Comic Books VS Manga, which do you prefer?

[Something Amyss]

However there are Japanese characters that make me feel otherwise, even if it is a guy with MAKEUP

O noes, makeup? On a dude? The horror!

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

However there are Japanese characters that make me feel otherwise, even if it is a guy with MAKEUP

O noes, makeup? On a dude? The horror!

Say what you will, I don't care for it

 

[RickyRich]

Spoiler: Batman

Equals better than androgynous boys with girly haircuts.

Spoiler: However there are Japanese characters that make me feel otherwise, even if it is a guy with MAKEUP

This is basically the same reason for me liking comics and not manga. I haven't found a single manga I have preferred over a comic and those pictures are the exact reason why. I like reading about heroes and anti-heroes, not some whiny Japanese kid who kills people because he didn't get enough hugs growing up.

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

Comics because they make sense. Manga has too much sex/gender confusion. And they talk way too much. More than necessary.

Comics... make sense...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man

I rest my case.

OT: Manga, mostly because there are far more varied genres, and in many cases better philosophical discussion then "Do I punch them, or hit them with a bat-a-rang, then punch them?"

How can you not like....

Spoiler: this?

 

[Helmholtz Watson]

Spoiler: Batman

Equals better than androgynous boys with girly haircuts.

Spoiler: However there are Japanese characters that make me feel otherwise, even if it is a guy with MAKEUP

This is basically the same reason for me liking comics and not manga. I haven't found a single manga I have preferred over a comic and those pictures are the exact reason why. I like reading about heroes and anti-heroes, not some whiny Japanese kid who kills people because he didn't get enough hugs growing up.

As much as I like the character, that basically describes Gaara(anime guy I included who has black rings around his eyes).

 

[Carl The Manicorn]

I love comics. Like seriously, love them. I spend some afternoons just sitting in my room reading my collection of Sin City comics.

Comics, I feel, are a dying medium because of this Manga and Anime bullshit. For every superhero, there are twelve million different shitty Manga books about a girl/guy who obtains a magical power/relic/animal that helps them defeat magical people like them. For comics, it's usually about a hero trying to thwart evil doers in spandex.

While comics focus on usually a shared universe, Manga and Anime don't really link to one another. That is why I love comics. They all link and they all (depending on the publisher) know that one other exist.

So, in conclusion, I hate Manga because it is just so weird. Plus, comics offer a lot more varitey in stories. There's the typical superhero fighting evil, to the untypical normal people doing un-normal things (ie. Kick-Ass, Sin City, Fantastic Four).

 

[Carl The Manicorn]

Comics because they make sense. Manga has too much sex/gender confusion. And they talk way too much. More than necessary.

Comics... make sense...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man

I rest my case.

OT: Manga, mostly because there are far more varied genres, and in many cases better philosophical discussion then "Do I punch them, or hit them with a bat-a-rang, then punch them?"

I'm pretty sure that there is more to the character of Batman than that. It's more like, "I'm the goddamn Batman, you have committed a crime and I shall bring you down, ************. This is because, I am the goddamn Batman."

 

[OtherSideofSky]

DO NOT BUY the Ghost in the Shell sequels. They are all terrible. Honestly, a Masamune Shirow series is probably a terrible place to start reading manga. Avoid all the Shonen Jump stuff too, as it's intended for 8-14 year olds and goes on forever. If you tell me what you like in Western comics I can probably give you some recommendations.

adivce duly noted....

also I know what you mean..it is confusing..BUT at least we have the internet, so you can do reasearch...but yeah hence why its not "newcomer" freindly

and Ive stumbled upon some good stuff (Treansmetropolitan, Arkham Asylum living hell) and a series by a writer I know (Warren Ellis) which looks good though I havnt read it yet...just by searching through the comics section in a used bookstore

it turns out my city does actually have a proper comic book shop (I think) which I havnt quite worked up the nerve to visit..but I really should

my other scource is a store that has a big section of trade paperbacks (and I imagine an even bigger section of manga but I dont go into that section because manga/anime weirds me out..no offece ment)

None taken. Manga is full of bizarre and outlandish things that probably shouldn't appeal to a healthy mind (one of the reasons I like it so much). Besides, if you went into the manga section you might run into those crazy people who insist on being called "otaku" and will talk your ears off about how series X is so mature and deep and nothing like those awful superhero comics even though it's actually serialized popcorn entertainment for middle school students. No one deserves to deal with those people, not even Hitler with Stalin's brain and Liquid Snake's hand.



.

I guess thats why limited/shorter series are good

anyway my aprehension about manga/anime I think is because I asociate it with the seedy backwaters of the internet....and the artstyle always annoyed me (I also asosiate it with emo teenagers trying to draw anime style in the seedy backwaters of the internet..uhh anyway)

BUT that said theres probably no denying theres some great stuff there (Ive been meaning to watch AKIRA for some time, and you dont need to tell me that it has somthing western TV animation lacks)

but anyway, getting into that would be like crossing some kind of line...Im not sure Im ready for the dark side

Don't worry, I'm not one of those crazy anime fans who feels the need to bash Western animation at every opportunity.

The manga for Akira is better than the movie (it has a lot more time to flesh out side characters and subplots, for one thing), although both are good and the movie is definitely worth a watch for anyone interested in animation as an art form.

Don't think that manga is all, or even primarily, one art style just because of the things that have the biggest presence in English speaking fandom. If you want to see something much more realistically (and just generally better) drawn, you might want to give Pluto (an interesting retelling of a famous Astro Boy storyline) or Blade of the Immortal (a pretty fun over-the-top samurai action series) a try. Ryoichi Ikegami is probably your best bet art-wise, but he usually works with Kazuo Koike, who's writing is unbelievably crazy (he's best known for Lone Wolf and Cub and Crying Freeman). You could also look at Uzumaki or Gyo, both of which are very good short horror series with art that you might like more than most of what you see.

ohh ASTRO BOY damn how could I forget? I never got a chance to really get into it (it was on thursdays...dammit) but I liked what I did see..must have been around or a little before the time AVATAR was on

anyway...thanks for the sugestions..visually speaking how would you say the manga compares to the film AKIRA? Ive seen pictures of the movie...and the movie poster...DO WANT..

The same guy that wrote and drew the manga had total control over the production of the movie, so they look basically identical. His name was Katsuhiro Otomo and his art style represented an enormous departure from the norm established by earlier creators like Tezuka and Ishinomori because he took inspiration from Western artists and opted to take a more realistic approach in his art (it took animators about a year to learn how to work in his style when he first provided character designs for an animated film). In addition to Akira, he wrote a great comic called Domu about a little girl and an old man who are both powerful psychics and fight each other for control of the apartment complex where they live. If you like his work, you may enjoy the films of the late Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Millenium Actress, Tokyo Godfathers, Perfect Blue) who began his career as Otomo's assistant and adopted his more realistic art style, even after he stopped making comics and started making films.

I would encourage anyone new to Japanese animation to begin with feature films in any case, as they present a complete story in much less time than television series (and with higher production values), thus allowing people to experience a wider variety and decide if there's anything they want to see more of without a major time commitment.

 

[Hollock]

Manga are okay, butI prefer comics.

 

[Dragonclaw]

As a comic book store owner (who also carries Manga) I have to say that if people think that superheroes are the ONLY books out there for comics then they aren't going to the right shops I know MANY stores only cater to the "tights & flights" crowd, but there are stores out there (yes, like mine...Comic Ink in Dublin, CA) that carry hundreds on indie books...fantasy, TV show related, horror, gangster, mythical, drama, comedy...there's something out there for everyone. Peruse a copy of Previews at your local comic book store...it's amazing how many books are out there (we carry about 500 titles a month!)

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

While I'm coming to like western cartoons more for their art-styles, manga always seem to have more umph for each droller spent. I'm go with manga

 

[Jonluw]

Well, I definitely like manga better than the American superhero comics with their ridiculously complex continuities and lack of a single story. (Note that I do not like manga/anime like Naruto and Bleach for this very reason)

There are a lot of good western comics though. However, a lot of them are a bit artsy for my taste, and it's hard to find anything that's neither artsy nor a superhero comic. I know they exist, particularly in the Belgian market, but I just can't seem to get into them. Particularly since they're practically all of the "endless continuity" variety.

What I like so much about manga and anime is that I can sit down and read or watch a story, that story being the only one which takes place in its universe.
They take the story/plot seriously, and actually end their series when it's finished.
The only western comic books that I've seen do this are the artsy ones. I can dig those once in a while, but in the long run they bore me.

 

[Vault101]

DO NOT BUY the Ghost in the Shell sequels. They are all terrible. Honestly, a Masamune Shirow series is probably a terrible place to start reading manga. Avoid all the Shonen Jump stuff too, as it's intended for 8-14 year olds and goes on forever. If you tell me what you like in Western comics I can probably give you some recommendations.

adivce duly noted....

also I know what you mean..it is confusing..BUT at least we have the internet, so you can do reasearch...but yeah hence why its not "newcomer" freindly



my other scource is a store that has a big section of trade paperbacks (and I imagine an even bigger section of manga but I dont go into that section because manga/anime weirds me out..no offece ment)

None taken. Manga is full of bizarre and outlandish things that probably shouldn't appeal to a healthy mind (one of the reasons I like it so much). Besides, if you went into the manga section you might run into those crazy people who insist on being called "otaku" and will talk your ears off about how series X is so mature and deep and nothing like those awful superhero comics even though it's actually serialized popcorn entertainment for middle school students. No one deserves to deal with those people, not even Hitler with Stalin's brain and Liquid Snake's hand.



.

I guess thats why limited/shorter series are good

anyway my aprehension about manga/anime I think is because I asociate it with the seedy backwaters of the internet....and the artstyle always annoyed me (I also asosiate it with emo teenagers trying to draw anime style in the seedy backwaters of the internet..uhh anyway)

BUT that said theres probably no denying theres some great stuff there (Ive been meaning to watch AKIRA for some time, and you dont need to tell me that it has somthing western TV animation lacks)

but anyway, getting into that would be like crossing some kind of line...Im not sure Im ready for the dark side

The manga for Akira is better than the movie (it has a lot more time to flesh out side characters and subplots, for one thing), although both are good and the movie is definitely worth a watch for anyone interested in animation as an art form.

..visually speaking how would you say the manga compares to the film AKIRA? Ive seen pictures of the movie...and the movie poster...DO WANT but I liked what I did see..must have been around or a little before the time AVATAR was on
..

The same guy that wrote and drew the manga had total control over the production of the movie, so they look basically identical. .

yes...also with AKIRA, from my unsterstanding didnt they do the "western" technique of recording dialouge THEN animating?

anyway Perfect Blue seems interesting, aparetnly its VERY similar to one of my favorite movies Black swan...so there must have been some "inspiration there" (which would makse sense since I think the Director of Black swan purchased the rights to perfect blue just to include that bathroom/scream scene in Requiem for a dream)

anyway thanks yourve been very helpful )

I love comics. Like seriously, love them. I spend some afternoons just sitting in my room reading my collection of Sin City comics.

Comics, I feel, are a dying medium because of this Manga and Anime bullshit. For every superhero, there are twelve million different shitty Manga books about a girl/guy who obtains a magical power/relic/animal that helps them defeat magical people like them. For comics, it's usually about a hero trying to thwart evil doers in spandex.

While comics focus on usually a shared universe, Manga and Anime don't really link to one another. That is why I love comics. They all link and they all (depending on the publisher) know that one other exist.

So, in conclusion, I hate Manga because it is just so weird. Plus, comics offer a lot more varitey in stories. There's the typical superhero fighting evil, to the untypical normal people doing un-normal things (ie. Kick-Ass, Sin City, Fantastic Four).

dying?...oh dear

its interesting you mention "variety" because thats the reason alot of people are saying they prefer manga (plus though manga obviously isnt your thing I think your being a little harsh there)

anyway I think the obvious problem is not only comis lack of accessibility..but mabye because the big players seem to base their image on and ONLY on superheros, and to the casual outsider superheros just arnt that interesting on top of all the confusing bullshit surrounding it

of coarse its stupid to say "its all superheros" (my experence so far would be to the contrary) but thats what it apears to be...personally except for batman superheros dont interest me

 

[Risingblade]

I like both, why limit myself to just one :3

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

This is way too close for me to draw a land in the sand. I enjoy both too much...

 

[Joshimodo]

Comic Easily, as to why? Well Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrisson, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar and Garth Ennis. They're possibly the most creative people I've come across working today in any medium. And that's without going into the Artist and the lesser series.

Seriously Mange may be more popular and it's industry isn argueable healthier but if anyone tries to tell you it's definitively better or more original, then they're just plain wrong.

High five, especially for Warren Ellis. No manga will ever even approach something as superb as Transmetropolitan.

I've yet to read a manga that was really well written. There's a lot of style, never really much substance. Most are inane, and others too contrived to really be that interested.

To each their own though, I guess.

 

[neoontime]

Pfft. I only read graphic novels.

 

[TrevHead]

I love manga and anime that has that 90s/ 00s dark gritty cyberpunk style of Akira, Sci-fi mech or medievil Japan, I dont usually go for most of the highschool otaku shit thats popular now.

Current fave manga. Gantz & Tenjho Tenge (both have great artwork) Deadman wonderland,

Im getting more drawn to Korean Manwa nowadays like Id

BTW Ild give my left nut for Platinum Games to make a Gantz game, that manga is just ripe for converting into the most awesome superman-eske hack and slasher ever. Its pack with enough cool weapons and vehicles that would make batman blush