The first week of October in New York belongs to two crowds that rarely overlap. Advertising Week brings the marketers. New York Comic Con brings the fans. On Wednesday, October 7, the week turned over from one to the other, and PAPER and WEBTOON put both crowds in the same room.
We hosted an intimate dinner with WEBTOON at Bar Bas, the hidden French cocktail lounge tucked beneath Marseille in Hell’s Kitchen, gathering talent, creators, marketers and culture leaders for a night celebrating the place where storytelling, fandom and brands meet. Earlier in the week, PAPER and WEBTOON had taken the stage together at Advertising Week for the “Main Character Energy” panel, so consider this the afterparty.
The guest of honor, in every sense, was Ylona Garcia, the Filipino-Australian recording artist who joined us on that panel and kept the night going at dinner. Her fandom is personal, too. She collaborated with WEBTOON on Mafia Nanny, her favorite series on the platform, and her work with Valorant on Neon, the game’s first Filipina agent, turned a gaming moment into a breakout hit.
DJ Gas took care of the vibes as guests trickled in and mingled for cocktail hour. Even the bar menu was written for the occasion. The standouts were “Main Character Energy,” a refreshing mix of cucumber and strawberry and a nod to our Advertising Week panel, and the “Entertain Me,” a warm honey-lavender pour named for Ylona’s hit single.
PAPER President Jason Ve and WEBTOON Head of Marketing Aileen Wang, the night’s co-hosts, raised a glass to welcome everyone, then turned the toast into a question for the room: What fandom are you obsessed with right now? Answers ranged from Marvel and Sanrio to K-pop groups and fashion designers. It was the rare industry dinner where people actually wanted to talk about what they love instead of what they’re working on, though at a table like this, the two were often the same thing. As the night went on, the drinks kept flowing and dinner was served, which opened up even more conversation among guests. Friendly debates about current events and pop culture, along with genuine curiosity about one another’s work, could be overheard throughout the night.
Viral content creator Shan Rizwan joined a who’s who of fashion, luxury and media at the table, including Rita Shukhman, Carina Ertl, Ceazar Cabreros, Daniel Cherry, Sarah Zurell, Ari Bloom, Suzanne McKenzie, Alex Crawford, Lauren La-Chance, Mai Shi, Victor Araujo, and Hosie Neal.
Conversations like that need the right room, and Bar Bas’s glamorous yet cozy atmosphere was just that. Bar Bas is gearing up for its grand opening, and our dinner was an early preview of the emerging hot spot. The lounge has already spent Fashion Week hosting Christian Siriano’s model appreciation dinner, so the fashion crowd knows the way downstairs.
Architect Eamon Roche designed the room as a 1970s evening on the French Riviera. Dramatic wallpaper, fringe draped across the ceiling and, of course, a disco ball all glow under warm lighting. PAPER took over the entire private space for the evening, and the vibes were immaculate. We started off the meal with a series of appetizers, and the fava bean hummus was the standout. The main course was a perfectly seared yellowfin tuna in a decadent beurre blanc. I paired the food with the Main Character Energy cocktail, which put me in exactly the right headspace for Comic Con.
The dinner was the warm-up. The next morning, New York Comic Con opened its doors, with WEBTOON on board as a partner of the convention. If you know WEBTOON only as an app on your phone, its booth made a case for something bigger. Built around FOG LAND, POGO’s breakout action series, it featured an immersive photo zone, a giant gacha machine and plenty of merch, while performers dressed as the series’ characters mingled with fans.
I went on Friday with the WEBTOON team and sat in on panels about upcoming projects with Marvel. Wandering the floor, it was refreshing to see so many fans dressed as their favorite characters. I also had a few minutes with CEO Junkoo Kim and President Yongsoo Kim, who shared their vision of taking WEBTOON beyond the phone screen through partnerships with companies like Hulu and new IP for Gen Z. At dinner, we asked everyone what they were obsessed with. At Comic Con, nobody needed to be asked.
Photography courtesy of BFA
