Comic, tebeo and historieta: the general terms
The Diccionario de la lengua española defines comic as "Series or sequence of panels that tells a story", and in a second sense as "Book or magazine that contains comics". It defines tebeo as "Children's or youth publication whose subject matter develops in series of drawings" and, in a second sense, as "Series of adventures told in the form of historietas gráficas". "Historieta" is another Spanish word for the same thing; I have not located its literal definition in the dictionary. The Informe Tebeosfera 2025, for example, speaks of "commercial tebeos" to refer to the set of published comics.
The Encyclopaedia Britannica defines the comic book, a booklet or book of comics, as a bound collection of comic strips, usually in chronological order, which tends to tell a story or a series of stories. This defines the object and is narrower than the Spanish word "cómic".
Manga
According to the Encyclopaedia Britannica (updated 3 September 2026), manga is a comic strip, a comic or a graphic novel originating from Japan and, collectively, the genre of Japanese comics and graphic novels.
Many editions in Spanish retain the Japanese reading direction, from right to left, and it is common for them to be published in black and white. I have not located a Spanish institutional source that documents this. An example: One Piece.
Manhwa and manhua
- Manhwa. According to an EBSCO Research Starter (2015), the term designates Korean comics, printed drawings and, sometimes, animated cartoons.
- Manhua. The term is used to refer to Chinese comics. I have not located a definition in an encyclopaedia or academic work, so this is my own general knowledge.
The words describe an origin, not a quality or a fixed style.
Webtoon: a format, and also a brand
According to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London (article updated 17 April 2024), a webtoon is a digital comic originating in South Korea that is read vertically by scrolling down the screen of a computer or mobile phone. Each episode is read in less than five minutes. The museum traces its origin to daily online chronicles by people out of work during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, which evolved into more complex narratives by professionals and amateurs. In 2020, the combined sales of webtoons exceeded one trillion won for the first time, with an annual increase of more than 64%. Many webtoons are in colour, which is a frequent convention. Among its examples, the article includes Solo Leveling, by Chugong.
The word has a second meaning: WEBTOON is the name of a platform, with a publishing programme for creators, CANVAS. That is why "webtoon" sometimes means the format and sometimes the platform.
Western comics
In European and American comics, reading usually proceeds from left to right and colour is common. Franco-Belgian albums, such as Astérix, and American comic books, such as those of Superman, are two traditions with different formats. This is my own general knowledge, not a sourced fact.
Conventions, not rules
| Term | Origin | Usual reading direction | Colour | Usual format |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manga | Japan | Right to left, in many editions | Black and white, frequently | Volumes |
| Manhwa | Korea | Depends on the edition | Depends | Volumes or webtoon |
| Webtoon | South Korea | Vertical, scrolling down the screen | In colour, frequently | Digital episodes |
| European comic | Europe | Left to right | In colour, frequently | Albums |
| American comic | United States | Left to right | In colour, frequently | Single issues and collected editions |
All rows are frequent conventions with exceptions. There are manga in colour, webtoons in black and white and manhwa on paper. Do not treat any column as a rule.
Why the labels get mixed up
- A Korean work can be both manhwa and webtoon, depending on whether one speaks of its origin or its format.
- "Manga" sometimes describes an origin and sometimes a style: according to the Encyclopaedia Britannica, in the West some also use the term for non-Japanese comics that employ a similar style.
- "Webtoon" can be a format or a platform.
- Shops, publishers and platforms classify for commercial reasons, not always by origin or form.
How these differences appear in the Spanish market
The Informe Tebeosfera 2025 presents the Japanese comic as the main driver of the Spanish printed comic market. Its table of countries of origin records 1,618 titles from Japan, 35.76% of the 4,542 distinct releases of the year. These bases are close but not identical: "manga" is an editorial category and "Japan" is a country of origin, and they cannot be interchanged.
Its count excludes webtoons and e-books, so it says nothing about reading on screen.
If you want to create
Before choosing a label, decide where you will publish: print or screen, volumes or episodes. The format conditions how you draw the page and how you tell the story. If you choose screen, start with How to publish a webcomic without relying on a platform. If you opt for print, see Preparing a comic page for print: bleed, margins and resolution.
Itineraries
I am studying
Read works from various traditions. You will notice the differences in rhythm, reading and page layout without anyone having to explain them to you.
An open conversation
This guide describes encyclopaedia and museum definitions, and frequent conventions, and the boundaries between manga, manhwa, webtoon and comic are discussed. If you work in publishing, bookshops, comic research or creation and can clarify a term, you may write to me.
Sources
- Diccionario de la lengua española (RAE and ASALE), "cómic" and "tebeo".
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "manga".
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, "comic book".
- EBSCO Research Starters, "Manhwa: South Korean comics".
- Asociación Cultural Tebeosfera, Informe Tebeosfera 2025. Un mercado asimétrico.
- Victoria and Albert Museum, "A brief history of webtoons", updated 17 April 2024.
- WEBTOON CANVAS, terms of use, 6 January 2026.