Netcomics

Last updated

Netcomics
Founded2005
FounderHeewoon Chung
DefunctDecember 29, 2024
Country of originUnited States
Headquarters locationLos Angeles, California
Distribution Diamond Book Distributors
Publication types manga, manhwa
Fiction genres Boy's Love, Romance, Action
Owner(s)Heewoon Chung
Official website www.netcomics.com

Netcomics was a publisher of manhwa, webtoons, manga, and comics in the United States, based in Los Angeles, CA, which contributed to the Korean Wave. [1] South Korean publisher Ecomix Media Company created Netcomics, with the first titles appearing in the first quarter of 2006 and they were considered one of the pioneers in digital publication of manhwa. [2] [3]

They offered a variety of English titles that could be either rented or purchased on their homepage or app. [4] [5] [6]

Netcomics served as a distributor for some titles by manga publisher Aurora Publishing until Aurora's closure in April 2010. [7]

Netcomics ended service on December 29, 2024. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manga</span> Comics or graphic novels created in Japan

Manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term manga is used in Japan to refer to both comics and cartooning. Outside of Japan, the word is typically used to refer to comics originally published in Japan.

<i>Weekly Shōnen Jump</i> Japanese manga magazine

Weekly Shōnen Jump is a weekly shōnen manga anthology published in Japan by Shueisha under the Jump line of magazines. The manga series within the magazine consist of many action scenes and a fair amount of comedy. Chapters of the series that run in Weekly Shōnen Jump are collected and published in tankōbon volumes under the Jump Comics imprint every two to three months. It is one of the longest-running manga magazines, with the first issue being released with a cover date of August 1, 1968.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scanlation</span> Fan translation of comics, often manga

Scanlation is the fan-made scanning, translation, and editing of comics from a language into another language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work performed by groups and is nearly always done without express permission from the copyright holder. The word "scanlation" is a portmanteau of the words scan and translation. The term is mainly used for Japanese manga, although it also exists for other languages, such as Korean manhwa and Chinese manhua. Scanlations may be viewed at websites or as sets of image files downloaded via the Internet.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tokyopop</span> German-American entertainment company

Tokyopop is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed Japanese properties and original English-language manga, as well as original German-language manga. Tokyopop's US publishing division publishes works in English. Tokyopop has its US headquarters near Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California.

<i>Manhwa</i> Comics created in Korea

Manhwa is the general Korean term for comics and print cartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers to Korean comics. Manhwa is directly influenced by Japanese Manga comics. Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by access to Webtoons and have created an impact that has resulted in some movie, drama and television show adaptations.

<i>Manhua</i> Chinese-language comics produced in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan

Manhua are Chinese-language comics produced in Greater China. Chinese comics and narrated illustrations have existed in China throughout its history.

An original English-language manga or OEL manga is a comic book or graphic novel drawn in the style of manga and originally published in English. The term "international manga", as used by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, encompasses all foreign comics which draw inspiration from the "form of presentation and expression" found in Japanese manga. This may also apply to manga-inspired comics made in other languages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Park Media</span> Defunct US multimedia entertainment company

Central Park Media Corporation, often abbreviated as CPM, was an American multimedia entertainment company based in New York City, New York and was headquartered in the 250 West 57th Street building in Midtown Manhattan. They were one of the first companies to be active in the distribution of East Asian cinema, television series, anime, manga, and manhwa titles in North America, notably helping to make hentai popular in the region. Over its history, the company licensed several popular titles, such as Slayers, Revolutionary Girl Utena, the Tokyo Babylon OVAs, Project A-ko, and Demon City Shinjuku.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webtoon</span> South Korean digital comics

Webtoons (Korean: 웹툰) are a type of episodic digital comic that originated in South Korea usually meant to be read on smartphones. While webtoons were mostly unknown outside of South Korea during their inception, there has been a surge in popularity internationally thanks to the easy online accessibility and variety of free online comic content. Today, Webtoons make roughly $5.91 billion globally. In the country, as digital comic have emerged as a popular medium, print publication of comic has decreased. The amount of material published in webtoon form has now reached an equal amount as that published offline.

Digital Manga is a California-based publishing company that licenses and releases Japanese manga, anime, and related merchandise in the English language.

Manga, or comics, have appeared in translation in many different languages in different countries. France represents about 40% of the European comic market and in 2011, manga represented 40% of the comics being published in the country. In 2007, 70% of the comics sold in Germany were manga. In the United States, manga comprises a small industry, especially when compared to the inroads that Japanese animation or Japanese video games have made in the USA. One example of a manga publisher in the United States, VIZ Media, functions as the American affiliate of the Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha. Though the United Kingdom has fewer manga publishers than the U.S., most manga sold in the United Kingdom are published by U.S. publishing companies like Viz Media and Kodansha Comics which are in turn owned by their Japanese counterparts. Alongside the United Kingdom, the U.S. manga publishers also sell their English translated manga in other English speaking nations like Canada, Australia and New Zealand with manga being quite popular in Australia compared to other English speaking countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aurora Publishing (United States)</span> American publishing company

Aurora Publishing, Inc. was the American subsidiary of Japanese publisher Ohzora Publishing, the leading josei manga publisher in Japan. Headquartered in Torrance, California, it licensed and published Japanese manga for the North American market. Aurora Publishing's first release was Walkin' Butterfly under the shōjo imprint Aurora, which features manga targeting female readers in their teens and younger. Aurora Publishing also released manga under two other imprints: the yaoi imprint Deux Press featured female-oriented manga about homoerotic relations between beautiful men, while the josei imprint Luv Luv featured erotic romance manga targeting female readers in their late teens and up. Aurora Publishing distributed some of its manga via Netcomics. In 2010, the Aurora office in California closed. The former employees of Aurora Publishing went on to found Manga Factory. Manga Factory lasted until at least June 2013 before it closed as well.

Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, the latter under their Kodansha Manga imprint.

<i>The Obama Story</i>

The Obama Story: The Boy with the Biggest Dream! is a manhwa that is a biography of Barack Obama. T. S. Lee wrote and illustrated the book. Janet Jaywan Shin created the English translation from the original Korean. In the U.S., J.E Chae and Brittany Pogue-Mohammed edited that country's version.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boichi</span> South Korean mangaka (born 1973)

Mu-jik Park, known professionally as Boichi, is a South Korean manhwa-turned-manga artist living in Japan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JManga</span> American manga website

JManga was an American website and international online community focused on the promotion, distribution, and monetization of digital comics as well as the development of other manga related services. Founded in December 2010 and backed by the 36 publishers of the Japanese Digital Comics Association, JManga was intended to serve as a legal alternative to scanlation sites and online piracy. The site was closed in June 2013.

BookWalker (ブックウォーカー), stylized as Book☆Walker and BOOK☆WALKER, is a Japanese e-book store that sells manga, light novels, and magazines from various publishers, as well as a few published by themselves. It is based in Chiyoda, Tokyo and was created by Kadokawa Corporation. The company was founded in 2005 before launching their store in Japan in 2010 and internationally in 2014, in which year a webtoon-focused mobile application counterpart, ComicWalker, was also launched.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Webtoon (platform)</span> Webtoon hosting service

WEBTOON is an American-South Korean webtoon platform launched in 2004 by Naver Corporation, providing hosting for webtoons and compact digital comics. The platform, controlled by Naver and the Naver-SoftBank Group joint venture LY Corporation through a Delaware-domiciled, Los Angeles, California-headquartered holding company WEBTOON Entertainment Inc., is free and can be found both on the web at Webtoons.com and on mobile devices available for both Android and iOS.

MyAnimeList, often abbreviated as MAL, is an anime and manga social networking and social cataloging application website run by volunteers. The site provides its users with a list-like system to organize and score anime and manga. It facilitates finding users who share similar tastes and provides a large database on anime and manga. As of March 2024, the site reported having approximately 26,417 anime and 68,308 manga entries. In 2015, the site received 120 million visitors per month.

References

  1. Yadao, Jason S. (October 2009). The Rough Guide to Manga. Penguin. p. 231. ISBN   978-1-4053-8423-0 . Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  2. McKinney, D. W. (October 24, 2020). "Riding the Wave: The Steady Rise of Korean Manhwa". Los Angeles Review of Books. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  3. Cha, Kai-Ming. "The Koreans Are Coming: NETCOMICS Brings Manhwa to U.S.: PW." Netcomics. December 6, 2005. Retrieved on December 9, 2011.
  4. Vergara, Vernieda (October 25, 2018). "9 of the Best Manga Sites and Apps to Feed Your Need". BookRiot. Riot New Media Group. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  5. "Official English Translations by Netcomics". Anime-Planet. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  6. "10 Best Romance Manhwa For Fans Of Manga". CBR. February 21, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  7. "NetComics to Remove Aurora Manga on April 14". Anime News Network. April 9, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2021.
  8. Tai, Anita (November 4, 2024). "Manhwa Publisher Netcomics Ends Service". Anime News Network . Retrieved January 6, 2025.