Back then, nearly every street had manhwa rental stores where fans could pick up an armful of the latest titles for a modest fee, and return later in the week to get a fresh fix of new materials.

Bookstores did roaring trade in selling the latest titles, and peer-to-peer (P2P) e-commerce sites were busy hives of activity with frantic comic buying and selling at all hours.

Almost 15 years later, the manhwa craze has subsided with the advent of the smartphone. Instead of dying out in the digital age, however, the medium has found a way to thrive on handheld screens.

The 2010s saw the invention in Korea of the webtoon, a portmanteau of the terms ¡°web¡± and ¡°cartoon.¡± The smartphone has proven to be the perfect vehicle for webtoons, with several of Korea¡¯s biggest web companies and chat app providers creating platforms for scrollable titles both free and paid. In this year¡¯s second quarter, Naver Webtoon reported year-on-year growth of 57% for its pay-to-view webtoon service.

Unsurprisingly, K-drama producers have been keen to tap this rich new vein of creativity. A slew of titles over the past few years are based on hit webtoons, and their adaptations for home screens have produced outstanding results. The following are four webtoon-based K-dramas to whet your appetite.

Cheese in the Trap (Webtoon 2010-17, TV ¡¯16, film ¡¯18)

Plot : A college student is skeptical about her university¡¯s resident ¡°Mr. Perfect,¡± a wealthy, handsome and seemingly kind senior who happens to be the heir to a lucrative business empire. His spotless image, however, belies his nature as a master manipulator who ruthlessly disposes of anyone who gets in his way. The protagonist tries to distance herself from him, but things complicate when he asks her out on a date.

It factor : The webtoon was a runaway success in Korea and elsewhere. The producers of the series, however, decided not to wait for the cartoon to wrap up before releasing the live-action version. This resulted in the series having an ending different from the online comic. ¡°Cheese¡± also built up the roles of characters who featured less in the webtoon, to the delight of some readers and the dismay of others.

The drama was a ratings smash at home and abroad.

The story of boy meets girl in college is familiar ground for most K-drama lovers, but the anti-hero male lead and the female protagonist¡¯s conflicting emotions toward him make this series riveting viewing from start to finish.

The webtoon ¡°Cheese in the Trap¡± has not only spawned a K-drama, but also a Japanese-language version. © Studio Dragon

The Tale of Nokdu (Webtoon 2016-18, TV ¡¯19)

Plot : During the Joseon Dynasty (1392- 1910), the family of young nobleman Nokdu is attacked by a band of female assailants. Nokdu pursues one of the attackers and eventually finds himself in a village whose sole inhabitants are widows. He disguises himself as a woman to evade detection, but things get complicated when he meets Dongju, a fellow villager who ran away from a forced apprenticeship as a gisaeng (courtesan).

It factor : While most K-dramas based on webtoons tend to be set in modern-day Korea, ¡°Nokdu¡± delves into the Korean Peninsula¡¯s rich and illustrious past.

For much of the Joseon era, a woman¡¯s lot was nothing to be envied. In most cases, Joseon law made it virtually impossible for a widow to remarry, though a widower was allowed to do so. As such, villages packed with widows were a historical phenomenon. In this K-drama, two characters are cast into this strange world and prepared to risk everything to exact revenge on those who wronged them.

TV and movie storylines about men forced to disguise themselves as women are often repetitive, the stuff of outdated, hackneyed farce. ¡°Nokdu,¡± however, is anything but. This is instead a fascinating study on the nature of revenge and how the quest for vengeance can lead to unexpected redemption and self-discovery.

Love Revolution (Webtoon 2013-, TV ¡¯19)

Plot : A high school student, lacks sufficient funds for his bus journey but Jarim, a female classmate he¡¯s never met before, pays his fare. This simple act of kindness leads him to fall for her. Sadly for him, Jarim is the most aloof girl he¡¯s met, relentlessly spurning his advances no matter how much attention he showers on her.

It factor : A combined 310 episodes of this ongoing webtoon have been posted, and it is still going strong. Unlike many other titles, this unpretentious affair with minimalist art themes and an uncomplicated storyline focuses on the everyday joys and bum notes of high school life.

In many ways, the webtoon is a slightly grown-up version of the American cartoon series ¡°Peanuts,¡± being heavy on humor and centering on a core group of lovable characters. Just like the adventures of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and friends, it is designed to be enjoyable in small doses.

The TV series has gone the exact same route, with fun and bite-size episodes of 20 minutes each and laughs aplenty. Lee Ruby is a revelation in playing the female lead, clearly enjoying her portrayal of the cold and distant ice queen. And K-pop star Park Jihoon brings cheer as the lovesick classmate who wears his heart on his sleeve.