Manga=stepping stone for comics?; Newsarama previews Takeru

December 8, 2006 in Comics Conundrum, Manga Minutiae | 9 comments

There’s a long thread on TCJ about whether manga will deliver more comics readers as a whole.

Or more accurately, “will manga deliver readers to our comics?”… because manga are comics.  Also worrying, so many seem to see manga as nothing more than a stepping stone to “superior works.”

Those issues aside, I’m not even sure if this is a question that needs to be asked.  Rather, creators with mainstream aspirations should be asking themselves “what is manga’s appeal to the mainstream, and how do I incorporate it within my own works?”

One thing manga isn’t going to do is deliver new audiences to art/alt comics in a handbasket.  Art comics, by their nature, holds art/self above all else, while the priority for most manga published here is the audience… it’s a very commercial product.  Manga is going to be no more, and no less, relevant to the alt comix crowd as superhero comics.

That said, everyone should follow up that thread with this essay by Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson.  No truer words on the state of comics have ever been written.  Right now, manga IS filling the role of the “crap, populist medium” for teens… or to put it more charitably, manga is accessible; it knows its primary goal is to entertain, and gives readers what they want without being too cerebral or dumb to insult the audience (which is actually pretty hard to do.)  Manga is the young debutante every man wants because she knows how to tease and flatter them just right, and all the other girls at the ball are jealous.

Edit: Silly me, I forgot to actually link to the thread.

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Newsarama has some preview pages from the upcoming Witchblade manga, though unfortunately, these don’t show the coloring job Top Cow will be adding for their release.  Newsarama is also very careful to label the pages as NSFW, because, you know, buttcheeks drawn by a Japanese person is much more dangerous than the same by an American artist.

Oh waittaminute… what is that she’s pulling out of her… OMG!  Nevermind, jeebus!  Good day to you, ma’am!

9 comments

  1. Floating_Sakura on December 8, 2006 at 12:08 pm

    I think there will still be a long, long way before manga readers start turning to comic, but one day the line between the two will blur a lot that it wouldn’t really matter what the label says. Especially with artists like Pop Mhan turning from DC/Marvel to Tokyopop. People will be interested in finding out the other stuff that these artists have done.

    Art comics… ? mmm? I guess I should browse comic store more thoroughly. (I’m making progress… I don’t just head straight in and out to only the manga section anymore!)

  2. Simon on December 8, 2006 at 2:06 pm

    Maybe “art/literary comics” is not the best word, more “avant garde comics” from independent publishers. And there are lots of great ones out there, but there’s not much material produced that straddle the middle ground/have mass appeal… that’s not something manga, superhero comics, or anything else can change directly.

    Edit: fixed brainfart ;;;

  3. Akcoll99 on December 8, 2006 at 3:39 pm

    I still don’t understand this animosity that seems to have crept up between American comic fans and manga fans. I love both and read plenty of both, but I’ve talked to comic fans who HATE manga and vice versa.

    At the comic shop I frequent, manga is usually treated like “the enemy” that is somehow magically stealing all those customers who would normally be lining up around the corner for the newest issue of “Infinite Civil Crisis Wars XIII”…

    As for ‘avante garde’ comics, like the works of someone like Charles Burns or Daniel Clowes, I think they’ve best been served by Hollywood adaptions and literary awards. I don’t see where a direct line from manga could be formed. Ummm, they’re both in black & white…usally…how about that? :)

  4. Floating_Sakura on December 8, 2006 at 3:41 pm

    Something like Nouvelle Manga’s stuff? :o I’ve flipped through their stuff a lot of times in Comic Book stores, always have the urge to buy it (until I see the price tag..) ^^;;

    I have some Igort’s stuff on my shelves too, the simplicity of the ink work looks really appealing to me. Although, I don’t think that’s considered avant garde (well, to me it does, since I’ve never seen something like it, but that’s due to my own ignorance). Anyhow, I am probably the 1% of the example (made up number), where manga is pushing me to at least check out the comic direction slowly. (I still repel superhero stuff, and probably always will).

  5. DavidPWelsh on December 9, 2006 at 2:14 am

    I like the juxtaposition of topics in this post. I really do.

Comments are now closed.