It was a big convention for digital comics this year at New York Comic Con, with a broad range of announcements that we’re rounding up here. The convention announcements built on digital momentum generally, which may have something to do with the disruptions to print comic distribution this year (see “ICv2 White Paper“).
Arctoon, based in Paris and San Francisco, announced the launch of new webtoon app Bang! for iOS and Android at the show. The new app promises vertical-scroll comics based on comics originally built for pages with pacing, adjusted speech bubbles, and transitions that bring the comics to the format without compromising the narrative. Episodes drop daily. Around 15 publishers currently available include Ablaze, Antarctic Press, Clover Press, Coffin Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Hermes Press, Red 5, and Tokyopop in the U.S.; and Casterman and Futuropolis in France.
Marvel Comics is expanding its relationship with WEBTOON Entertainment, announced last month (see “Disney and WEBTOON Team Up“), but adding a new wave of series it will make available on the vertical-scroll platform. The following titles will be available soon: Astonishing X-Men (2004), The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl, Stitch Samurai: The Complete Collection, Star Wars: Darth Vader – Black, White & Red, and Star Wars: Lost Stars.
Dark Horse Comics is expanding its relationship with WEBTOON Entertainment, which began in March 2024, by adding Stranger Things: The Other Side, tied to the first season of the Netflix series, and Plants vs. Zombies to the platform. Plants vs. Zombies, originally announced in June (see “Webtoon Gets More Dark Horse“), will go live on the platform on November 1; the Stranger Things content release date is to be announced.
Tokyopop is bringing titles to MangaPlaza, the digital manga platform by NTT Solmare Corp., the companies announced. Tokyopop titles coming to the platform include The Margrave’s Daughter & the Enemy Prince, The Unwanted Bride Loves the Crown Prince With All Her Heart, The Person I Loved Asked Me to Die in My Sister’s Stead, My Beautiful Man, and FANGS. NTT Solmare sister company NTT Docomo is a minority shareholder in Yen Press parent Kadokawa; Yen Press titles began appearing on MangaPlaza earlier this year (see “Yen Adds New Platform“).
Yen Press is bringing light novel titles to Tapas, historically thought of as a vertical-scroll webtoon platform. The titles include The Eminence in Shadow, Overlord, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World, The Summer Hikaru Died, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime. “At Tapas, we see a significant opportunity to bring novels to our readers,” Tapas Executive Director Alex R. Carr said in a statement accompanying the announcement. While Tapas appears to be a distant second to WEBTOON in the U.S. for vertical-scroll comics, recent moves show there are signs of life for the platform (see “’Let’s Play’ Moves to Tapas“).Source: ICv2
