Forum - View topicIs Manga taking over the comic industry?
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marioc
 Posts: 25 Location: The M@ Realm |
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Author: marioc
My Opinion: I've been reading manga for four years. And I think that manga has forced publishers like dark horse comics and others to accept manga. In ways they won't have in the past.Example, dark horse had a competition called New recruits this past year.They are now starting to look at new talent,manga or otherwise. But tokyopop has a competition like that every year and supports manga and other styles. I looked on the internet and saw other american based companies have started doing the same. It's simple, in bussiness money talks and if manga is bring in the money, publishers will have to take notice. Just because manga isn't part of american tradition, as far as comics go. Manga has a very free feel to it. Instead of a comic that looks good, but lacks originality, In comics the story speaks volumes and in manga its no different.Simiply put, I think that manga is slowly but surely taking over the comic book industry. |
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.Sy
Posts: 1266 |
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With the recent rise of manga popularity, it has obviously begun to dominate a huge portion of comic book sales. I wouldn't exactly say that manga is taking over the industry, but it's certainly getting a large portion of the sales. ANN frequently has bookscan toplists for graphic novels, and manga is almost always present. There has also been at least one instance in which the top list was comprised solely of manga. You also see manga more frequently on the USA top 150 books. So yes, is dominating.
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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Forcing them to accept it? You are aware that Darkhorse was one of the first companies to publish manga in the US? As for taking over the comic industry, look at Diamond's list of the best selling GN's of 2005 at specialty stores: manga is still by large a minority on the list. Where manga is selling is in bookstores. The fact is that some manga fans now disassociate manga from the comic industry completely. I don't think manga is taking over the comic industry, but rather growing into a seperate industry on its own.
What the hell is this supposed to mean? |
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velocet
Posts: 240 |
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Ah...Kagemusha kind of beat me to it.
Dark Horse comics have been publishing manga for almost 10 years...not the best example. I have no idea of their first title, but Oh My Goddess! issue 1 came out in August 1994. The manga boom and Tokyopop's brand of marketing may have affected their strategy, but hardly forced them into 'accepting manga' - DH have been publishing manga longer than Tokyopop in it's current form have existed. I get what you're trying to say; what you're really talking about is a company like DC Comics branching out into manga in the form of CMX. I can't help thinking that for the most part you're stating the obvious though. Manga is increasingly sucessful in the comics market, of course other comics companies might choose to expand if they think it's a lucrative move. Still, as was mentioned above in the world of comics, manga is still not the predominant product. At least, it certainly isn't in any of the comics shops I've been to, and I meet far more people who are into american comics than manga in real life. I can't help thinking 'taking over' is a fair ways off yet. |
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prettygirl
 Posts: 127 Location: too far from home... |
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This is funny because I picked up the odd copy of Archie Comics one time. You know how Archie is very "American" in that the art is very simple with very "American" type jokes and language. Anyways, at the end of the comic, there was an ad introducing a "manga-style" Josie and the Pussycats. It made me fall over with laughter because they're trying to turn this all-american comic into, as they called it, "manga-style". It totally didn't look good because it didn't look anything like manga. Has anyone else seen this ad in the Archie comics?
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Nagisa
Moderator
 Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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Given how you're basically mirroring statements you made in another thread, I guess I'll just do the same.
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marioc
Posts: 25 Location: The M@ Realm |
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Manga has a very free
feel to it. Instead of a comic that looks good, but lacks originality, In comics the story speaks volumes and in manga its no different. This means that the story is everything when talking about comic books. Before the main character is brought to life on paper. their must be a basic ideal for what your drawing. for years in american comics there's been stories that weren't even worth looking at and the characters were looking better than the story. I'm not downing dark horse they've done alot, but have you seen their website lately, Years ago their wasn't a manga section and now there is. I mean in anything theirs growth and development. first manga will grow into it's seperate industry. But what happens in business when a industry is born? Their must be conquest and when manga becomes as popular as it is in japan & france. That will be the end of normal comics and the age fo graphic novels will begin, you know the two-hundread page mark.And the only haven for normal comics will be the big screen(movies); Thats how you can describe american comics. Reading one is like looking at a movie and thats the smart thing that dark horse has done. did you think their would be a hellboy movie or any movie's about classic comics. Why do you think that is, it's their only way to survive now, have you even checked out the local book store lately and seen how far other things have came. Sc-fi is a big thing now, when I was five I walked into at book store that contained nothing but action novels, historical books, and the sci-fi section was as small as the darn store, but know it has its own section and what is manga mostly composed of.... sci-fi,horror,action,and drama, but the great part is it doesn't stop there. Can you say the same for american comics, an that's why most countries hate us. P.S. In america big companies and government want everything to stay american, but their slowly learning that unity speaks volumes. in this case its comics but its in everything if you really look around you, heck its even in food, Check out the way other's live around the world, god bless the internet, I've pulled of pictues and maps that I never knew exsisted. |
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marioc
Posts: 25 Location: The M@ Realm |
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Manga is now a strong force in the comic markets outside of Japan, yes, but it isn't the dominating monster you seem to think it is.
Looks at a map and see how far ouside of japan it is before making a comment like that! Im looking at this from a world wide view. American comics are great, Not taking anything away from the artist. around the world comics are meeting their deaths. Would this website even exsist if you weren't talking about Anime and Manga and other interesting things that concern the two. Tell me when was the last time you took a business course in college or read a book on business. Well, in business their are many ways to make money and when you talk about comics, the best thing that can happen to an artist is their manga being on television. leading to big time dollars. And as far as the genre thing goes your right, but when I say genre's I'm not talking about just the ones I wrote. american comics are limited in that respected. when was the last time you read a manga that looked like it could end with just a few more pages. Thats why their called Novels. Not just fifty page issues. although most comics and manga start off as one shots. When was the last time you researched the history of manga and the struggle behind even getting it accepted here and its like that with almost everything thats a little different here. But as I said before extinction is near. how popular do you think american comics are anyway!!! yes, their are the ones who buy them but their not that many. Your living in the 60's!!! |
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Nagisa
Moderator
Posts: 6128 Location: Atlanta-ish, Jawjuh |
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This makes absolutely no sense. The geographic distance a product is exported has no relation whatsoever to its international success rate. It's how much money it makes and how prolific it is that matters. By the logic you're presenting with that statement, a manga that gets exported all the way around the world to England and makes maybe $2,000 is more successful than, say, an American comic book that gets exported a much shorter geographic distance to Canada, Peru, and New Guinea and makes about $2.3 million per country, all because England is farther away from Japan on a world map. That is insane.
Yet you've made multiple shots at them having "inferior" talent. Could you please make up your mind?
I'd like to see your cold, hard proof that "manga is taking over the world" and that "Western comics are suffering." Show me if you can, because a simple look around will show signs pointing strongly to the contrary.
This is ridiculous. So the measure of a comic's success is the TV or movie deal it lands? If so, I'd think the multiple multi-million dollar (this is worldwide, by the way) movies and TV deals adapting comics such as Spiderman and Sin City and X-Men and Hellboy are financially kicking the crap out of the average medium-budget anime TV series based on ____ manga. Could you please explain how Naruto, in this regard, is a bigger success than, say, Batman?
You know, since you're obviously so blind, I feel the need to remind you that American comics are regularly compiled into graphic novels, as well. Hell, many of the more independent titles like the aforementioned Persopolis and Pyongyang are only available in graphic novel format. And believe it or not, most manga series are released as individual chapters before themselves being compiled into graphic novels at a later date; they're no different from Western mainstream comics in that regard. The only difference here is that Western comic chapters are sold separate from one another, while individual manga chapters of many separate series are compiled into bi-weekly or monthly anthology magazones.
I'm just going to come out and say it: what upside-down fantasy world are you living in anyway? Western comics are bigger global sellers. Conventions dedicated to Western comics generate bigger turnouts. Movies and TV series based on Western comics are given bigger budgets and turn out bigger profits (including in Japan, where yes, joe normal Marvel Comics movie regularly outshines joe normal manga-turned-anime movie at the box office). This has not changed despite manga's recent (and recently slowing) rise in popularity. This is all common sense stuff if you'd just open your eyes for a second. |
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Grieving Chaos
Posts: 99 Location: Winterpark, FL |
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The american comic book industry is the healthiest it's been in nearly ten years. Both Marvel and DC have been stepping up their game, producing higher quality books (both in terms of story telling and art), getting trade paper backs out quicker, and Marvel has been working hard lately to use other genres lately.
Two points with the genre arguement - yeah, most American comics do have the stereotype of being ONLY about super heroes. And while alot of titles are, there are HUNDREDS of titles that have nothing to do with superheroics. It's just that these books don't sell as well and die off. Look at CrossGen from the ealier 00's. Their entire line was fantasy, sci-fi/other and they crashed and burned. Why? No interest in the titles. But, take into account the survival of non-super hero titles like Walking Dead - one of the top rated comics of the past year. Or Bone, years old but it STILL sells copies. Material's published by Oni are almost all non-SH and they're still in business - and they mainly focus on GN releases. Marvel's even been playing with other genres. They recently released a Marvel Zombie's limited series as a nice stab at the horror genre; along with Garth Ennis' Ghost Rider limited series. Last October/November they did several monster themed comics, including the Howling Commandos. And next month they're going to be releasing several romanticlly themed books. Also take into account a fanbase so loyal they send death threats to writers to mess with characters they love. Most fans started buying as kids and KEEP buying - and the industry has survived for over forty years. There's got to be SOMETHING they're doing right. The comic industry isn't dying. If anything, it's beginning to crawl it's way back up from the crash in the 90's.
Yeah, funny how this is true for ANYTHING. You think the guy who draws Garfield is rich because of those strips he makes for the newspaper every day? No. It's about liscensing. It's all about liscensing. If ANY comic/manga can get a TV show or a movie made, that's fantastic - because it means more money for the creators. What I think is interesting is that you see more animated series based off of mangas than you do comics. I mean, in the last ten years there have only been a few series based off comics. Spider-Man, X-Men, X-Men Evolution, Fantastic Four (twice), Spidey and his Amazing Friends, Iron Man, Hulk, Avengers, Spider-Man Unlimited, Transformers, GI Joe, the Tick, and Spawn. 15 comics turned TV shows as opposed to what, THOUSANDS of mangas turned animes?
What? Do you mean that you need a theme before even writing? Like Spidey's "Great power comes Great responsibility" line? That wasn't planned before Spidey was. That was written during Spidey's origin - like any other line. It's just that it became so important to his character that it's become iconic. Not to mention that it's basically true of any powerful character with morals. You don't see Goku fighting in the middle of a city right? No. because he knows that'd be stupid. People would get hurt with the energy they'd be throwing around. He would be responsible with his powers and lure the villain away - taking right from Spidey's line without even meaning to. Everyone keeps trying to draw this line in the sand between manga and comics; and most people seem to think that manga will "take over" the industry. Well it isn't. Last month, DC took the top of the Booklist (the best selling GNs list) with THREE of their trade paper backs - not their manga titles. Their american comics. But what I don't undestand about this statement - the BIGGEST THING - is why do you even want comics gone? Manga fanatics seem to think that the manga industry is going to stab the comics industry in the head and pull it's still beating heart and that they'll dance in the blood in an orgy of manga goodness. But what will manga gain from crushing the comics industry? Countless manga artists are inspired by comics (think of Nobuhiro Watsuki's love of Jim Lee) and vice versa. The two industries are just that - two different industries. When you read a manga you get a different experience than from a comic. When you read a comic, you aren't reading a manga. Enjoy them both. There's no need to run around pronouncing doom one way or the other. And why do you seem so intent to state this message anyway? All you're going to do is rile up people like me who believe - based on facts - that you're spouting nonsense. Posting messages like these won't make me stop reading comics. I love my X-Men. I ain't stopping. I don't care if they sell manga on the street corner - I'll be at my shop every Wendsday, getting new issues. So just calm down. You like manga? Then read your manga. You don't like comics? Then don't read comics. Just don't go around preaching doom. It's annoying. |
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darkhunter
 Posts: 2992 Location: Los Angelas |
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Nah it's just bias opinion about something they love so much that they are usually blinded by everything else. Why do people do this? Probably to get a sense of belonging, trying to get people to feel the same way they feel. The only problem is that most of us arn't that closed minded. Each have their own stereotype, comic being super-hero and manga being about big eye "sailor moon" girl comic or "yugioh"-ish kids stuff. |
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apple pro
Posts: 190 |
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I think manga growth will continue to be exceptional.
With Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans canceled — anime will continue to be shown more on national television than american comic series. You'll see a lot more Naruto-like phenomenon more and more. In a little while, comparing manga sales and graphic novel sales will be quite interesting. |
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Neilworms
 Posts: 155 Location: Chicago IL |
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And that is something that kind of disturbs me, manga shouldn't be so walled off from the comics industry as to prevent people from finding out that American/European comics can be as interesting/diverse as manga, and that American comics aren't just superheros. I hope more people try to get the american comics guys into manga, and vice versa, manga has something to offer for everyone as do comics of all other nationalities. |
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Azumangaman
 Posts: 256 Location: Canada |
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You.Make.No.Sense.Whatsoever.Marioc
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Kagemusha
Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I think it's a good and bad thing. On one hand, yeah, it's too bad that the gap between American/European comics and manga is widening, as I've heard many arguments on both sides that one is inferior (both sides do have a fair share of idiots.) On the other hand, lets face it, the American comicbook market isn't going to be growing anytime soon because it continually relies on a group of core fans to support it. Can you imagine a casual person actually picking up something like Infinite Crisis (another word for "scam") and enjoying it? Graphic novels have become a somewhat respected medium and have expended beyond comicbook fans in recent years and will probobly continue to, but if manga can become a successful medium on its own while maintaining diversity (which is begining to happen again after the "flood" of '03/'04), I'm all for it becoming seperate from American comics. |
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