Printed manhwa before Webtoon: Dooly the Little Dinosaur

Dooly, is an anthropomorphic baby dinosaur created by Kim Soo-hung in 1983, and has remained a iconic character in Korea.

Dooly the Little Dinosaur by Kim Soo-jung

Korea has been dominating the Webtoon scene, and this year, has won their first Eisner award with Purgatory Funeral Cakes Vol. 1 written and illustrated by Sanho. However long before both of these achievements, Manhwa, (published in printed format), was popular in Korea long before digital comics, but sadly not as well known as manga. Dooly the Little Dinosaur [아기공룡 둘리] was one such manwha that captured the hearts of Koreans everywhere. Many remember growing up reading the manhwa, and of course, loving the animated series, the myriad of books, and merchandise that featured this cute dinosaur. In fact, scientists named a real small dinosaur Doolysaurus huhmini, when fossils were found in South Korea after the iconic character. 

Dooly is an anthropomorphic baby dinosaur that was kidnapped by aliens, and experimented on which gave him magical powers. When he returned to Earth, he was trapped in a glacier during the Ice Age. About 100 million years later, one of the glaciers broke off and he arrived in Seoul.  While in Seoul, he was found by a girl named Younghee (영희), and lives with her, her brother, and her father Gildong/Kildong (길동). Unfortunately, Gildong doesn't particularly like Dooly and whenever he is annoying, treats him the way Homer treats Bart. Some common moments in Dooly comics is his inability to control his supernatural powers, and under moments of high duress, can turn people into dinosaurs, or send Gildong away to an Amazon forest.

Dooly the Dinosaur and his other animal and human friends, becames staples on TV in several animated series. For generations, children and adults alike instantly recognized the little green dinosaur. While there was a manhwa sequel, it was much darker in tone with a sad ending. After much criticism, many Koreans and fans of Dooly preferred to remember him as a cute prehistoric creature that went on adventures with his found family.