Is I Don't Want This Kind of Hero Worth Reading? Review & Where to Read

Quick facts
Format	Webtoon, 295 chapters, 27 volumes
Run	2011–2017 · completed
Community score	AniList 6.8 · MAL 7.6 · MangaUpdates 7.8
Content	Violence
Where to read	WEBTOON — official

Overview

I Don't Want This Kind of Hero, by the Korean creator samchon, takes the superhero genre and runs it through a comedy filter. Naga is a high-schooler with serious psychic powers and zero interest in using them heroically — he'd rather be left alone. The crime-fighting organization SPOON has other ideas, drafting him onto a team alongside the hot-headed Hyena and the strange Sasa to stand against the villain group KNIFE. What follows is part superhero action, part workplace comedy, and part affectionate send-up of the whole hero-versus-villain setup.

What it does well

The first thing that grabs you is how good it looks. samchon is a genuinely talented artist, and the webtoon is full of dynamic, well-staged action and expressive, characterful faces. Powers look cool, fights have weight and clarity, and the whole thing has a confident visual style that stands out even among WEBTOON's deep bench of good-looking series. On a vertical scroll, the action sequences in particular are a pleasure to read.

It's also legitimately funny. The comedy is the backbone, and samchon has sharp timing — the gags land, the banter is quick, and the series clearly knows and loves the superhero tropes it's poking at. Rather than mocking the genre from the outside, it teases it from the inside, which keeps the tone warm instead of cynical. The cast helps enormously: Naga's reluctant-slacker routine, his combative teammates, and a rogues' gallery of weird, distinct villains all bounce off each other in ways that keep the pages moving.

What keeps it from being just a gag comic is that it commits to the action and the stakes too. When the story wants to be exciting, it delivers real set pieces; when it wants to get serious, it earns some genuinely dramatic moments later in the run. That range — funny one chapter, thrilling the next — is a big part of why it built such a loyal following.

Where it falls short

The main knock is length and pacing. This is a long-running series, and it shows: some arcs drag, the momentum dips in the middle stretches, and a tighter edit would have helped. The tonal balancing act is also imperfect — the jumps between low-key slice-of-life comedy and high-stakes action don't always transition cleanly, and a serious beat can land awkwardly right after a goofy one. And as with a lot of big ensemble webtoons, the cast eventually gets large enough that some side characters and subplots soak up more attention than they really justify. None of it is fatal, but it does mean you're signing up for a sprawling read with some uneven patches.

Verdict

I Don't Want This Kind of Hero is one of the better superhero webtoons out there — smart, funny, great-looking, and clearly made by someone who loves the genre enough to tease it. It's long and a little uneven, so patience helps, but the strong art, sharp humor, and likable cast carry it a long way. If you want a superhero story that doesn't take itself too seriously and looks fantastic doing it, it's an easy free recommendation on WEBTOON.