Cartoonists develop their competences at dream space

Cartoon Business Center and Cartoon Creation Studio are buildings in Bucheon where cartoonists can get their studios. Each center has 130 and 170 cartoonists. The tenants’ professions vary including comics, publications, webtoon, educational cartoon and characters. Successful comics such as “Fist of Legend,” “God of Bath” and “Peter Historia” were made at the centers.

Lee Jong-beom, 31, the writer of the webtoon “Doctor Frost,” had to finish his work at the workspace that was flooded to the knees in the summer of 2008. He had to continue working because a deadline for his work was close. In 2009, Lee moved into his work studio at Bucheon`s cartoon center. Lee likened the cartoonists’ centers to a training center for athletes by saying, “Cartoonists can learn others’ techniques here just like athletes of the national team who are trained at one place can learn from each other regardless of their events. As a result, we all become better cartoonists.”

Ji Kang-min, 34, the writer of the webtoon “Come on! Convenient Store,” said, “Artists here try to help each other grow by willingly sharing their know-how.” Cartoonists in the cartoon centers also compete one another. They say they feel jealous when a cartoonist buys a new car or suddenly begins to wear expensive clothes. A cartoonist said, “I notice people who make a lot of money and this makes me stronger.”

Most of all, working together with other cartoonists having strong personalities is the best advantage for artists having studios there. They share overburdened works with neighboring cartoonists. They share good work information as well as a list of bad agencies.

Getting a studio at the cartoonists’ buildings, however, is not easy because the competition rate for an empty studio is usually 3:1 or 4:1. The tenants go through evaluation every two years based on their works and contribution to the community. Those with low scores have to move out of the building. A lawyer, an accountant and a coordinator are hired to help the cartoonists.

Lim Seok-nam, 42, the writer of the cartoon "Violence" who has been there for eight years, said, “This place has become a dream space for those who want to be cartoonists. I know I’ll have to leave someday, but I’ll be missing here a lot.”