WEBTOON Announces $1 Million Prize Contest for Aspiring Webcomic Creators

Image via WEBTOON's website
© WEBTOON Entertainment

Submission Process Begins March 10

WEBTOON has unveiled its 2025 Contest: Webcomic Legends, an exciting opportunity for creators to showcase their talent and compete for a total prize pool of $1 million. This prestigious contest aims to discover the next generation of webcomic legends.

Contest Categories

Participants can submit their works in one of four categories:

• Most Feels: Romance and Drama
• Most Epic: Action and Fantasy
• Most Gripping: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, and Supernatural
• Most Laughs: Comedy and Slice of Life

Prize Breakdown

The contest offers substantial cash prizes, along with opportunities for professional development:

• Grand Prize Winner: $150,000
• Genre Winners (3): $100,000 each
• Genre Finalists (up to 12): $35,000 each
• Genre Runner-Ups (up to 24): $5,500 each

Additionally, the Grand Prize Winner, Genre Winners, and Genre Finalists will have their series developed into ongoing titles on WEBTOON's English-language platform. Runner-Ups will get the chance to pitch their series to WEBTOON's US Editorial Team for potential inclusion in the WEBTOON Originals lineup.

Submission Requirements

The submission criteria vary based on the genre:

• Action, Fantasy, Romance, Drama, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, and Supernatural:

  • At least 3 episodes
  • A minimum of 40 panels per episode

• Comedy and Slice of Life:

  • At least 6 episodes
  • A minimum of 15 panels per episode

All submissions must meet the following guidelines:

• Must be original works (no adaptations, third-party publications, or AI-generated content)
• Episodes must be in English and in full color
• Must comply with WEBTOON's Official Rules, Community Policy, and Terms of Use

Contest Timeline

• Submission Period: March 10 at 9:00 PM EDT – May 15 at 9:00 PM EDT
• Shortlisting: Up to 10 titles from each genre category will be shortlisted (40 total)
• Next Stage: Shortlisted entrants must submit additional episodes between June 23 and July 14

How to Enter

Creators must upload a new series to CANVAS via the Webcomic Legends Contest homepage, selecting one of the four categories:

• Action/Fantasy
• Drama/Romance
• Thriller/Horror/Supernatural/Mystery
• Comedy/Slice of Life

A series can only compete in one category, but participants may submit different series to different categories.

Judging Criteria

Submissions will be evaluated by WEBTOON editorial staff and WEBTOON Originals creators based on:

• Artwork: 20%
• Storytelling and Hooks: 20%
• Impact and Satisfaction: 20%
• Audience Appeal and Engagement: 40%
  • User engagement metrics: Likes, comments, and read-through rates

Proven Success of WEBTOON Contests

Previous WEBTOON contests have launched globally popular series such as:

• unOrdinary by uru-chan
• Cursed Princess Club by LambCat
• The Kiss Bet by Ingrid Ochoa
• Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell by unfins
• Hooky by Míriam Bonastre Tur

These successes highlight the contest's ability to introduce groundbreaking webcomics to a global audience.

Learn More

For additional details, visit the official contest page.

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Source: WEBTOON's event page