How Solo Leveling Went from a Korean Web Novel to a Global Webtoon

Spoiler level: None. This article focuses on the people and publishing work behind Solo Leveling, not its plot.

Many international readers met Solo Leveling through its anime or full-color webtoon. But the story existed in another form before either of them.

It began as a Korean web novel written by Chugong in 2016. The webtoon followed in 2018, and English-language readers eventually gained access to digital episodes and collected books.

That journey involved more than translating a successful story. Writers, comic creators, platforms, licensing partners, and book publishers each had different work to do.

Looking at those steps offers a useful introduction to how Korean digital fiction can travel between formats—and across borders.

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From Web Novel to English Books: The Timeline

Solo Leveling publication milestones from 2016 to 2022

Year	Milestone
2016	Chugong’s original Korean web novel begins publication
2018	The Korean webtoon adaptation begins
2021	English comic editions arrive through Yen Press and Tapas
2022	Yen Press establishes Ize Press, an imprint focused on Korean comics and novels

The first two dates come from Kakao Entertainment’s official history of the series.

Yen Press lists March 2, 2021, as the release date of its first English comic volume. Tapas began publishing the English webtoon in April 2021.

These dates describe publication milestones, not every international release or licensing agreement. Different markets followed their own schedules.

1. The Story Began as a Web Novel

In Korea, 웹소설 (web novel) refers to fiction published for digital reading, commonly in serialized chapters.

That context matters for Solo Leveling because Chugong’s novel was an established work before it received a visual adaptation.

The webtoon wasn’t the source material for the novel. The relationship runs the other way around.

For readers who first encounter Korean stories through anime, this publishing order can be easy to miss. A popular screen adaptation may be several steps removed from the format in which the story first appeared.

It also explains why the series has different creative credits depending on which edition you’re reading.

2. A Webtoon Adaptation Is Its Own Creative Project

Kakao Entertainment calls one of its production approaches Novel-to-Comics: developing web novels into illustrated webtoons.

Solo Leveling is among the titles the company identifies with that approach.

In a 2023 interview with Kakao’s web-novel production and merchandising staff, the company described how it looks for suitable stories and works with creators and content partners to develop adaptations.

The process involves decisions that don’t arise in the same way when writing prose.

A novel can explain an atmosphere or a character’s response through narration. A webtoon needs to communicate through composition, expressions, panel sequences, and the space between images.

The adaptation team must decide which information belongs in the artwork, how a scene should unfold visually, and how readers will move through it.

These choices matter especially for a vertical-scrolling comic, where the next image isn’t always visible until the reader moves farther down the screen.

One distinction is worth keeping clear: Kakao’s interview describes its broader production process. It doesn’t document every production decision made by the individual Solo Leveling creators.

The interview helps explain the Korean publishing model behind adaptations like this one, without supplying a detailed behind-the-scenes history of every scene.

3. Why Solo Leveling Has Several Creator Credits

The webtoon’s credits make more sense once you separate the original work from its adaptation.

• Chugong: Author of the original web novel
• h-goon: Webtoon adaptation
• DUBU (REDICE STUDIO): Artwork for the main webtoon
• D&C WEBTOON Biz: Credited in the webtoon’s publication information

The credits also differ for later material.

For the webtoon’s special episodes, the official Tapas series listing credits DISCIPLES (REDICE STUDIO) for the artwork.

These distinctions aren’t just formalities. They acknowledge that writing a story, adapting it into a comic, and illustrating it are separate creative contributions.

The international edition adds another layer: translation, lettering, and publishing credits may appear alongside the original Korean creators.

When checking who made a particular version of Solo Leveling, look at the specific edition rather than assuming one credit list covers every format.

4. Why a Scrolling Webtoon Needs a Different Layout in Print

The transition from webtoon to printed comic is one of the most revealing parts of Solo Leveling’s publishing history.

A scrolling webtoon gives readers a continuous vertical sequence. Illustrations appear as the reader moves downward, and spacing can help control when information is revealed.

A printed book works differently.

Panels share pages. A page turn creates a different kind of pause, and facing pages can be viewed together.

To make a scrolling comic work as a book, the artwork has to be arranged for that format.

Here’s a detail that is easy to overlook.

In a 2022 ICv2 interview, Yen Press editor JuYoun Lee explained that the publisher licensed an existing print-format version of Solo Leveling, rather than carrying out the panel-to-page conversion itself.

That tells us something important about the production chain.

The publisher responsible for an English edition isn’t necessarily the team that designed the comic’s printed layout. Those are distinct jobs, and the work can pass between different companies before a book reaches readers.

In a separate interview about Ize Press, Lee discussed how scrolling comics and printed pages offer different reading experiences.

This is also why the English printed comic shouldn’t be thought of as simply the phone version placed between two covers. It uses a page-based presentation prepared for physical reading.

5. The English Edition Came Before the Ize Press Imprint

The English publishing timeline has a small detail that can cause confusion.

Yen Press released Solo Leveling, Vol. 1 (comic) in March 2021. The English digital comic began appearing on Tapas the following month.

In 2022, Yen Press established Ize Press, an imprint dedicated to Korean comics and novels.

That means Solo Leveling was already available in English before Ize Press existed.

If you see Ize Press listed on a current book page, it doesn’t mean the series first received an English edition in 2022.

Publisher information can reflect later imprint arrangements, while a book’s original release date tells a different part of its history.

The Yen Press company history confirms when Ize Press was established.

English publication also involves work beyond deciding when to release a title.

Translation and lettering prepare a comic for readers using another language. Licensing establishes publishing rights, while production and distribution turn an edition into something readers can purchase or access.

Some of those steps are visible in a book’s credits. Others happen behind the scenes.

Together, they explain how an existing Korean digital work becomes available through English-language reading platforms and bookstores.

What Solo Leveling Reveals About Korean Digital Publishing

Solo Leveling provides a particularly clear example of a story moving through several connected publishing formats.

Its Korean web novel supplied the original writing. The webtoon introduced a separate visual adaptation. English digital services and print publishers then made that work available through different reading experiences.

The route is distinctive, but it isn’t universal.

Not every Korean webtoon is adapted from a novel. Some begin as original comics. Nor does every web novel receive a comic adaptation or an international book release.

Still, understanding this production route helps readers see beyond the name on the cover.

The original author, adaptation team, artists, translators, publishers, and distribution platforms contribute in different ways. Knowing where one role ends and another begins makes the series’ history easier to follow—and gives the Korean creative work behind it a clearer place in the conversation.

Explore More of Solo Leveling

A note on current reading links — checked October 25, 2026: The Tapas links above document publication history and creator credits. Tapas has since announced closure on March 31, 2027. New Ink acquisition stopped on October 1, 2026, and its FAQ says previously unlocked content will become inaccessible after closure. Those limits affect today’s reading choices; they don’t change the earlier publication milestones.

For a new English comic read, I’d check Tappytoon’s digital edition or Yen Press’s collected comic volumes. Paperback and digital book options depend on the volume, and access or purchasing may vary by region. The guide below separates those comics from the prose novel and sequel.

If you’re new to the series, the Solo Leveling Hub introduces its different formats and where to start.

The Solo Leveling Reading Order Guide explains how the novel, comic, side stories, and sequel fit together.

For a closer look at the finished artwork and storytelling, see the Solo Leveling Webtoon Review.