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American Newspapers to Begin Carrying Manga

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the not-just-for-kids-anymore dept.

jonerik writes to tell us The Associated press is running an article stating that several American newspapers are going to start carrying manga with their normal arsenal of comics. The papers feel that this will help boost their readership amongst a younger audience. The two strips that made the cut are Van Von Hunter, and Peach Fuzz which are both created by American writer/illustrators and are being distributed by Universal Press Syndicate.

13 of 304 comments (clear)

  1. Not news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now, it if was hentai...

  2. How do we know this is manga? by Ithika · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin?

    --
    the layman's guide to computer science
    1. Re:How do we know this is manga? by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 4, Funny

      The pane progression will be right to left

    2. Re:How do we know this is manga? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 4, Funny

      Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin?

      It's obviously more than just the big eyes. If that were the only qualification, we'd have seen Dragonball Orphan Annie Z! a long time ago.

    3. Re:How do we know this is manga? by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The problem is that the style of American "manga" is generally a stereotypical view of manga drawing styles. Sure, a lot of manga do follow the stereotype, alot don't. Besides, my understanding of the meaning of manga as a loan word in English always coincided with the origin, it doesn't make much sense to me to use a foreign loan word to describe a domestic product which there already exists a perfectly fine word - comic.

    4. Re:How do we know this is manga? by badasscat · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin?

      I was thinking the same thing when I read that last sentence in the submission. "Manga" is not a style, it specifically refers to Japanese graphic storytelling. Otherwise there'd be no reason to even use that word. We use that word to refer to their comics/graphic novels because they use that word to refer to the same material. (It is the same with "anime".)

      Anything that is created outside of Japan is not manga, at least not if you're using that word to differentiate something from a standard comic (i.e. you are speaking English and not Japanese). It may be "manga-inspired", but it is not manga.

      People do get into arguments about this sort of thing, and yes, there can be questions of degree... a lot of anime, for example, is written and designed in Japan but drawn in Korea. Is it really anime? Probably. Same is true of some manga. But if you're talking about comics written by Americans, drawn by Americans, in America, that's just a comic. That's got nothing to do with manga, however its visual style may look.

    5. Re:How do we know this is manga? by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Not to get into a "is" "isn't" flap...

      But I was under the impression that one large distinction was the set of graphic conventions used. (For instance: lightbulb-over-head versus laserbeam into head for idea, smoking head versus bulging veins for anger, etc.)

      I suspect when an american comic syndicate executive says "manga" he undersands it to mean a comic that uses the stylistic and graphic-linguistic convention set of manga, rather than whatever the "real" definition is.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    6. Re:How do we know this is manga? by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Insightful


      And yet if Japan was to release films claiming to be "Hollywood Films", music that was "New Orleans Jazz" or selling "Texas BBQ Steak Mix" there would be little question of them cynically ripping off an American idea just to make a quick buck...

      Manga is Japanese, in the same was as Champagne is French, you can make it the same way, it might even taste the same... but no matter what you do its not the real thing.

      Pepsi ain't Coke folks...

      --
      An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
    7. Re:How do we know this is manga? by Stalyn · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Because manga is a booming business unlike american comics. Also manga has captured a market comics never has, girls. So there is a reason to use the word 'manga' instead of 'comics', it sells.

      Also to add to what does the word 'manga' mean? Sure it means 'comic' from Japan. But it also carries with it an intrinsic style. Art styles have no borders and influence those who read it. So if American artists start to pick up tendencies and even plain out copy the styles... well thats just natural. Now the argument is whether or not american made 'manga' is indeed manga. Well sometimes you can't tell the difference other than language. So surely it must be manga. Is non-english hip hop not hip hop? Again describe an american made manga as a 'comic' and many will scratch their heads.
      'It doesn't look like a comic.'
      >'Oh. But It has an American author/illustrator.'
      'Yeah but it looks like manga!'

      Maybe the word 'manga' has changed in its meaning.

      A great place to get scanlated manga is lurk. Stop by sometime.

      --
      The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
  3. How about accurate reporting? by teutonic_leech · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Aaaah - manga to the rescue! If nothing else this shows how corrupt and clueless the American media landscape has become. After the obvious abandonment of objective reporting we experienced in the last three years, mixed with fabricated reports, a myopic coverage of world affairs, etc. it is manga that will get me to buy the paper now? Give me a break! If I want manga I either buy a printed copy dedicated to that genre, or buy a DVD, or if I'm really broke resort to eMule and co.
    I frankly wonder what PR company issued that one - must be the one that constantly claims that 'suits are back!' - LOL

  4. Hmm by pHatidic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How about filling their newspapers with informative and well written articles that don't contain glaring factual errors? It seems like almost every article on a subject I know something about has blatant factual errors in it.

    How about publishing the news as it happens? It seems like most of the articles in the New York Times cover things I knew about a week earlier.

    How about not using anonymous sources, or at the very least outing the sources if they are proved to have been lying?

    How about not pretending there is such a thing as unbiased reporting? Saying "one is lead to believe" instead of "I believe" is just another form of lying.

  5. Trendsetter by czarangelus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You know, this might be one of the smartest things anyone in the media has done recently. Even if it turns out to be an enormous flop (and I think it might have a chance of succeeding,) at least it's a new direction. They are at least trying to get out of their rut.

    --
    When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
  6. The newspaper? by Proudrooster · · Score: 4, Funny

    Newspaper? Aren't newspapers dead already? I thought that with inventions of Slashdot, Fark, and The Daily Show that everyone born after 1970 gets all the daily information they can use. Even old-school broadcast television is moving to the web. As of yesterday, you can now download NBC nightly news on the web.

    For those of you still reading newspapers, STOP KILLING THE TREES already. We need the wood to rebuild Florida, Texas, and Lousiana before next hurricane season.