At Bookslut, Jeff Vandermeer talks with librarian Robin Brenner, author of Understanding Manga and Anime, about the differences between manga and Western comics, depictions of sex and violence, and the concept of OEL, or “global,” manga:
In terms of American manga creators — well, that’s an argument still to be settled. Personally, I do feel that a lot of what’s created in the U.S. and is called manga doesn’t actually read like manga. It may have certain elements — manga style character design, emotion symbols, or pacing — but most of the time these titles only have one aspect of the tradition, not all. So, while there are a lot of creators out there adopting manga’s styles and storytelling techniques, I don’t quite feel comfortable dubbing their creations manga. Each manga style title should be judged on their own merits, and there are some great titles as well as some clunkers.
The most irritating aspect of publishers’ scramble to cash in on manga’s popularity is companies jumping on the manga bandwagon without any sense of what makes manga appealing to its readers. Just aping the art style doesn’t work. A large part of manga’s appeal is its difference from Western comics, and the culture that it comes from, so just manga-fying what are essentially U.S. stories won’t sell those books to manga readers. What will work is paying attention to the kinds of stories manga tells, from historical mysteries to school romances to supernatural adventures, as well as the visuals and [plots]. That kind of U.S. “manga” is far more appealing, and is represented by the best titles currently out (like Svetlana Chmakova’s Dramacon series).
Brenner also provides Bookslut with her list of best manga of all time. Yes, all time. Her choices include Antique Bakery, Monster, Planetes and Yotsuba&!.
January 9th, 2008 at 11:34 am
What annoys me is that she mixes up Death Note’s author and artist (“…Tsugumi Ohba’s stellar art…Ohba’s art is dark and delicate…”). Takeshi Obata drew that!
January 9th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Excuse me, but that was probably just an honest error on Robin’s part. Don’t judge her by one mistake. I’ve known Robin for years, she is a dedicated librarian who put herself through library school (a master’s degree program) while working full-time. She dived head first into manga and didn’t just read a few titles, but immersed herself in manga, dedicated herself to learning more about manga than most Americans will ever bother to try. Her book, cover pictured in the entry, is excellent. I had the good fortune of being one of her early readers while the book was still in manuscript. Robin is an absolute treasure, a wonderful person to know, VERY knowledgeable, and always out to learn more. She’s one of the best people I know in this world, and that’s saying something, because I’ve been around for a long time and been involved with national organizations.