Kian84's webtoon 'Bokhakwang' ends in July 2021 as he turns to painting

In July 2021, the South Korean cartoonist Kian84 brought his webtoon 'Bokhakwang', or 'Returning Student King', to a close. The series had been serialised online and followed a university student navigating campus life, jobs and ambition, using the exaggerated, satirical humour for which the artist was known.

Kian84 was already a familiar public figure beyond comics. He appeared regularly on the TV show 'I Live Alone', a popular MBC programme about people living on their own, which brought his unpolished personality and drawings to a wide audience.

The end of the webtoon marked a turning point in his career. Afterwards he focused on painting, working on canvas rather than in the serialised, weekly format of webtoons. That shift laid the groundwork for his later move into the art world, including gallery exhibitions, where audiences could see his work in a different setting from the screen.

For readers following his exhibitions, the end of 'Bokhakwang' is the point where his identity moved from webtoon artist and TV personality toward that of a painter.