South Korean comics and anime based on them have been on the rise, especially since manhwa grew in popularity globally. Generally, it would be a fair assessment to say that Manhwa usually get overshadowed by their Japanese counterpart, manga. But Solo Leveling has attempted to change that and lift the entire industry with it. Right now, Solo Leveling is the undisputed King of all manhwa, and along with it being the best-selling manhwa of all time, its position was further solidified through its newest release on August 25, 2026: The Art of Solo Leveling.
In this new release, we received official confirmation of how this legendary series, written by Chugong and illustrated by DUBU, changed the industry forever. The impact of Solo Leveling cannot be understated, and it has brought forward a new wave of manhwa-based anime, expanding the genre further.
Solo Leveling had a humble debut in South Korea through its initial web novel release by creator Chugong from 2016 to 2018. The web novel itself found a lot of success, so much so that in 2018, it was eventually picked up by Redice Studio and turned into a manhwa series. The CEO of Redice Studio himself, Jang Sung Rak, who also popularly went by the name of DUBU, took on the big challenge of illustrating the series himself.
Sadly, DUBU, who shaped the Solo Leveling franchise forever and gave us some of the most iconic designs and panels of the series, passed away on July 23, 2022, before the release of the Solo Leveling anime. Despite that, his massive contribution to Solo Leveling and the manhwa industry as a whole can't be forgotten. To honor DUBU, a new commemorative art book was released on August 25, 2026, titled “The Art of Solo Leveling.” This art book reveals to us new and exciting art from DUBU, including illustrations and concept art.
While most of us were excited to see the art featured in this new book, there were also new statements that caught our attention. Specifically, one statement that has stood out to many fans of the series had to do with Solo Leveling's impact on manhwa as a whole. Solo Leveling's run as a manhwa from 2018 to 2020 was massively successful, and the success was made possible by DUBU, who worked tirelessly on bringing this franchise to life. His work was so impactful and influential that it ended up becoming the basis for many series to come after Solo Leveling.
Specifically, the new art book quotes three series that were massively influenced by DUBU’s art, those being Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint, Tomb Raider King, and Overgeared. These three series are some of the biggest manhwa names after Solo Leveling, and to see the art of DUBU and the story from Chugong have such a massive impact on their creation is definitely mind-boggling.
It must be said that these series didn't necessarily copy Solo Leveling, but without Solo Leveling, their manhwa adaptation would have been completely different and might even not have existed in the first place. Some similarities are in your face, such as Tomb Raider King’s main character design, while others are more subtle, like the way Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint's pages and panelling flows.
The manga industry had decades to push ahead of the South Korean manhwa. Because of that, when speaking of the father of manga, fans often gravitate towards much older series, such as Dragon Ball, which saw its serialization all the way back in 1984. With manhwa being a lot more recent, it makes sense as to why Solo Leveling is setting itself up as the father of the medium.
سەرچاوەی فەرمی بە زمانی ئینگلیزی: https://gamerant.com/solo-leveling-korea-king-manhwa-crowned/
