Manhwa (Korean: 만화;Hanja: 漫畵;Korean pronunciation:[manβʷa]) is the generalKorean term forcomics and printcartoons. Outside Korea, the term usually refers toKorean comics.^[1]

Modern Manhwa has extended its reach to many other countries. These comics have branched outside of Korea by access toWebtoons and have created an impact that has resulted in some movie, drama and television show adaptations.

The author or artist of amanhwa is called amanhwaga (만화가;漫畫家). They take on the task of creating a comic that fits a certain format.Manhwa is read in the same direction as English books, horizontally and from left to right, because Korean is normally written and read horizontally. It can also be written and read vertically from right to left, top to bottom.^[2] Webtoons tend to be structured differently in the way they are meant for scrolling where manga is meant to be looked at page by page.Manhwa, unlike their manga counterpart, is often in color when posted on the internet, but in black & white when in a printed format.^[3]

Manhwa art differs from manga and manhua as well with its distinct features. The bodies of characters are often realistically proportioned, while the faces remain unrealistic.Manhwas also often have very detailed clothing on their characters as well as intricate backgrounds. Webtoons use vertical scrolling to their advantage to demonstrate movement or the passage of time.Manhwa webtoons are also recognized for having simplifieddialogue compared to print.^[4]

Linguistically,manhwa,manga (漫画) andmanhua (漫画) all mean 'comics' inKorean,Japanese andChinese respectively. Manga comes from the Japanese word 漫画,^[5] (katakana:マンガ;hiragana:まんが) which is composed of twokanji 漫 (man) meaning 'whimsical or impromptu' and 画 (ga) meaning 'pictures'.^[6][7] The same term is the root of the Korean word for comics, 'manhwa', and the Chinese word 'manhua'.^[8] The Koreanmanhwa, the Japanesemanga and the Chinese phrasemanhua arecognates (transl. "impromptu sketches")[9] and their histories and influences intertwine with each other.

Originally the termmanhua in Chinese vocabulary was an 18th-century term used in Chineseliterati painting. The termmanga (漫画) was used in Japan to mean "comics" in the late 19th century, when it became popular. Since then,manhua (漫画) andmanhwa (만화;漫畫) have also come to mean 'comics' inChinese andKorean respectively.^{[citation needed]}

Although in a traditional sense, the terms manga/manhua/manhwa had a similar meaning of comical drawing broadly, in English the termsmanhwa andmanhua generally designate the manga-inspired comic strips.Manhwaga were not culturally isolated, and the influx of manga into the Korean comics market had a strong effect on the art and content of many artists'manhwa.^[10]

The termmanhwa came into popular use in Korea during the 1920s,^[11] when it was applied to cartoons. By the mid 1920s, most newspapers were shut down,^[12] and political and social cartoons were abandoned, replaced by humorous illustrations and cartoons geared towards children.

Political cartoon slowly reemerged following the establishment of the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea) in 1948.^[13] Popular artist Kim Yong-hwan started Korea's first comic magazine,Manhwa Haengjin, in 1948,^[14] but it was quickly shut down because the authorities disapproved of the cover.

During the Korean war, Manhwa was used with the aim of boosting the morale of the public, however there was also doctrine and propaganda on some manhwa leaflets and books, for example was"Hong Gil Dong".^[15] The popularity of comics rose during the 1950s and 1960s,^[11] creating diversity of styles and subject matter which led to the construction of new genres such as sunjeong (or soonjung),^[14] stories containing romance that are aimed at young women. Also around this time another more humorous genre, myeongnyangor happy comics had become popular in order to counteract gritty ones.Manhwabang (lit. comics room),comics cafés and stores that allowed readers to pay a set rate to sit and read comics were also introduced to the public, creating a positive atmosphere around the comics.^[16] In response to the increasing publication of comics, as well as social and political changes within South Korea, the government began to enforcecensorship laws and, by the mid-1960s, created a comics distribution monopoly that further censoredmanhwa.^[17] Then the changing courses of manhwa history occurred during times ofManhwa Revolution when the authorities formed many commissions many times who oversees manhwa publications as well as community movements in order to suppress manhwa fanaticism among childrens and in order to address parents' concerns.^[18]

Around this time was when Manhwa had come up in North Korea as well. Then in the early 2000s, the majority of Manhwa was transferred to online sources due to economic collapse that South Korea had experienced at the end of the millennium. The online publication of Manhwa significantly increased its popularity outside Korea. This led to the South Korean search portal to launch LINE Webtoon, a platform for distributing online Manhwa.

The term "Webtoon" (웹툰) is a portmanteau of the Korean words 웹 meaning web and 카툰 meaning cartoon. The term was first coined on 8 August 2000, by Chollian, one of South Korea's oldest and now discontinued internet service engines.^[19]Webtoons are the digital form ofmanhwa that first came into popularity in the early 2000s due to their free access and availability on the internet.^[20] It was also beneficial to creators because it helped them get around strict South Korean censorship laws.^[21] Webtoons encourage amateur writers to publish their own stories for others to read.^[19] Since their creation, webtoons have gained popularity around the globe and have even been adopted outside of Korea as another form of comic publication.^[22] This is credited to their unique format and pay model.

In 2014WEBTOON's global website and mobile app were launched, revolutionizing the comic world's way of reading for entertainment. Also, around this time JunKoo Kim, the person that started LINE Webtoon, had reported that Webtoon was used in 60 countries, had 55 million monthly users, and 100 billion annual views.^{[citation needed]}

Manhwa has reached all over the world now. With websites such as Toptoon, a webtoon company from Korea that also has a global service in DayComcis (former ToptoonPlus), people are able to access a wide variety of comics from their phones.^[23] There are also places likeWEBTOON that not only allow people to read original comics, but make them as well, opening up this aspect of Korean culture for everyone to take part in.

But despite that, the relative obscurity ofKorean culture in the Western world has caused the wordmanhwa to remain somewhat unknown in the English-speaking countries.^{[citation needed]} English translations ofmanhwa have achieved success by targeting the manga andanime community, to the extent thatmanhwa were marketed asmanga by the American publisherTokyopop.^[24]

Sanho Kim was the firstmanhwa artist working in the States. During the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for publishersCharlton Comics,Warren Publishing, Iron Horse Publishing,Skywald Publications,DC Comics, andMarvel Comics.^[25]

According to journalistPaul Gravett, in 1987 Eastern Comics published the first originalmanhwas in the United States.^[26]

Due to the explosion of manga's popularity in the Americas, many of the licensed titles acquired for the American market seek to emulate the popular elements of other successful series.^[27] Recently, long-running webtoons serialized viaInternet portal sites (e.g. by Daum Media),^[28] likeLezhin Comics and personal homepages have become both the creative and popular destination among the younger generation in Korea.^{[citation needed]}With manga proving to be both popular and commercially successful in Europe and the United States, a number of publishers imported and translatedmanhwa titles in the hope of reaching the same audience. The readability and left-to-right orientation ofmanhwa contributed to its growing popularity, as did the realism of the characters and the combination of Eastern and Western styles and mythologies.

Animations based on Korean comics are still relatively rare (though there were several major hits in the late 1980s and early 90s with titles such asDooly the Little Dinosaur andFly! Superboard). However, live-action drama series and movie adaptations ofmanhwa have occurred more frequently in recent years.Full House in 2004 andGoong ("Palace" or "Princess Hours") in 2006 are prominent examples. Below is a list of manhwa titles adapted into television series, web series, films, etc. Not to be confused to another adapted works of adapted fromWebtoons.

Note: select publishers only

• Daewon C.I.
• Haksan Culture Company
• Seoul Cultural Publishers
• Shinwon Agency Corporation

• ADV Manga
• Dark Horse Manhwa
• DramaQueen
• DrMaster Publications
• Manta
• Media Blasters
• Netcomics
• NBM ComicsLit
• Seven Seas Entertainment
• SuperAni
• UDON's Korean Manhwa
• Yen Press'sIZE PRESS

• Culture of South Korea
• Korean Wave
• List of manhwa
• Manhwabang
• Myeongnang manhwa
• North Korean animation
• South Korean animation
  • List of Korean animated series
  • List of Korean animated films
• Video gaming in South Korea
• Webtoon

• Cain, Geoffrey."Will the Internet Kill the Manhwa Star?"The Far Eastern Economic Review, 6 November 2009
• Fukushima, Yoshiko (2013).Manga Discourse in Japan Theatre. Routledge. p. 19.ISBN 978-1-136-77273-3.
• Son Sang-ik (1999).한국만화통사 1 (General History of Manhwa 1) (in Korean). Sigongsa.ISBN 89-7259-890-9.
• Hart, Christopher (2004).Manhwa mania: how to draw Korean comics. New York: Watson-Guptill Publications.ISBN 0-8230-2976-X.
• Kim Jinsu (2 June 2007).개화기 일제의 시사만화 탄압 [The Japanese oppression on Sisa manhwa] (in Korean). Chammalo.
• 만화 (in Korean).Empas/Encyclopædia Britannica.
• "Manhwa" (in Korean). Empas/EncyKorea.
• Onoda, Natsu (2009).God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the Creation of Post-World War II Manga. University Press of Mississippi. p. 10.ISBN 978-1-60473-478-2.
• Petersen, Robert S. (2011).Comics, Manga, and Graphic Novels: A History of Graphic Narratives. ABC-CLIO.ISBN 978-0-313-36330-6.
• Prohl, Inken; Nelson, John K (2012).Handbook of Contemporary Japanese Religions. BRILL. p. 596.ISBN 978-90-04-23435-2.
• Rousmaniere, Nicole (2001).Births and Rebirths in Japanese Art : Essays Celebrating the Inauguration of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. Hotei Publishing.ISBN 978-90-74822-44-2.
• Sim Ji-hoon."Korea Manhwa Museum".INISteel Webzine (in Korean).
• Sugiyama, Rika (2004).Comic artists — Asia : manga, manhwa, manhua. New York: Harper Design International.ISBN 0-06-058924-8.
• Thompson, Jason (2007).Manga: The Complete Guide. New York: Ballantine Books.ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
• Webb, Martin (28 May 2006)."Manga by any other name is..."The Japan Times. Retrieved5 April 2008.
• "Korean Comics in the U.S., Part 1, Comic-Con International 2004"^[usurped], Jade Magazine.com, Sep. 2004
• "Korean Comics in the U.S., Part 2, Manhwa Sampler"^[usurped], Jade Magazine.com, Sep. 2004
• "Sang-Sun Park,Les Bijoux Comic Artist", Sequential Tart.com, Aug. 2004
• Manhwa site for "Siya Ben"
• Manhwa site for "Demon Diary" ({{Korean|hangul=마왕일기|labels=no}})
• "Infinity Studios and Manhwa"^[usurped], Anime Tourist.com, 16 June 2004
• Our Toys, Our Selves: Robot Taekwon V and South Korean Identity