Toronto’s Globe and Mail provides a solid rundown of comics for teens and children, ranging from Bone and Castle Waiting to Big Fat Little Lit and Runaways — with a stop by manga:
And then, there’s poor, much-maligned manga, the most misunderstood comic-book category on the shelf, which in spite of this hardship outsells all other categories combined. These Japanese comics encompass a staggering breadth: Up to 30 new series debut every month, in genres to suit any reader’s whim. Manga is generally more visually dynamic than regular comics, making it especially appealing to a generation weaned on PlayStation, even among the most reluctant readers.
Also covered: Scott Pilgrim, Making Comics, Flight 3, Sardine in Outer Space, Moomin, Naruto and more.
September 11th, 2006 at 10:29 am
Is manga really that much more visually dynamic? I guess the question is what does he mean by visually dynamic. If he just means “action” then I would have though your avereage managa is about equal compared to your average superhero book. If he means a larger variety of styles then I’m still kind of dumbfounded because most of the Manga I’ve seen (which is admittedly a very small amount) looks like it’s been drawn by the same guy.
September 11th, 2006 at 11:47 am
Manga art depicts motion in a way I haven’t seen done in most superhero comics. There’s a very kinetic esthetic going on in the action comics, you can almost feel the motion going on, whether characters are running or fighting or spaceships are traveling in space. And there are different styles of drawing in manga. Azuma Kiyohiko can never be mistaken for Rumiko Takahashi, who can’t be mistaken for CLAMP, etc. And frankly, most manga appeal to girls who don’t want to see superhero bimbos with impossible physiques clad in spandex, nor are most of them enamored of the male super heroes, either (although I know some who love Robin and Nightwing). A lot of teen girls love manga because of the stories, because they stay away from super hero fights and might focus more on romance or simple interpersonal relationships. There are manga with lots of mecha (giant fighting robots), martial arts action, or racing cars, comedy manga set in high schools, horror manga that depend more on atmosphere and psychological suspense than slasher stuff, mysteries, sports, rock music, history, … the list goes on and on. People love manga for the same reasons people love comics – the stories, the characters, the creators …
September 11th, 2006 at 12:57 pm
The problem with saying “Manga does this, where comics do this other thing” is that it’s a generalization that only takes into account a small sampling of either group. I hesitate to say medium, because manga = comics.
Manga is for girls– but there’s also a subset of manga dedicated to showing disturbing things happening to pre-teen girls.
Manga has different kinds of art– but comics have Flight, CP Smith, Scott Kolins, Amanda Conner, etc etc etc
Manga has different genres– comics don’t? Even a lot of tights’n'fights comics tend to run romance (Spidey Loves MJ), superspy/intrigue (Captain America under Bru), noir (Daredevil under Bendis, Bru, Miller), etc.
People have set up this kind of false divide between manga and comics like they’re two totally different things. One isn’t inherently more kid-friendly than one is more creative or deft or whatever. They’re the same. Both of peaks and valleys, crap books and good books. For every Avatar Comics and La Blue Girl, we’ve got an Daredevil and One Piece.
Also, 30 new series every month? Are they serious? That’s going to lead to a killer amount of oversaturation and then correction.