American Manga!

[faithfighter]

This tread is to all the great American Manga out there. I know very few only Neotopia and Ninja high (ninja high I have only heard about and nerev read) so know of any good ones let me know and tell me why you think so do the same if there are any that are bad, (bad as in you don't like them or they have cursing or nudaty or devil worshiping and stuff like that)

American Manga rocks!

[Knuckles]

Most of the comics that are published through Antarctic Press are Amerimanga.
Gold Digger and NHS (Ninja High School) are one of the more popular ones these days.

[Mangafanatic]

I admit it. I'm a manga purist.

In my mind there's no such thing as "American" manga.

[faithfighter]

Thanks Knuckles! I'll check those out.

[Arnobius]

I just found something yesterday by Antarctic Press called How NOT to Draw Manga which is basically a rant against the stereotypical anime/manga and the American artists who imitate the worst aspects (focussing on female figures, samurai etc).

Link to sample pages here

and I'm with you Mangafanatic. I think American Manga is a contradiction, because technically, manga are Japanese comics (a more neutral term)

[faithfighter]

Aw! I love american manga. Thanks for posting though

[Debitt]

I just found something yesterday by Antarctic Press called How NOT to Draw Manga which is basically a rant against the stereotypical anime/manga and the American artists who imitate the worst aspects (focussing on female figures, samurai etc).

Link to sample pages here

and I'm with you Mangafanatic. I think American Manga is a contradiction, because technically, manga are Japanese comics (a more neutral term)

*cracks up* beautiful! I applaude those people! (yeah, grab a random manga and a "How to Draw Manga" book and I guarantee the manga will ALWAYS have better art. =X)

Anyways. >.> I agree with Osaka. Manga is manga, comic books imitating the Japanese style is, well, I won't repeat that, it's a mouthful.

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

Wow! That sample was a hilarious bit of humour!

[Joshua Christopher]

Technically, the term "manga" just means "whimsical drawing".

So... whatever.

[VioletEyedCat]

Hmm... Well, I think it depends from case to case on whether or not somethings a manga, but, whatever. That's not what I want to post about. I want to post about the absolutelly wonderful webcomic-turned-manga that is MEGATOKYO. As Supreme Ruler of the People Who Live Inside My Head, I command you to visit the site- the link's in my sig.

[Arnobius]

Aw! I love american manga. Thanks for posting though

I don't have a problem with the people inspired to follow the art style they like. It's just that I think of JP comics as Manga, Korean comics as Manhwa, and so on. I guess a better term would be manga inspired comics...

VioletEyedCat: I follow MegaTokyo, though I think it's declined since Fred and Rodney (?) went seperate ways after chapter 3. It lacks the crazy humor it had before and has become too introspective IMO, [but I still follow it and occasionally offer input] I think my favorites are PvP and Questionable Content (not recommended for younger readers since the content *is* questionable) because they don't try to imitate a style, but do their own thing.

Impact Alberto: The kanji for manga ( 漫]How Not to Draw Manga[/b], is that they have a self-proclaimed PG-13 rating, though some of the content (fanservice etc) might offend some...

[uc pseudonym]

Avoid Ninja High School. I've only read one volume, but it seemed to take itself unseriously enough to be stupid but not unseriously enough to be in any way funny.

I don't have a problem with the people inspired to follow the art style they like. It's just that I think of JP comics as Manga, Korean comics as Manhwa, and so on. I guess a better term would be manga inspired comics...

Typically I am annoyed by manga "purists," but I approve of the above position. Depending upon the definitions of the terms, such will vary.

I also read the parody site... it was fairly humorous.

[Maledicte]

Courtney Crumrin is not really American manga, but it could be.
SpyBoy is pretty good, funny, with awesome chibis.
Impulse:Reckless Youth is a good collection...again, not officially American manga, it's not even TRYING to be manga, but catches the spirit of it very well.
Death: At Death's Door is a very good manga interpretation of Sandman. Good even for non-Sandman fans.

[MasterDias]

I like Megatokyo but I really haven't gotton around to reading any of it in quite a while.

[VioletEyedCat]

I like Megatokyo but I really haven't gotton around to reading any of it in quite a while.

Augh! You must- it has really gotten interesting! The site's down at the moment because they're exchanging servers or something, but the forum page has a link to the page you need to get to it. In any case- go and catch up!

[faithfighter]

Thanks for the input guys.
As for the which is better debate, I havn't really read much of ether yet.
I have most American Manga cleanrer, however there are still some very clean Manga. Also the styl of drawing is some what different too. So to conclued I like them both!

[Warrior 4 Jesus]

I enjoy some manga-inspired American cartoons. Does Dragon Booster count?

[Arnobius]

Typically I am annoyed by manga "purists," but I approve of the above position. Depending upon the definitions of the terms, such will vary.

I guess we purists can be a bit mis-focussed at times, as this bit I found by Odgen Nash probably indicates:

I give you now Professor Twist,
A conscientious scientist,
Trustees exclaimed, "He never bungles!"
And sent him off to distant jungles.
Camped on a tropic riverside,
One day he missed his loving bride.
She had, the guide informed him later,
Been eaten by an alligator.
Professor Twist could not but smile.
"You mean," he said, "a crocodile."
--Odgen Nash,

[faithfighter]

Id count Dragon Buster.

[Kawaiikneko]

whether or not you believe there is "American manga" (personally, since manga just means comic book in Japanese I'll go ahead and say there can be American comics that look like manga) there are good mangaka-like American artists who are publishing good unique books now. Take Tokyopop's Rising Stars of Manga books. If anyone is into webcomics, you have to have at least heard of Reman Mythology and Amy Kim Ganter. She draws a "manga" with her own art style and grey shading tones, and her character development and landscapes are very well done. She won in the rising stars contest and is now in the process of having the continuation of her winning entry published by tokyopop. Another artist I noticed on Tokyopop's site named M. Alice LeGrow. Her book Bizenghast will soon be published by Tokyopop and I think I'll buy it when it comes out. As it will be among the other manga books, I will consider it manga.

[The Last Bard]

If an American draws a comic in manga style people are going to call it a manga. Not a manga inspired comic book.
At least that's what I think.

[faithfighter]

Right on The Last Bard!!!!!

[Arnobius]

People can define it how they like, but the fact is calling American comics manga is about the same as my calling my bathrobe a yukata: Theoretically similar, but it sounds pretentious and does violence to the meaning.

Taking it a step further, since manga does indeed mean comic, one can argue that if these comics created by people who like manga are manga then so must be the graphic novels published by Marvel and DC; so must Art Spiegelman's Maus-- after all, they're on the same shelves as Japanese manga.

I don't buy it. We use the term "manga" to distinguish the Japanese stuff from the American stuff. It's a Japanese term for a product that comes from Japan. The use of terms like Amerimanga and the like sound more like people who want to make themselves stand apart from the standard American comic books because they copy the typical Japanese style.

They're free to do so, and some aren't too bad. But quality doesn not make a manga. Neither does content. Let's face it, the only reason we call the Japanese comics manga and the Japanese animation anime instead of comics and cartoons is that we want to distinguish them from American material, which the stereotypical otaku disdains.

http://www.ukanime.com/template2.php?page=myth2.php
I thought the myth about all cartoons being anime applies here, especially the point that we're speaking English...

[uc pseudonym]

Ideally (which I would hardly attempt to apply to reality), I would prefer that neither the term "manga" or "anime" be used. As stated, this is English, not Japanese. If we are to use foreign terms in our language, we should use them as they are translated, not to nurse superiority complexes.

But practically, I approve of the use as AnimeHeretic outlined it: we use "manga" instead of "comic" to indicate it is a Japanese creation. Hence, no American create manga, nor can any Japanese person create comics. This is at least reasonable (though I will point out that if I say "perro" I refer to any dog, not just a dog from a Spanish country).

[oro!]

I like neotopia, although it sorta leans on the edge of myth and calling us all fools for not believing in faeries, etc. I Might just take stuff too seriously, though.

[mai]

I found some images of Neotopia and it looks really cool.
About manga inspired American comics, allot of English words are from other countries [I think somthing like 60% is French]
that’s how languages grow by borrowing words from each other. So I don't think every comic should be called a manga but if it has the same feel to it or style I see no reason not to.

[Arnobius]

I found some images of Neotopia and it looks really cool.
About manga inspired American comics, allot of English words are from other countries [I think somthing like 60% is French]
that’s how languages grow by borrowing words from each other. So I don't think every comic should be called a manga but if it has the same feel to it or style I see no reason not to.

English is a Germanic based language, with some influence of French due to history. Usually words are adopted based on need or convenience (One thing that alarms Japanese etymologists is the rapid influx of English words to replace longer Japanese words).

That being said, to call American comics manga seems more like an American attempt to cash in on the popularity of manga by trying to draw attention to to the similarity of manga.

Considering that even when some Japanese artists work on American comics (as happened last year), they called them "manga-style or manga-inspired in the ads, it seems the pros recognize that there is a difference.

[mai]

I’m only reading one American manga at the moment it's called ShutterBox its a gothic/fantasy about a girl going to a school for muses so there is some weird theology. As for content there’s language, not allot but I think the s word was used. There's also some innuendo and in the second book it turns out a male character has an alternate female personality and near the end a girl is shown as a topless Mermaid not detailed though.

[faithfighter]

Guys you say comic I say manga can't we all just get along?

I'll have to check out Shatterbox, thanks for the 411.

[mai]

Guys you say comic I say manga can't we all just get along?

Now that’s a lovely idea.
There’s also seven seas they publish "world manga" comic/manga from around the world.