Maypril Edition 2026: Comics: Moving from Paper to Screens

When stories started moving from the book to the screen, it wasn’t only words that made the jump from physical to digital. Pictures started showing up next to the words, but some aren’t just dull graphs or diagrams for textbooks. Some become the main focus, the part that creators and readers alike spend hours poring over every last detail. Over the years, webcomics have become just as, if not more, popular than their tangible counterparts. Hundreds of different genres, stories, settings, and characters are available for free on apps like WEBTOON and Tapas. But once in a while, it’s good to step back, to look over the history that led to these webtoons, check out what special features they offer, and learn how creators can utilize this new medium to support themselves. 

There’s some confusion on the differences between graphic novels, comic books, comic strips, and cartoons. While some people think they’re basically the same thing, graphic novels and comics have key differences depending on formatting and length. According to some of the Norman Rockwell Museum’s archives on illustration media, graphic novels are classified as “never before told stories,” which are usually combined into a single book. However, not all graphic novels are fiction. Some are memoirs, detailing the creator’s true experiences and stories. Some graphic novel memoirs include “Almost American Girl,” written and illustrated by Robin Ha on her experience moving from South Korea to America as a young teenager, and “Guts,” created by Raina Telgemeier on her secondary school experiences dealing with anxiety and bullying. Some classic literature has also been formatted to become graphic novels. 

Comic books, which can be combined into a trade paperback, are stories that start from one comic book and continue on with the next. These comic books are usually set in an already established fictional universe. The Marvel comics could be placed in this category. Comic strips, also called cartoons, are often created for newspapers. These strips could be put into a book volume later on, like the “Big Nate” books. Manga, essentially Japanese comic books, are formatted to read right to left, instead of left to right.

In this article, the word “episode” will be used to describe one installment of a webcomic on the app WEBTOONS, since WEBTOONS is one of the most popular places to read webcomics for many people, including Hopkins students. WEBTOONS refers to a singe webcomic installment as an “episode.” 

How the “Golden Age” of Comic Books Established Comics as a Whole

A big part of comics history are superheros, and the super-powered figures dominated the comics industry for years. DC Comics’ predecessor, National Allied Publication, created the modern superhero a couple years before the period that is considered the “golden age” of comics. The “Golden Age,” lasting from 1938 to 1956, had a lot of political propaganda because of the breaking out of World War II. In fact, more and more people started reading comics during the war. PBS notes that comics were “cheap, portable and had inspirational, patriotic stories of good triumphing over evil,” meaning that many comics could be read by young men of military enlisting age. As such, many characters and stories in comics became clear propaganda. Comic covers with Captain America and other superheroes fighting Nazis can be found all over the internet. However, shortly after World War II ended, the superhero genre became less popular, giving room for some other genres, like horror, to shine in the industry. One important effect of the Golden Age was the establishment of the comic book, and comics in general, as a new art medium, with its own features and its own way of doing things.

Different Features, Different Experience

Because webcomics are put out online, they have different features that can lead to a new reading experience. For example, a key difference between webcomics and physical comics is the direction you read in. 7th grader Chloe Hoang states that to her, scrolling was a clear distinction between physical and online comics. In physical books, you typically read from left to right (or right to left if you’re reading manga), finishing one page before flipping to the next. When you read webcomics, you have to scroll down to read the next panel. As the YouTube channel Water Wave mentions in their video on the horror webcomic “Everything is Fine,” scrolling down long continuous panels can build a feeling of tension. Another interesting feature exclusive to online comics is background music. Background music is used especially in comics of the horror genre on WEBTOON. In that genre, the music is used to make the reader feel the same sense of dread the characters often feel in the moment. The episodes start playing the music after you pass a certain panel. Webcomic creators utilize these components to better tell the stories they want to share with the world. 

A sense of community can also be formed with webcomics. As 7th grade student Kehla Nie stated, on most webcomic websites, readers can leave comments underneath the episode, which other readers can “like,” or upvote. The comic creators can also leave comments and likes under their own episodes. Of course, a sense of community can be built offline, seeing others in line to buy the same book, or grabbing a copy off a shelf can definitely start a conversation with a fellow fan. But, if people don’t have an opportunity to go out and meet other comic enthusiasts, an online space is greatly appreciated as well. 

How can Webcomics Affect Creators Financially?

The majority of comic episodes on WEBTOON are free to read, so how do the creators earn money? First of all, the artists and writers on WEBTOON can earn money through ad revenue. Either a video ad at the top of screen will pop out when you first open an episode, or a simple image ad will show up at the bottom of an episode above the comment section. However, WEBTOON has an interesting feature that creators can use: locking up episodes, or delaying the release of finished episodes until a set date. Story based comics, or comics with a consistent plot line, seem to tend to “lock up” episodes more than other genres. If a reader wants to read an episode before it comes out to the public, they can either watch an ad or use “Coins” to “unlock” the episode. “Coins” are digital tokens that can be purchased by readers and used on any series they want. Readers can also send “Super Likes” to creators on an episode they liked. “Super Likes” can be purchased like Coins and sent directly to the comic creators. 

Creators could also create physical copies of their webcomics for their readers to buy. However, student Jacey Cho remarked that a benefit of webcomics is that it costs money to buy physical books, but online comics are available for free on certain websites. Wen-Ling Shyu also stated, “You don’t need to buy a hundred books in order to finish a series.” Additionally, the comics sometimes have to be reformatted and lose the online features. The creators also have to find a publisher, or crowd-fund from their audience otherwise. Nevertheless, some popular WEBTOON webcomics are either already released or are in the process of being released as a physical book, such as “Everything is Fine,” “School Bus Graveyard,” and “44th Period Survival Class.” 

Personally, I believe webcomics are great for creators and their readers alike. Creators can share their stories with people all over the world, and readers can explore exciting new stories and genres, without having to spend a ton of money on physical books. And they can still support their favorite writers and artists by buying physical copies or other types of merchandise. I wouldn’t have discovered some of my favorite creators and comics if not for webcomics, which I will definitely be purchasing physical editions of when they release. It’s fascinating to think about how people can create a new medium and use it to its fullest potential.