Ant Idol Is Leaving WEBTOON After Episode Removal
WEBTOON removed an episode of Ant Idol for violating its guidelines regarding violence against minors. We are discontinuing publication on the platform and continuing the manga on GlobalComix, Tapas and NamiComi.
Apparently, Ant Idol was a little too much for WEBTOON.
On August 28, we received a notification from WEBTOON informing us that Threads of the Crown City - Part 6 had been removed from the platform.
According to the notification, the episode was removed for violating WEBTOON's Community Guidelines regarding violence against minors.
After considering the removal, we have decided to discontinue publication of Ant Idol on WEBTOON rather than edit the chapter specifically for the platform.
ANT IDOL itself is not going anywhere.
The series will continue as normal on GlobalComix, Tapas and NamiComi.
The pages in question
Rather than describing what apparently crossed the line, we figured it would be more useful to simply show it.
Below are some of the pages from the affected episode.
Apparently these proved to be a formidable threat to WEBTOON infrastructure.
Readers can make up their own minds.
Different platforms have different moderation policies, and WEBTOON is entitled to enforce its own guidelines.
At the same time, ANT IDOL is a dark fantasy story. Its atmosphere, imagery and subject matter are deliberate parts of the work.
We would rather continue publishing the series in places where we can present it as intended than maintain a separate edited version specifically for one platform.
An even bigger thank you to the platforms that support us
There is a more important side to this story.
The experience has made us appreciate the platforms that continue to provide a home for ANT IDOL even more.
A huge thank you to GlobalComix, Tapas and NamiComi.
All three have been excellent platforms for us as independent creators and have allowed readers around the world to discover ANT IDOL without requiring us to compromise the work to fit a different version of the story.
For a small independent studio, that matters.
A platform is not simply somewhere we upload pages. It becomes part of how the work reaches people, how new readers discover it, and whether independent stories have enough room to exist on their own terms.
We are grateful to have found several very good homes for ours.
Where to read Ant Idol
ANT IDOL will continue to release on:
Nothing about the production of the manga changes.
Future chapters will continue as planned.
WEBTOON simply will not be one of the places we publish them.
The people of the Crown City survived worse.
We suspect ANT IDOL will too.
Visit the Ant Idol project page for more about the series, its world, artwork and future releases.