Hongjacga

Hongjacga (Korean:홍작가; born in Seoul), is a South Korean webtoon artist. Hong began his career as a cartoonist in 2006 with the serialization of the webtoon Dorothy Band. In addition to comics, he works as an illustrator for various advertisements and books. His serialized works include Cat Funeral, Hwa-ja, It’s Not Possible, Aneima, and Dr. Brain. He also worked on Lucasfilm's first official webtoon, Star Wars: The Story Before The Force Awakens. His works have been adapted into film, drama and musical.

Early life and education

Born Hong Seong-hyeok in Seoul in 1980, he majored in daegeum at the National Gugak Middle School and High School in Gangnam, Seoul. Despite his musical studies, he was primarily recognized for his drawing skills.

Career

After graduating from high school in 2002, he was recruited as animator for film My Beautiful Girl, Mari.

In 2006, he made his debut as a storyteller and webtoonist with the fantasy occult series Dorothy Band on Daum Webtoon. Inspired from The Wizard of Oz, the webtoon has minimal similarities to the original beyond its character archetypes and adventure structure. It has its own unique characters, including a guitarist scarecrow and a large cat named Tango.

Hong's 2011 webtoon, Hwaja, is set in the late 1980s and centers on Lee Yu. After encountering the mysterious Hwa-ja, Lee Yu is plagued by dreams of her. Years later, a cryptic message from a friend in a car accident draws the adult Lee Yu back to Hwaja's village. Published by Middle House, it received a strong reader rating of 9.7 on Daum.

Hong gained wider recognition after working on Lucasfilm's first official webtoon, "Star Wars: The Story Before The Force Awakens." Serialized on Daum Webtoon since April 2015, it was marketing content created by Disney in collaboration with Daum Webtoon. The webtoon was based on the story of Star Wars Episodes 4–6, released from 1977 to 1983.

In 2016, Hong created Dr. Brain. It amassed over 20 million views on Daum Webtoon and Kakao Page. The series centers on Se-won, a gifted brain scientist who, after a family tragedy, performs "brain syncs" with the deceased to access their memories and uncover the truth behind the mysterious accident.

Director Kim Jee-woon expressed interest in adapting the webtoon shortly after its completion. In May 2019, he officially began the development on the series with YG Studioplex, initially under the working title Mr. Robin. The project gained momentum, and by March 2021, actor Lee Sun-kyun was confirmed to star. This also marked a significant milestone as Apple acquired the series for its streaming service, Apple TV+, making it their inaugural Korean-language production. The six-episode series debuted on November 4, 2021, aligning with the Apple TV+ launch in South Korea, and concluded on December 9, 2021, with weekly episode releases.

The Space Sweepers Universe project began in 2019, originating from a decade-long concept by director Jo Sung-hee and Silk Road. From its inception, the project aimed to be a multimedia endeavor, with a webtoon planned alongside the film in collaboration with Merry Christmas and Kakao Page. Hongjacka was specifically brought in to develop the webtoon component of this ambitious universe. This project is a groundbreaking "IP collaboration" in Korea, as it's the first time a film and webtoon have branched concurrently from the same intellectual property. It's also notable as Korea's first "space opera." For Hongjacka, this undertaking offered a new experience.

Showbox announced in June 2021 plans to produce a drama based on Hongjacga's popular Naver webtoon, Delusion. By September of that year, director Han Jae-rim was already working on the series. It is a mystery horror period drama set in 1935 Gyeongseong and 1800s Shanghai, revolving around a mysterious vampire. The estimated production cost is said to be ₩45 billion. On May 23, 2025, Disney+ confirmed it would release Portraits of Delusion as an original series in 2026.

Work

As animator

As webtoon artist

Screen and stage adaptations

Film

Web series

Musical

Accolades

As an animator, Hong contributed to an animated film that was awarded the Grand Prix (Best Feature Film) at the 26th Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

Awards and nominations

External links

• atIMDb
• at Naver (in Korean)