Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dc, entertainment, gendercrunching, LINE Webtoon, marvel, sxsw, wattpad webtoon studios, Webtoon, women
42% Of LINE Webtoon's Comic Creators Are Female – And Half Are Read By Women
Bleeding Cool has been running Tim Hanley's Gendercrunching columns on Bleeding Cool for years, measuring the "above the line" credits in comic books form major comic book publishers and seeing how they divide by gender.
Well, LINE Webtoon, the popular digital comics publisher from Korea, may have some statistics to add. They are making their Austin debut at SXSW Gaming on Friday, March 18th for a panel entitled "Women in Digital Comics," featuring 2 Broke Girls' star Beth Behrs (Dents), digital star Michelle Phan (Helios : Femina), LINE Webtoon creators Kaitlyn Narvaza (Where Tangents Meet) and Susanna Nousiainen (ShootAround), and second place winner of LINE Webtoon's recent Superhero Comics Contest, Sandra Diaz (Supersonic Girl). The panel will be moderated by LINE Webtoon's Head of Content Tom Akel.
The panel brings together a number of their female creators to discuss their new and current titles, what it's like developing comics in the current climate, and how they're reaching their audiences through broad digital distribution. "Women in Digital Comics" will also address how female readership continues to be an ancillary market for most comic publishers, however, the audience and desire for comics for and by women is stronger than ever.
But ahead of this panel, LINE Webtoon has revealed that 42% of the platform's creators are women, with 48% of its comics featuring female leads and 50% of its over 6 million daily readers being women.
I believe that's called audience parity….
LINE Webtoon's "Women in Digital Comics" panel will be free and open to the public on the SXSW Geek Stage on Friday, March 18th at 12:30pm and will also be livestreamed at www.twitch.tv/sxswgaming.
Fans can ask questions to the panelists by sending questions through social media using hashtag #WebtoonSXSW. Fan questions will be asked during the panel and also answered afterwards on each panelist's respective comics on LINE Webtoon.