Spottoon, a digital platform for webcomics (primarily manhwa), launched in 2015 by RollingStory, Inc. to translate and distribute Korean webcomics to English-speaking audiences. The platform offered a variety of genres, including romance and slice-of-life. At launch, Spottoon stood out as one of the few apps featuring licensed Korean titles in English, alongside Tappytoon. While the platform had an app, its website was also highly mobile-friendly.
Spottoon secured a deal with Michael and David Uslan to explore adapting several titles from their library. Peak was the first title set for development, followed by Tribe-X and The Clock Workers. Peak follows young men attempting to complete their military service, only to discover their assignment is more than they bargained for. It is based on a true story. Tribe-X tells the story of two youths with supernatural abilities who, despite taking opposite paths in life, are drawn together by fate. The Clock Workers is set in a world where a person’s lifespan is determined by a clock placed in their chest at birth. People begin manipulating their clocks to achieve immortality, leading to the formation of two factions: one motivated by greed and the other striving to maintain balance. Both factions aim to destroy the other, with brothers finding themselves on opposing sides.
Along with offering translated manhwa and securing a production deal, Spottoon and Rolling Story participated in the first-ever exhibition dedicated to webtoons in the United States. The exhibition, aptly named “WEBTOON,” took place in New York and was organized by the Korean Cultural Services of New York.
Spottoon gave fans the chance to win officially licensed merchandise through competitions and engaged with them by inviting fan art submissions, which were later featured in the app and on their website. They also maintained an active social media presence, interacting with readers and offering immediate troubleshooting support through Twitter (now known as X).
Despite their promising start, Spottoon shut down in August 2020, citing changes in the webcomic landscape and increased competition. Spottoon featured hit titles like My Beautiful World, Cat and Dog, Things I Don’t Know About You, and Shall We Have Dinner Tonight?. Many of these titles, including My Beautiful World and Shall We Have Dinner Tonight?, remain unlicensed by competitors. The latter title even received a K-drama adaptation titled Dinner Mate, starring Song Seung-heon and Seo Ji-hye.
While many incredible webcomic platforms exist today, Spottoon was undeniably ahead of its time. As a fan of webcomics and an ardent supporter of Spottoon, I would love to see its triumphant return.
