Happy February! The WEBTOON we’re talking about this week is Hooky, created by Míriam Bonastre. Hooky is a very fantastical tale, full of references and common tropes of fairytales. It was first published all the way back on April 10, 2015, and ran for almost five years, ending in early January 2020. The webcomic has had a stable fanbase from start to finish with about 30,000 likes on each episode and a high rating of 9.81/10. There have been over 100 million views and has been read by almost a million readers!

Brief Introduction:

Think of a fairytale-esque storybook. Powerful kingdoms of medieval times, charming towns built of wood and brick, strange magic, witches, and a moral at the end of the story. This is the setting of Hooky, mixing fairytales and modern stories to provide a new story for younger readers.

Twins Dorian and Dani Wytte are young witches from a powerful witch family, but they just missed the bus that would take them to magic boarding school. Not wanting to disappoint their parents, they decide to take a more independent approach and find a master to teach them magic instead. They stumble onto Nico and Master Pendragon, a clairvoyant that has foreseen their meeting, but it would not be a happy tale. In this world, witches are hidden from the general population, and humans run in fear from their dark magic. The two groups are divided, yet witches are forbidden to be persecuted simply for being a witch, providing a temporary peace. Returning to the protagonists, Dorian and Dani meet humans and witches as they learn more about the division and history of prejudice between the two groups. Who is on the good side? Who is on the bad side? Is it really that black and white? What does it matter if each side believes they must fight back to protect themselves?

Review Time!

I read Hooky really early on (I think it was one of the first WEBTOONs I chose to read myself), but I stopped halfway through. I reread it all again and went all the way to the end just last week and it was interesting to see the difference between then and now. When I first read it back in 2016-2017, I was about the right age for the characters as they were young teens. They were happy and innocent and the world was colorful that I wanted to be a part of it all, to experience the magic and fun. Reading it all again last week, I felt that I outgrew the first arc a little. They seemed like children’s tales, but that was exactly what it was meant to be. Even though I am older, the morals and the values behind every aspect of the plot are timeless.

What first drew me to Hooky years ago was the art style. It looked so vibrant and cartoonish and it would capture the attention of any child. I still really like the art of Hooky and it was wonderful to see the style evolve over the course of the series. The changes were subtle and they brought so much more to the characters and worldbuilding. I also think that the author made really good use of the WEBTOON format (if you’re not familiar, WEBTOON comics are generally read top-to-bottom as you scroll down) when they planned out each episode. There were some longer panels that all connected together to build up the scene.

I would really recommend Hooky if you want to read something a little familiar. Even if it can be a little more child-oriented, I believe there is a lot left to Hooky to embrace.