all, you’re the Bucheon Comic Awards Grand Prize winner and the author of Brave King.”
To Ki Cheon-yong, this did not feel like a good choice at all.
No matter how he thought about it, from his perspective, webtoons were an inferior platform that struggled to contain quality comics.
And for good reason.
“I understand what you’re thinking, but I find it hard to accept the idea of growing the market by making webtoons paid content. I simply cannot imagine Koreans willingly paying money for digital images that cannot be physically owned like paper books.”
Korean comics had collapsed.
And they had collapsed miserably.
There were many excuses — rental shops, censorship, etc. — but……
At the root of it all was the fact that people simply did not spend money on the medium called comics.
In that context, the idea that people would spend money on “webtoons” commonly seen on the internet was something Cheon-yong’s mind simply could not accept.
However, Min-hyuk answered immediately, as if he had expected this question.
“Well, overseas, sales of e-book readers are already rising rapidly. In Japan, although the market is still small, there are quite a few cases of comics being consumed in similar formats. Just like how ADSL arrived and PC bang culture exploded in Korea, I believe webtoons can also become a proper culture and create a viable revenue model.”
His face and voice were full of conviction.
Ki Cheon-yong’s head started to throb.
“Uuuugh, I understand what you’re saying. But I still find it very disappointing and risky. I’m worried that someone like you, Comic artist Min-hyuk, might be wasting your outstanding talent on something with no potential.”
“That’s exactly why I have to do it.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m only 17 years old and still a minor. Wouldn’t it make more sense for someone who has nothing to lose to take on such challenges rather than someone who has a lot to lose?”
“……Uuuugh, if that’s how you see it, I have nothing more to say.”
It was a logical and perfectly correct statement.
Yet Cheon-yong kept scratching his forehead, unable to shake off his disappointment.
‘Let’s stop here. After all…… there’s nothing I can do about it.’
The possibility seemed small, but he could only hope that this genius boy’s thoughts would somehow turn out to be right.
He let out a sigh and asked,
“Then, could you tell me a little about the genre or content of your next work?”
At that, Min-hyuk shook off the serious expression on his face, smiled brightly, and answered,
“Ah, of course. This new work is a horror story.”
“……Eh? H-Horror?”
What kind of nonsense was this now?
Cheon-yong’s expression became even more confused.
“Yes, it’s an occult horror that mixes pseudo-religion and exorcism elements. I want to make full use of interesting directing techniques that can only be done in webtoons. That’s why I thought the horror genre would be perfect for it.”
“Then…… you’re not doing the royal road story you used to do?”
“No, at least not for a while. I think repeating the same thing won’t help me grow much as an artist.”
“I…… see.”
After that, unlike before, Kang Min-hyuk spoke with great excitement.
He talked about the story of his next work, what kind of experience he wanted to give readers through it……
Along with casual stories like how he would serialize it on Bluehouse together with his assistant friends.
Of course.
‘……This…… looks like it’s going to fail.’
There was no need to ask how Cheon-yong took it.
‘No, not him! The white knight who was supposed to save the Korean comic industry…… a genius who appears only once in a hundred years!’
As Min-hyuk’s energy rose, Cheon-yong’s shoulders gradually slumped lower and lower.
After talking for a while longer,
The two of them came out in front of the café.
“The interview was very enjoyable. When will the magazine come out?”
“It will take about two weeks. It will be in the New Year special issue.”
“Ah, I’m looking forward to it! Then I’ll be waiting.”
Min-hyuk bowed politely.
Cheon-yong bowed his head in return and walked in the opposite direction.
“See you…… next time.”
Was it because of the year-end cold?
White steam came out of Cheon-yong’s mouth, and his shoulders were noticeably drooped.
And……
“Haaaaaaa, of all people, Comic artist Kang Min-hyuk is doing webtoons.”
A long, heavy sigh escaped from him.
Is the Korean comic industry really okay like this?
This really feels like it’s completely fucked.
“Why of all things does it have to be webtoons?!”
A deep sense of despair, as if he had lost the entire world, settled on Ki Cheon-yong’s face.
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