By Zack Quaintance — Next month, George P. is bringing back his slice-of-life Webtoon comic Typical Campus, with long-time series artist Ana Martinez as well as some guest collaborators. In advance of the return of Typical Campus, I had a chance to chat with George. We talked about the comic, choosing Webtoon, and meeting the readers where they are. You can check out our conversation below, before heading over to Webtoon to get caught up on Typcial Campus.

Enjoy!

George P. Interview

ZACK QUAINTANCE: So I have some logistical questions about making comics for Webtoons because it’s also an interest of mine, and we’ll get to those — but first things first, tell me about the return of your series Typical Campus...what can we expect to be the same? Different? And I understand you have some special things planned for the first month back…

GEORGE P.: Yes. Typical Campus is coming back and in full force! You can expect the characters in the series to be the same, but in much different circumstances. Rather than being on a college campus, they're at home doing school work online. The characters were already stressed out and losing their minds (you know the college experience) before the pandemic. So just imagine what kind of shenanigans they’re getting into now!

ZACK: The last we saw Typical Campus, you were sort of breaking the fourth wall yourself and telling the audience about the hiatus amid the world’s uncertainty...so it’s good to see you back! How have things been for you this year, and have you had any experiences we might see showing up in the comics?

GEORGE: Thanks! I'm definitely glad to be back! Personally, I've had it hard, just like everyone else. When I first came up with Typical Campus, it was my excuse to make fun of college because of how much it aggravated me. For the same reasons, the comeback is basically going to be my excuse to make fun of the pandemic and online schooling. However I can say with confidence that the pandemic is putting some positive stress on me too. I'm certainly improving at handling stress and I'm becoming a lot more productive nowadays. And yes, a lot of my experiences are shown in some form in the series. I've always considered Typical Campus to be an exaggerated version of real life. So there's definitely some stories in there that came straight from my experiences during lock down.

ZACK: Okay, now onto the logistics...what inspired you to start using Webtoon as a platform?

GEORGE: Why Line Webtoon? Well, It’s the most popular platform. That might sound a bit simple, but hear me out. Line Webtoon is completely upending the comic industry. One of the most common complaints I’ve heard about the comic book industry is that its simply not popular enough. TV shows and films regularly get views in the billions, where as comic books sell nowhere near as much. Since Webtoon is a free app that literally anyone is able to use, it has an astonishing amount of people reading daily. I could go further into discussing numbers but I think you guys get my point. I have a personal love for superhero comics, but they are niche. Line Webtoon over the years has become mainstream. I’m not completely sure if it will stay this popular for the next few years to come, but the truth is that I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. A possible disadvantage of Line Webtoon is that when you create a series, it will be lost in a sea of thousands of other series just like it. However I’m not personally afraid of that because of the sheer amount of readers on the platform. Basically, I chose Line Webtoon because I felt like I had a better chance to build an audience on there.

ZACK: What was your learning process like when you first started writing for the medium?

GEORGE: My learning process was very experimental on the platform. A lot of trial and error. I entered the community of Webtoon creators through twitter, and through interacting with them I learned some useful information about the platform. I stayed on a strict schedule (uploading one episode every other week) and got a decent amount of followers thanks to that. Webtoon has a twitter/instagram page all about uploading on the platform so I got to learn more about promotion through that. I usually stayed on schedule pretty strictly, but for about a month I tried uploading once every week instead and my audience seemed to like it. As far as I have learned, the more frequently you upload, the more of a chance you have at being popular. Youtube has a similar algorithm and while I’m not a big fan of quantity over quality, I’m glad that I at least I know this information for future reference.

ZACK: Finally, what are some tips you have for folks interested in potentially creating comics for Webtoon?

GEORGE: Well, I say get used to creating comics first. Write out a comic script. There’s plenty of ways to do it so Google search examples and figure out a way that you prefer writing one. Then either draw out the comic itself or hire an illustrator. I hired an illustrator myself so I could still have the time to focus on my other writing projects in the works (go check out @muffidoodle for some awesome artwork). The people behind Line Webtoon recommend that you upload 3 episodes when you first create your series so that your readers will already have material to absorb and get interested in. After that, make a schedule and stick by it. If you’re not able to upload frequently then its okay, just keep that in mind when making your schedule. If you’re able to upload frequently then you might have a chance at getting a bigger audience. Get to know your community by encouraging commenting. Be professional, act like a real content creator if you want people to take you more seriously. Last but not least, eat a balanced diet and drink water.

Typical Campus

Typical Campus
Writer: George P.
Artist: Ana Martinez
Just the everyday things that occur on a college campus. New updates every other Wednesday!
Read It Now: Typical Campus on Webtoon

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Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as Comics Bookcase.