Webtoon, the global storytelling platform that lets creators upload and share their own comics, has declared the winner of its 2025 Webcomic Legends competition, TheWrap has exclusively learned. Akikakie’s “Covenant once given” — which previously won the Most Epic category — took home the grand prize, as well as $150,000. The original comic will be added to the Webtoon Originals lineup.
“Covenant once given” follows Noah, a man whose life is turned upside-down at the hands of a witch. His desperate search to find her leads him to the City of Bridges where he uncovers more than he bargained for. The idea for the occult horror series came to Akikakie “suddenly.”
“Winning the Grand Prize was incredibly meaningful to me,” Akikakie told TheWrap. “Receiving such recognition for something I created was both humbling and validating. It gave me the huge motivation and confidence to continue telling my story. I would say it made the wish of my younger self come true, and I hope to continue pursuing this path as a creator and make something I can be proud of.”
The contest was hosted by Webtoon Canvas and required competitors to submit a minimum of three episodes per series. That number was bumped to six episodes for the comedy category. Shortlisted series then needed to submit an additional two episodes (and four for comedy).
While Akikakie also won the Most Epic category, “UNVEILING YOU” by Vago_XD won the romance — or Most Feels — category. The Most Gripping winner went to “My Dear Watson” by heiMO, and the Most Laughs winner was “I want to kiss 100 monster girls!” by Lucía Cid. The other winners also received cash prizes.
“This year’s ‘Webcomic Legends’ contest raises the bar with an unprecedented prize pool of over $1 million, which we are directly investing in the next generation of Webtoon creators. It represents one of the largest financial investments we’ve ever made in independent creators via a contest,” Yongsoo Kim, chief strategy officer and head of global for Webtoon, told TheWrap. “For us, the contest is both a celebration of webcomics and a direct investment in the next generation of storytellers as we continue to make Webtoon the most creator-friendly platform.”
The South Korean and American company has been investing in creator contests for the past 20 years and in the U.S. for the past 11 years. The company’s founder, Junkoo Kim, was the first to invest in the format as a way to discover and create opportunities for Webtoon’s community of creators. Since then, the company has held several contests globally, especially targeting new regions to nurture local creator markets.
These contests often spike creator engagement and audience viewership. The 2025 Webcomic Legends competition received nearly 4,000 contest entries and drew over 5.3 million views on the Webtoon platform.
“Fans aren’t just reading entries; they’re sharing them, celebrating them and helping new creators grow loyal audiences,” Kim said. “What excites us most is how these contests help creators start building real fandoms around their stories and creating connections with readers that continue to deepen well beyond the contest itself.”
That’s what happened to instantmiso, an artist specializing in romance who has been on the platform for 10 years. When she submitted “Where Tangents Meet” for the 2015 contest, she didn’t win that year, but Webtoon reached out to work with her further. Now she’s on her fourth comic with the platform and selected the 2025 winner in the Most Feels category. Her success on Webtoon even led to her getting a print publishing deal earlier this year.
“I’m actually very excited about adapting my webtoons into something I could hold in my hands, which I never thought would be possible for me,” instantmiso told TheWrap. “I know that my readers are really excited about it, but it is going to be some time before we can actually get those going. But I’m just really relieved that it’s finally happening.”
Instantmiso also noted that everyone involved in the 2025 contest should feel proud of their work and emphasized how the Webtoon community has helped her own work grow. “There’s something really fun and rewarding about being a part of a community and being able to learn and grow just by making comics,” she said. “To this day, I’m still learning a bunch about the medium … it’s been a really wonderful journey.”
The same is true of Brent Bristol, who selected the winner of the Most Epic category and is the creator of the action series “Ordeal.” Originally, Bristol wanted to publish his work in print, but after uploading to Webtoon at a friend’s suggestion, he started to enjoy the platform and community. He also joined a Webtoon contest. Though he didn’t win, Bristol saw the contest as an opportunity.
“It turned out I got a lot more views, a lot more eyes on my work,” Bristol told TheWrap.
He now has another dream in mind: turning “Ordeal” into an anime. “I’m really working towards it, and I’m grateful for all the things that I have achieved so far,” he said. “A lot of people encourage me. They’re asking, ‘When is the anime coming?’ I’m still saying, ‘God is good, and I’m waiting and I’m hoping and I believe it.’”
Onscreen adaptations are not uncommon for Webtoon Originals. The company’s North American entertainment and IP business Webtoon Productions is currently developing its 2018 genre contest winner “Love Advice from the Great Duke of Hell” alongside Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, as well as the horror comic “Stagtown” into a film alongside LuckyChap.
“Adaptability isn’t a consideration for this contest, but with our growing entertainment business, it’s always something we think about because we’re in the business of supporting creators,” Kim explained.
