The comic and anime/manga editors want to know… which do you think is the better medium, comics or manga? Why? And no, you can’t say both! Be a good sport and participate.
They’re both comics, but the approach in storytelling is different. Both forms have great art with vibrant characters… but which is better?
ARGUMENTS FROM BOTH SIDES
COMICS
WITA: Comics rock because, hey: great art, great stories. Well, most of the time, anyway. But that goes with anything—even manga. But both mediums are pretty neat. I just happen to like comics more.
And hey! Look what happened when anime and Batman collided? We got Gotham Knight, which was just amazing. I’d like to see more Japanese artists take a swing at comic book characters in animated movies—as long as they produced it the way they produced Gotham Knight: American writers who know the characters, and give the Japanese artists as much freedom as possible while making sure they maintain respect to the source. So no going overboard and making it full anime.
So I’m hoping we see more marriage of comics and anime in the future! And what a great way to keep both forms alive.
VirtualGirl: I prefer comics because of the more true-to-life art style. While I know that both mediums can vary greatly in execution, comics tend to less exaggerated. Yes, I still hold firm to that belief even when you take into consideration massive boobies and insane man-muscles. I also like that the majority of comics are in color. Most manga I check out are in black and white. Sad! Don’t get me wrong, I love manga as well, but I remain a comic girl at heart. Who knows, maybe I have been looking at the wrong manga!
MANGA
Traycee: Manga rocks because the characters are vivid and tangible! The storyline’s are detailed, intricate, and addicting! The special thing about manga is that there are so many different characters with different stories… they’re not all about super heroes which make the characters more relatable! The stories range from your average Joe to bionic robot-alien-fighting-machines!
As far as art is concerned, no art can match that of a clean and crisp manga!! The art can range from realistic, to stylized, to chibi, etc.
Also, Manga is soooo popular that in Japan, paper is used more to make manga’s than toilet paper!
Kannaya: Comics and Manga are both beautiful things, but manga is the winner here for me. Many comics are small so you have to buy a LOT of them to get the full story. Manga on the other hand is, has much more story in just one volume. A manga series that has 12 volumes would take 2-3 time more comic books. This means that I don’ grow so impatient and they are more involving for longer periods. And like Traycee said, manga is extremely diverse, so there is something for everyone.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:25 pm
Wow, I most certainly have an opinion here… but really, I don’t want to be the first posted opinion. I would rather read what others have to say before I post how I feel. And I promise, as I work on my response over night, I will try and keep it short.
September 1st, 2008 at 11:45 pm
Manga, manga, manga all the way! WOOOOO!
September 2nd, 2008 at 1:54 am
… That doesn’t count, you all ready gave your argument. *rasberries* LOL
September 2nd, 2008 at 10:38 am
Manga are rarely colored, I prefer color to no color Usually However, I like the artistic styles of both quite a bit, the stylization of some types of manga/comic books are very impressive and enjoyable to me. From a storytelling perspective north american comics have a different range of storyline types from manga. Mangas tend to be more social in nature than north american comics which more often focus more on action. The range of storytelling and types is signifciant for both, you’ll find comics meant for kids in both styles, as well more mature/serious comics.
From an artistic style I’m dead even (depending on the particular comic/manga - the tie breaker is color for me usually). From storytelling I tend a little towards the North American stuff a little more however I like that mangas are more open with their storyline content, more are about normal people.
There are stylistic traits of both that make them uniquely entertaining to me. I would say that the breadth of storytelling types is greater in manga, both in time frame, storytelling style, and subject matter. Comics on the other hand cover more serious subject matter when they deal with it, but its context tends towards being mostly within the framework of superheros, sci fi, and action. Both can get pretty exaggerated in diff ways though I think NA comics tend towards idealized realism when possible.
Honestly I like both, but have preferred NA comics more partly cuz of coloring (but wish the breadth of storyline subject handling was larger and more like Mangas). Aritistically both have their place, and I enjoy both styles otherwise (outside of the coloring)
September 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 am
Comics all the way. They have more variation in style, plus the coloring. Manga has never appealed to me with the exception of Akira. Manga and the anime style has worn thin for me. My opinion is that it was great when it was an underground style but is tiresome as a mainstream one. So it already loses me there. Plus I just think american comics are vastly superior in the art as well. Manga has too many backgrounds filled with speedlines, or no backgrounds at all. The characters often look identical with just different haircuts and clothes (not always the case, and the same is sometimes true of american comics, but it seems more prevalent in manga/anime). I think that Manga stories are probably a bit more in depth in general, but at the same time the abundance of them lends to a lot of weird stories that I have no interest in (high school basketball team drama? No thanks). Plus there’s a lot of cultural stuff that just doesn’t translate over for me.
Hands down. Comics wins.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:05 pm
High school basketball team drama is original and different though, unlike say Superhero xyz fights Supervillain Xyz who has found way to conquer the world xyz or whatever.
Comic plotlines have gotten somewhat ridiculous because they’re ALL about heroes, there’s few stories about ordinary people since the purge of the 50s. Why should comics Only be about superheros is what I’m saying. There was a great Marvel book a few years back which was about ordinary people in the line of fire of superhero battles. It was really fresh and original
American comic heros do have certain common lookalike clone type things but they tend to get obliterated by the consumer who more or less ignores the knockoff types if they dont bring something new to the table. It’s similar with anime to some extent too.
I do agree on the cultural stuff not translating - manga is a different entity entirely for sure.
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
For that matter some of my favorite comics dealt with/ focused on storylines centered on the villains rather than the heros.
I guess what I’m saying is, comics are much more limited in what they deal with because they always wind up about the heros. Ever since the 50s where a lot of wider storytelling styles existed. (like tales from the crypt etc). I understand that people were scared out of their minds in the 50s about the harm comics Could cause. (because they thought comics = picture books for children)
But it’s like saying videogames can only be about Mario Bros, and you can’t have games like GTA At All. It’s like people are afraid to let the comics industry grow and embrace the full range of literary opprotunity. It’s like saying we can only have books if they’re written about say science fiction but drama, mystery, comedy and horror arent allowed. I blame the people afraid of mass media for that :\
In that respect I like Manga/anime more, since it’s not limited (as much) and can explore a larger range
If you see what I mean
September 2nd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
AHA! Kannaya brings up a good point… more story for your moola!
I agree.. comics are colorful… but I’ve read a few comics and sadly, there are more bad comics than bad mangas… or maybe I’m just totally biased *haha*!!
September 2nd, 2008 at 5:45 pm
I gotta cast my vote for manga… The reason behind my opinion is soley based on the fact that back in the day, I was a huge anime dork. I used to subscribe to animerica and read the manga in there all the time, but never really got too into it… and I have honestly only read about 4 whole comics in my lifetime. So I have a much better knowledge of manga than comics…
However, I loved the X-Men cartoon growing up… so that has to count for something… but still.. manga.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Fred, you have a point that american comics are generally just Superhero X vs Supervillain Y, but that’s just kind of the general standby monthly comics. A lot of my favorite american comics are actually non-superhero related. Sandman, Preacher, Bone, Hellboy, Ronin, Sin City…all brilliant, all unique in style and non-superheroic. Same goes for the whole Cliffhanger line that I really loved…Danger Girl, Battle Chasers, Crimson and Steampunk…while many of them never finshed and the stories weren’t always the awesomest, I sure loved the art. I was also a big fan of Midnight Nation. So I think there’s quite a bit beyond the stereotypical superhero fare, and even within that there’s precious gems. Rising Stars was a very cool take on Superheroes, and of course the brilliant Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns.
I guess the thing that pushes me away from Manga is the style. American comics feel to me to have more variation. Manga seems to have the same stigma of Anime in that the medium has a style, and not the artist. Maybe I just haven’t read enough, but everytime I look at one, they all look fairly similar…big eyes, triangle nose, canned expressions. It just doesn’t do it for me.
September 3rd, 2008 at 2:33 pm
I should also mention though, that whenever I list my top three comics ever, Akira is in that list. So I don’t entirely write off Manga. However Akira is also the only Manga I actually own.
September 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
This is probably the hardest choice I have had to make in the past 6 months, which goes to show you exactly how safe my life has been lately. But having to choose between comics and manga. It is a hard decision for me as I love both mediums.
But if I had to choose one, I would have to go with comics. Maybe because I have collected comics longer than I have manga… but that is only by a few years. Maybe because comics are colored and most manga is black and white… no, I can perfectly visualize what is going on with no need for color. It might be because the characters are more down to Earth… nah, cause manga like Dramacon and Someday’s Dreamers have some pretty down to Earth characters. Is it because comics come out monthly while manga can sometimes take up to a year to come out… not exactly because you get as much story in one volume as you do in that same amount of time in comics. I know it is not the realism… they both can be grounded in reality and fantasy at the same time.
One could also say that maybe because there are more comics to choose from… but in truth we are only getting a fraction of the amount of manga here than is produced in Japan. But that also gives the impression that there are that many more good mangas out there which again is not true. When a manga distributor in the US has to choose carefully what to bring over because they feel it may not sell as well as they hope, of course they are going to choose the cream of the crop the majority of times. But visit Japan and tell me that all the manga you see there is good. Trust me, it is not.
No, the real reason I like comic books over manga is story. Not the quality of the story… I think they both present very well thought out, impressively detailed writing. No, I mean the length of story. How many times have I read a great manga, such as my all time favorite Love Hina, just to have it end at 14 volumes and never again revisited. Or Elfen Lied which ended at 12. Even long running series like Dragon Ball Z, ended at 42, and Inuyasha, ended at 56, have short runs. But finding those long running series is a lot more rare than one expects. Manga has such a great pull. But the majority of the stories end almost abruptly. I want to read more of the characters stories. And to me, that is where manga fails to deliver in the way that comics do.
I love the fact that comics like X-Men, Batman, Avengers, Green Lantern, and many more have continued to have great stories for 40, 50, and more. I know, sometimes in those long runs, there have been droughts in how good the story telling is, i.e. Superman, but more so than not, there have been many more great and memorable arcs than there have been bad. And it takes a lot of guts for creators to pick up a character and try to do something fresh and interesting with a character that has been around that long. For there to be people so moved by the characters when they were younger that they grow up hoping to one day be able to write a story for that character… that is devotion.
And I am not saying that manga fans are not devoted. Many are inspired to go out and create their own series that sometimes pay an oh so subtle, or not so subtle, homage to the series that inspired it. Nor am I saying that the creators are not brave enough to let someone else take over their books. I would never say such a thing nor hope to imply it. What one does with one’s creations is their right and privilege.
But when a book draws someone in the way comics and manga do to their fans, I see it more rewarding to the fans when the series continues so that the fans can continue to follow along the story for as long as possible.
Like I said, I love both manga and comics. More equally than I am presenting here. But the continuity of most comics has a bigger pull on me than the ending stories in most manga. I would love to one day go back and read more of the adventures of Keitaro Urashima and Naru Narusegawa and the Hinata girls, or read more about Van Fanel and Hitomi Kanzaki and the residents of Gaea, or read of the beginnings of Lucy and Kohta and what happened to the other Diclonius. I would love to follow up on those stories. But sadly I cannot. And as much as I wish I could, manga seems to have a sense of finality that comics do not. And that is where I draw the line at what I prefer. Reading what made James Howlett into Weapon X and so forth, or how Spidey is going to deal with what happens in his life next, or what does the Prophecy hold for the Green Lantern Corps. Being able to continually follow a favorite character is the biggest draw to me.
But that is just my opinion.
September 7th, 2008 at 7:20 pm
I’m old school. I have to stick with comics. That’s what I grew up with and I guess it’s ingrained into my psyche or something. Or, maybe that’s just the voices in my head telling me that….
Manga is cool and as Traycee said, very addictive. Sorry, though, comics rule.