The following is an interview with Chang Kim, founder and CEO of Tapastic.com, a website that connects independent comic book creators directly with their readers. In this interview, Fanboy Comics Managing Editor Barbra Dillon chats with Kim about Tapastic’s recent announcement of its partnership with South Korean webcomic provider Daum Communications to bring the art of visual storytelling to audiences around the world.
This interview was conducted on February 10, 2014.
Barbra J. Dillon, Fanboy Comics Managing Editor: Congratulations on your recent funding from and partnership with Daum Communications, Inc.! What initiated the partnership, and how do you feel that it will impact Tapastic and its readers?
Chang Kim: Daum Communication is Korea’s leading internet portal, and the pioneer or “Webtoon.” They started Webtoon service and have a ton of great content. Tapastic will try to bring the best of Daum’s content to the global audience by translating the content into English.
BD: As a part of the partnership, Like a Wolf, one of the most popular Korean webcomics, will be translated to English and featured on Tapastic. For our readers who may be unfamiliar with the series, how would you describe its premise?
CK: Like A Wolf is an action-noir series that revolves around an underground fight gambling ring. It tells the story of a young man whose society drags him and many others into this dark world. It revolves around the question of what brought them there, and why they stay.
BD: Do you anticipate that the series will be received well by American readers, and do you anticipate bringing other international webcomics to Tapastic?
CK: Like A Wolf is a very well-rounded series, and we expect that it will appeal to readers of all nationalities. As a global platform, we welcome talented artists wherever they may be from. We look forward to seeing what next big international hit will be hosted on Tapastic.
BD: Given that Tapastic is a platform that aids independent creators in reaching larger audiences, do you feel that the increase in funding will benefit these creators. If so, in what ways?
CK: Tapastic is already one of the best places for indie creators to build their brand and loyal audience. We have hundreds of thousands of people showing up every month ready to find awesome webcomics. Through various mechanisms such as recommendations, we help our readers find great content on Tapastic; as an indie artist, often the biggest challenge is to get their content in front of many people, and Tapastic as a webcomics platform can help with discoverability. Also, the creators don’t have to do anything about technology; we put in a lot of resource in technology, so that the creators can just focus on what they do best, namely content creation.
BD: Are there any other exciting updates or plans in the works for Tapastic that you would like to share with our readers?
CK: We’ll just continue building on the product features and adding more great content. We have a long list of features that have been requested by users and will try to deliver those. Especially important would be better community features (between the artist and their fans), premium business model, and continue doubling down on mobile apps. We also plan to launch an easy-to-use mobile app to help creating “photocomics” for those who want to publish on Tapastic but don’t necessarily have the comic drawing skills.
BD: Lastly, what would you like to tell fans who want to learn more about Tapastic?
CK: Sign up today and take it for a spin! You can also download our mobile apps on Apple Apps store or Google Play Store (just search “Tapastic”).
