"Dear American Comics: Here's Why You're Losing Readers to Anime & Manga" 2 2

[Prince Namor]

One Punch Man: One of the best sellers in the store - it's about a superhero, Saitama, who can beat anybody with just one punch. and the boredom he feels as he faces a wide variety of crazy foes. One of the most popular manga's out right now, it's a little bit too silly at times for my tastes, but it's humor also hits home perfectly sometimes. A great start for some, if you like fun comics with a sense humor, but still contain plenty of gruesome (and at times I mean REALLY gruesome) action.

[october]

Anyone read Attack on Titan? 

Premise sounds cool. Haven't read much Manga though...

[Fan Boy]

1 hour ago, Chuck Gower said:

One Punch Man: One of the best sellers in the store - it's about a superhero, Saitama, who can beat anybody with just one punch. and the boredom he feels as he faces a wide variety of crazy foes. One of the most popular manga's out right now, it's a little bit too silly at times for my tastes, but it's humor also hits home perfectly sometimes. A great start for some, if you like fun comics with a sense humor, but still contain plenty of gruesome (and at times I mean REALLY gruesome) action.

Love this series. It is lot of laughs! Puns in jokes. One of my favourites is the phone ringing sounds in someone's crack. The other manga I read is One Piece for good adventure and action. Honestly, there are many great manga that makes today's comic books seems trivial.

i enjoyed reading manga because of the volumes being more pages than the monthly comic books, I do still read comic book stories but only in TPB volumes. I buy pre-1985 comics to fill up my runs.

i don't have thousands of manga volumes if that what you are thinking. I only have that much space and it is reserved for SA/GA comics. I have maybe about 200 manga volumes on my most favourite titles. The rest I read online.

[jaybuck43]

28 minutes ago, october said:

Anyone read Attack on Titan? 

Premise sounds cool. Haven't read much Manga though...

I've read it.  It's fantastic.

[MedicAR]

9 hours ago, FineCollector said:

We're still waiting for recommendations.  What's a manga title for us comic guys to start on that doesn't look like Teen Titans Go, and isn't filled with upskirt panty shots and phallus monsters?

Have you watched Teen Titans Go?  My son watches it, so my wife and I watch it as well.  It's hysterical, they did an episode on buying real estate that was funny and actually informative.  It works on many levels and I was really impressed.  

[MedicAR]

 

23 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

The perception that manga is all wide-eyed characters and simple artwork is just wrong....

This is bizarre...not your example but the way the boards work.  This was not here when I posted last night.  

Anyhow, I know it's not fair to look at Manga through such a narrow lens and the two titles I'm most familiar with didn't use them much, at least as I recall.  

Again, it's not fair to generalize but I look these pages, all that you posted, and instantly know that they are from Japan (Asia anyway).  Beyond the black and white, they have a very specific look and style.  It's not bad in any way, in fact I'm impressed with the fine lines and detail.  

The other book you posted pics from, is it the basis for the movie "Edge of Tomorrow"? 

 

22 hours ago, ChrisInBaltimore said:

How much of it is backwards though? I'm not sure my dyslexic brain could handle it, to be honest. 

This bugs me, too.  It shouldn't but it does.  I really thought it was my head injury, as strange things bother me now that never would have before.  When I first tried Manga, it was Americanized in that it was flipped so that it read left to right.  I notice that now, it's common to leave the art was it was originally done and we read right to left instead.  

 

21 hours ago, CAHokie said:

You guys keep using Manga like it means something specific.  Wait, is Manga a style of comic or does it mean all comics like Amazing Fantasy 15 like Logan says? What's the correct answer?

To me, "Manga" is just the term for Japanese graphic narratives.  It's probably as far off base as calling them "comic books" is here in the U.S.  The majority of what is published here doe fit that name as most of it is mindless superhero fare but there's so much more to it.  Look at Peter Bagge, Jeff Lemire, Daniel Clowes, and Jeff Smith.  They do amazing work that is so much more than just "comics" but they get lumped in anyway.  

 

[MedicAR]

2 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

As opposed to the perfect musculature male in tight spandex fighting the equally perfect musculature male in tight spandex? (Who incidentally, HIDES his dress up fantasy from his supposed 'love' interest, to instead continue his spandex nemesis grappling?) Thats'a less mainstream type of manga in Japan!

But seriously, here are some recommendations:

Deathnote: About a high school student who finds a Shinigami (Deathgod) notebook - anyone who's name is written in it, dies. He decides to use it to rid the world of evil, but... not only does the Shinigami himself complicate matters, but the real world blurs the lines between good and bad....When a special agent is assigned to find out who is behind these mysterious death's, and starts to get close, is that a good reason to kill someone? 

You can get the 'Black' version of this, Volume 1, on Amazon for $10.59 (free shipping) - contains 400 pages!

 

 

I'll give this one a try unless you can think of something with an adult protagonist.  Someone mentioned that most Manga seems to be kid and teenage leads and the only example that I can think of that isn't is Lone Wolf and Cub.  

[MedicAR]

1 hour ago, october said:

Anyone read Attack on Titan? 

Premise sounds cool. Haven't read much Manga though...

I thought the same thing when I saw the ads on Adult Swim for the animated series.  I watched about three of them and just found it too weird.  Maybe it's like most of these situations and the book is better?  

[Prince Namor]

1 hour ago, MedicAR said:

I thought the same thing when I saw the ads on Adult Swim for the animated series.  I watched about three of them and just found it too weird.  Maybe it's like most of these situations and the book is better?  

What about Blade of the Immortal published through Dark Horse? Collected in 30 volumes.... it's the story of a cursed samurai who has to kill 1000 bad guys in order to regain his mortality. Praised for it's huge expansive world and characters of great depth and backstory.

And it's printed in the American reading format.

[cms1]

A good american comic that is like manga is Monstress put out by image, the art is amazing and has a great story.  I just finished reading one punch man and the story is great.  It makes fun of all the typical stereotypes and is just a good read all around.

3 hours ago, MedicAR said:

I thought the same thing when I saw the ads on Adult Swim for the animated series.  I watched about three of them and just found it too weird.  Maybe it's like most of these situations and the book is better?  

The manga goes on much further than the show did and they just recently started getting into the back story to explain things.  Attack on titan is a good manga, but I don't think I would recommend it as an intro manga.

[ChrisInBaltimore]

4 hours ago, Chuck Gower said:

What about Blade of the Immortal published through Dark Horse? Collected in 30 volumes.... it's the story of a cursed samurai who has to kill 1000 bad guys in order to regain his mortality. Praised for it's huge expansive world and characters of great depth and backstory.

And it's printed in the American reading format.

Is it better than the other book you suggested? Are they both flipped?

[ComicConnoisseur]

On 7/14/2017 at 5:23 AM, marmat said:

Then you are missing some masterpieces that stand for his own right next to works like Watchmen, Batman TDKR, etc, you name it.

 

These are the ones I recommend as a gateway. 

 

 

[marmat]

Akira for me is the Sixtine Chapel of comics

 

[Squeezy McSphincter]

Lone Wolf and Cub is the only manga that I've read more than a little of.  It was great.

[ComicConnoisseur]

5 minutes ago, marmat said:

Akira for me is the Sixtine Chapel of comics

 

Agreed. Came out right around the time of both Watchmen and Dark Knight.  

[ComicConnoisseur]

5 minutes ago, Bubb Rubb said:

Lone Wolf and Cub is the only manga that I've read more than a little of.  It was great.

One could say the artist for that Kojima Gōseki was like Japan's Jack Kirby. A great visual storyteller.

[Readcomix]

22 hours ago, Logan510 said:

Comic books here still carry a stigma ( even with all the mainstream movies ) they do not in Japan. Comics are more widely accepted among the masses, which means that titles here which may be considered "adult" or "sophisticated" yet have a tiny audience can thrive and be successful there.

 

Saying they only have "3 styles" and " all look alike" is like someone saying all american comics look like Kirby, Miller and Perez, which we know is not true.

We should be so lucky these days that all American comics looked like either Kirby, Miller or Perez...

whether one likes Manga or not, it's easy to appreciate that it's fans like the serial storytelling that comes from longer-term creative teams committed to continuity. That's what I miss these days.

[VegasJeff]

Just to clarify, Manga means Japanese comics. Anime means Japanese cartoons. Japan is where it originated but it's possible you could see something made in the same style from another Asian country or even America here. Mange/Anime has been really popular here on the West Coast especially among the Asian community. Not to burst anyone's bubble, but Manga like Comics has also been experiencing a decrease in sales compared to years ago.

ComicConnoisseur made some good reco's above. Lone Wolf & Cub and Akira are definitely classics. If you haven't seen the Anime for Akira put that on your list. Two more classics I can recommend that I have in my collection are Golgo 13 and Old Boy. I also picked up Star Trek which I think is cool to see in Manga form. I really like the Manga digest format, but I believe some of them are just reprints from magazines in Japan.

The only Japanese Anime I've gotten into recently is One Punch Man. You can watch it on Netflix right now. Check it out.

 

 

[Fan Boy]

On 2017-07-15 at 9:18 AM, MedicAR said:

On 2017-07-14 at 9:56 AM, ChrisInBaltimore said:

How much of it is backwards though? I'm not sure my dyslexic brain could handle it, to be honest. 

This bugs me, too.  It shouldn't but it does.  I really thought it was my head injury, as strange things bother me now that never would have before.  When I first tried Manga, it was Americanized in that it was flipped so that it read left to right.  I notice that now, it's common to leave the art was it was originally done and we read right to left instead.  

Today's manga volumes published in North America are formatted right to left as read in original Japanese method with English text. In the 1980s, Dark Horse and Viz Comics did tried flip around to do the same like American comics are. But some time later many people in Japan complained that pages are backwards and didn't get stories flowed properly. Herce, afterward the manga were switched back to the original format with English text published. 

I got used to read both ways and for some strange reason ... I actually like that. I'm able to flip either way as my brain do, I also can drive and shift in both sides in cars with RHD or LHD. I guess I am in nature doing that? 

[nocutename]

Personally, I don't think it is fair to compare the two as the creative process is different.  The audience type is different same as for the cultural references.  I cannot understand why these comparisons are made.   I will say this, I know a lot of anime fans that never purchase anything.  I feel that since comics went digital are just harder to find for free.   Is there any $ that supports manga > than comics?  There are a ton of Superhero fans thanks to the movies but that doesn't translate to comic profits.  For the record, anime is not manga.  But the fact that the book gets translated into a series makes the genre very much approachable and more mobile.