Manga vs. Comics

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

2) I prefer technology (think Ghost in the Shell, Appleseed, Adam Warren's Dirty Pair) as opposed to any superhero/superpowers garbage.
3) Story. I've found much more engaging storylines (with far more consistency as opposed to the whole "retconning" crap) contained in manga.

Leaving your taste in the artwork aside, have you read Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Sandman, etc? What did you think of the stories?
I'll be the first to agree that there is certainly a lot of, as you put it, superhero garbage out there. But there is also a lot of incredible stuff as well that falls into the category of, or originated in, superhero books.

 

[WizarDru]

I mean I just picked up a few issues of Fist of the Blue Sky and while the storyline isn't as tight as some others, and its not as ultra violent as other Manga's, it still handles violence in a way that only some of the comics in the Marvel Max line are strating to. Not saying ultra death is necessary or even a good part of a comic, but sometimes, you just look at the charactes in a comic and wonder, "Why haven't you been killed yet?"

Ah Scourge, where are you when needed? The Marvel Universe is in desperate need of your skills again!

Well, you have to remember a few things: manga is primarily the work of one artist and writer, sometimes the same person, or his studio. The typical superhero comic is a work-for-hire with someone else's intellectual property. Case in point: it was as much a suprise to the Batman creative team as anyone else when they announced there would be a new Robin, and that it would be a girl.

That, and it's been real passe' to kill off lesser characters to show how 'hard-core' a writer you are. I remeber how irritated I was that most of Justice League Europe was slaughtered in an issue of Starman, just to make the new Mist look dangerous. What a waste of some good characters. I always thought that Robinson took a cheap way out, there.

As for Fist of the Blue Sky, well there are plenty of 'how much blood do you actually have in your body, anyways?' scenes. Just because characters in Dragonball Z, Yu Yu Hakusho or Saiyuki don't wear costumes doesn't mean they aren't, for all intents and purposes, superheroes.

Personally, my favorite example of a D&D party on TV right now is Inuyasha. But I love Justice League equally, and can't wait for new episodes for each.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Leaving your taste in the artwork aside, have you read Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Sandman, etc? What did you think of the stories?
I'll be the first to agree that there is certainly a lot of, as you put it, superhero garbage out there. But there is also a lot of incredible stuff as well that falls into the category of, or originated in, superhero books.

I agree that there are many non-super hero comics worth reading. To whoever mentioned Y, the Last Man, thanks. Some entertaining and good reading.

As a bonus, I saw the novel I Am Legend in graphic novel format. A bummer of a read but fantastic nontheless!

As far as showing how hardcore a villain is by killing second stringers, heck, I remember when Martian Manhunter watched most of his incarnation of JLA get wiped out. Some interesting stuff there but overall, minimal impact on the DC universe, as is the mass murder of the JLA branch you mentioned.

Too often those big kills turn out to be nothing as many of those characters come back as those killed were either a)clones, b)robots, c)decoys or d)born more powerful then ever!

And that's another thing that shorter mangas have over comics. They don't have to bind themselves to the comic continuity so much that they just wind up sucking. I love a lot of comics, but I agree with a few others who feel that the Ultimates is a nice breath of fresh air with a tint of old continuity thrown over it.

 

[Kaleon Moonshae]

Do you mean the "Big Eyes, Small Mouth" sort of style? That doesn't do much for me either, but there's plenty of great manga out there done in other less-cartoony styles.

- I'll second Joe's recommendation of Lone Wolf and Cub -- it's a classic, with detailed, old-school samurai action and realistic artwork.

- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, by Hayao Miyazaki, is fantastic; great story, great artwork (stylish line drawings, very evocative).

- Akira, by Katsuhiro Otomo, is also a sci-fi classic. Again, I'd put the art into the "fairly realistic" category, but with a style all it's own. The anime is also excellent, although it cuts out a lot, to the point that it's almost a different story.

- Also by Otomo, Domu is one of the best comics I've ever read, period. Same style as Akira artistically, but a wonderfully described (and very creepy) modern tale.

All four of these are among my favorite comics overall, manga or otherwise.

Is Domu about the apartment complex and the "suicides"? I read a manga by Otomo that I really liked and I thought it was domu

 

[haiiro]

Is Domu about the apartment complex and the "suicides"? I read a manga by Otomo that I really liked and I thought it was domu

Yep, that's the one. One of my favorite things about it is that I've read it a couple dozen times, and I still don't completely understand what's going on.

 

[Arnwyn]

Leaving your taste in the artwork aside, have you read Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, Alan Moore's Swamp Thing, Sandman, etc? What did you think of the stories?

No, I've never read them (nor have I even heard of them - well, that's not true. I have heard of them, but only because I'm here at ENWorld), thus I can't comment on the stories. I'm sure they are good, but to be honest, I'm way way out-to-lunch regarding the North American comic book industry now (by more than a decade and a half). I wasn't happy with the comics back then, and I've never gone back (nor do I have any desire to).

 

[John Q. Mayhem]

I really only read two comic/manga series: Hellsing and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I liked JTHM, but I must say that I think Hellsing is better.

 

[Enchantress]

I really only read two comic/manga series: Hellsing and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. I liked JTHM, but I must say that I think Hellsing is better.

Hellsing kicks ass.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I like some comics, some mangas...don't really think one is any better than the other.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

I like both but I generally prefer american comics.


1 I prefer the art I've seen mutliple styles of manga and well I still rpefer most american comic style art.

2. Stories: while most american comics are within 1 genre, the writing styles seem much more diverse.

3. I'll call it a cultural divide: there are too many ways in how characters act, stories progress that quite frankly I don't understand.(I understand what's written but they act so wierd I find alein cultures presented in sci fi to be more nomral by far)