The creative duo Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang have launched a new serialized manhwa, Copycat, on Webtoon. Premiering with ten chapters on April 14, 2026, the series promises new episodes every Wednesday and immediately rekindled interest among horror and thriller readers. Longtime followers will recognize familiar tonal choices: clinical dread, morally compromised protagonists, and meticulously staged violence. Manhwa fans will note how this project aligns with the creators’ earlier impact on the genre while also carving its own unsettling premise.
At the heart of Copycat is Suchan Kim, an art instructor who once hoped a 2026 exhibition would change his fortunes. That event—derailed by the pandemic—left him embittered and buried in unpaid bills. The series pivots when a serial murderer, calling themselves Jahak (an etymological nod to self-destruction), begins arranging victims as grotesque tableau vivant that mirror Suchan’s abandoned installations. Rather than begin with grief, Suchan reacts with righteous fury: his work has been stolen and now sells for obscene prices via the dark web and private auctions.
Creators and creative lineage
Carnby Kim and Youngchan Hwang are no strangers to commercial and critical attention. Kim’s catalog includes hits such as Bastard and the apocalyptic horror series Sweet Home, both of which have shaped expectations for psychological violence and moral ambiguity in serialized comics. Beyond that partnership, Kim has produced solo projects like Shotgun and Pigpen, the latter of which is lined up for a K-drama adaptation by Studio N. Those prior works help explain why readers approached Copycat with preexisting trust in the storytelling craft on display.
Previous works and industry momentum
The authors’ track record brings a particular weight to this release: fans expect layered antagonists and protagonists who are rarely heroic in the traditional sense. The commercial interest in adaptations—most visibly Pigpen‘s planned transfer to a K-drama—also situates Copycat within a larger industry trend: manhwa that performs well online can migrate quickly to live-action formats. This dynamic pressures creators to balance viral concepts with deep character work, and early chapters suggest Kim and Hwang are doing just that.
Plot mechanics and narrative drive
The series sets its mechanics around a killer who treats murder as a form of visual appropriation. Each scene by Jahak is a painstaking recreation of Suchan’s earlier art: victims are dismembered, reassembled, and presented like mannequins in refrigerated displays. The chilling detail—b