Jumbles of pop-up windows dominate the computer screen. Every single box comprises arrays of illustrations, splashes of colors, and bulging letters, screaming
“Click for this webtoon!” There seem to be no end to this mounting number of pop-ups.

In the midst of the recent, booming popularity of webtoons recently, a puzzling enigma hits people: Since when did we come to appreciate such a nerdy pastime? Surely, the old, typical Korean television dramas tied cartoons with nerds glued to stacks of cartoons on their desks and more specifically, cartoon nerds oduk seemed to be officially labeled as an easy target in a classroom. Yet, at one point, online cartoons on Korea’s most renowned portal sites have stepped up in our society as new modes of communication.

The first generation of Korean cartoons were merely comic strips and the occasional political cartoons in newspapers. In the 1960s, traditional comic books began to flourish, rapidly filling up the empty shelves of comic book stores. As technology developed, however, the Webtoon age began. Webtoons started burgeoning after Naver, a popular Korean portal site, launched ‘Naver Webtoon’ in 2004. As other portal sites started introducing their own Webtoon corners, the scope of these webtoons expanded as well, introducing new genres of horror, daily, fantasy, comedy, and more. Although some assume that the decline of traditional comic books paved the pathway for the surge of webtoons, webtoons seem to hold something more than colored sketches – something that overturned the whole historical perspective of cartoons.

The most crucial factor that bolstered the escalating admiration of webtoons lies with the idea of social communication. Although cartoons were once considered only-nerds-read-them item back then, they are now rising as an “artistic” way to depict social issues in the form of drawings, a viable space for people to either encourage one another or mildly criticize one’s work, and a practical starting place for those who aspire to be cartoonists in the future. For instance, fans of “Cheese in the trap,” a famous webtoon on Naver, gather together online to analyze the plots, share their opinions, and simply enjoy conversations with people of the same interest.

Without a doubt, webtoons and the cartoonists themselves appear to have now entered a whole different wave of recognition, especially with myriad of web-dramas airing on TV. Web-cartoonists from different genres are appearing frequently on television shows, designing and selling products related to their own cartoon characters, and are actively trending as some of the influential figures in today’s Korean media world. The oduks are no longer in place – these cartoonists are on their way to stardom.

Indeed, there are some who have opposed the speedy transformation of webtoons since its first popular appeal to the general audience over a decade ago. Such people claim that easy accessibility to upload any webtoons on any portal websites can sometimes glorify inappropriate topics and bring about moral decline in society.

Despite this, the Webtoon market is still skyrocketing. Having started from a few blocks of drawings uploaded online, webtoons are blooming with increased sense of communication, marketing value, and fame. Granted that there may be some issues regarding inappropriate materials, prevalent technological development nowadays has now bolstered webtoons as one of the most dominant cultural devices in our society. The oduks are no longer appearing as easy targets in any high school teen drama scene anymore.