"Unplugged Boy." [Kyobo Book Centre]
"Unplugged Boy." [Kyobo Book Centre]

"Unplugged Boy," one of the most beloved romance comics of the 1990s, is making a comeback as a webtoon — three decades after its original release.

Naver Webtoon announced Tuesday that the webtoon adaptation of cartoonist Cheon Gye-young's "Unplugged Boy" will debut that evening at 10 p.m.

The series will run for 16 episodes, with new installments released every Tuesday night in the platform's "Wednesday Webtoon" slot.

Cheon's original work, published in 1997, was a hagwon romance following the free-spirited, larger-than-life Hyeon-gyeom and the studious, ordinary Ji-yul, and became a sensation at the time. The comic is best remembered for the line "When I'm sad, I dance hip-hop" and offers a vivid snapshot of the pop culture trends that defined the era, from hip-hop to the early idol scene.

The webtoon version colorizes the original black-and-white volumes.

"The original was serialized in black and white, but even back then I had a vague image of vibrant colors in my head," Cheon said. "I was so happy to be able to bring those colors to life as freely as possible through this webtoon adaptation."


jshan@heraldcorp.com