Webtoon-based books to continue global webtoon fever

“True Beauty” (left) and “Tower of God” (Naver Webtoon)

Naver Webtoon’s beloved webtoon series “True Beauty,” “Tower of God” and “Doom Breaker” will be published in book form in the fall of 2022, the company said in a press release Monday.

American imprint Webtoon Unscrolled, launched by Wattpad Webtoon Studios, will publish the print editions, according to Naver Webtoon.

The new imprint is part of Naver Webtoon’s push to expand its contents and webtoon IP, including TV series, movie adaptations and more.

“True Beauty,” written and illustrated by Yaongyi, revolves around the story of a young woman who, bullied and discriminated against because of her looks, transforms herself into a gorgeous character after mastering the art of makeup. Captivating more than 10 million global readers, the webtoon series continues to be offered in Korean, English, Spanish, Thai and French.

Fantasy webtoon “Tower of God” is one of the most beloved webtoon series on Naver, attracting more than 4.5 billion accumulated reads from global fans. A printed version of the series was already published in June in France, where the two-volume sets sold out shortly after release.

A TV anime adaptation of the series was produced and released on the streaming platforms Crunchyroll and HBO Max as well.

“Doom Breaker” (Naver Webtoon)

Illustrator Blue-Deep’s “Doom Breaker,” which started in June, became one of the top-rated webtoons within its first month. Published in 10 languages online, the action-fantasy webtoon has been received well by foreign readers.

“Aside from the three webcomics, Webtoon Unscrolled is planning to publish 12 popular Naver Webtoon series in printed format each year,” a Naver Webtoon official told The Korea Herald.　

By Lee Si-jin (sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)

By Lee Si-jin(sj_lee@heraldcorp.com)