Lezhin Entertainment launched its latest digital comic (webcomic) contest, the 2020 Lezhin Comic Challenge, to creators in South Korea and abroad. The challenge is available to all genres ranging from young to mature titles.
Lezhin started the 2020 Comic Challenge this July and accepted submissions until the last day of August. Participants could submit their comic entries for a chance to win up to 18 million won ($15,000) in cash. A panel of judges would announce the winners after a month on September 30, 2020.
The startup said that the competition aims to discover the next prominent webcomic artist. The challenge would also bring together diverse and innovative content creators, allowing them to showcase their work.
The 2020 Lezhin Comic Challenge offers a grand prize of 18 million won ($15,000), followed by the first prize of 6 million won ($5,000), the second prize of 2.4 million won ($2,000), and the third prize of 1.2 million won ($1,000).
Founded in 2013, Lezhin produces some of the most widely read webcomic titles in Korean, English, Japanese, and Chinese. Its webcomic platform provides readers with about 8,000 titles with a variety of topics ranging from fantasy, action, romance, etc.
Founder Hee Sung Han and Chris Kwon modeled the Lezhin’s platform as a free-to-read service where fans could download webcomic comics using Lezhin’s app. Through a revenue-sharing model, the startup also allows content creators to monetize their works.
Gaining Popularity of Webcomics
Digital comics, more popularly known as webcomics, are comics published through a website or an app. They comprise about 50-60 new episodes and cuts mostly portrayed through images, text, and sometimes multimedia. Content creators typically release their work weekly.
As webcomics gain more popularity around the world, Lezhin, along with other webcomic platforms such as Webtoons, has contributed to the exportation of Korean content to a broader audience.
For more details, go to https://social.lezhin.com/2020/07/01/the-2020-lezhin-comic-challenge/