Amerimanga

[EricTheFred]

I want to get some discussion going on Amerimanga titles. I've been getting interested in these, recently.

Titles I've recently encountered:

1) Rising Stars of Manga - Tokyopop's talent show title. Several entries into this have since been released as their own series. This is one fun series of books to read, and suprisingly little of what is in there can be described as knocking off existing Japanese stuff.

2) Van Von Hunter - from Tokyopop. One of the entries in "Rising Stars" that was spun off. This is a parody of D&D and Fantasy Manga. It varies from cute to downright hilarious, and is overall a good read.

3) Psy-Comm - from Tokyopop. This thing has potential. Lots of potential. Only one volume so far, and it was mostly a "set up the story" volume, but had a nicely-turned cyberpunk setting and some good character development. I've got high hopes for this one.

4) Unearthly - from Seven Seas - This is a new publisher, which apparently plans to specialize in Amerimanga (they are calling it "World Manga") and seem to have several interesting titles in the works. This is the only one I've seen so far, but I have to say "wow." Good start on what could be a great series.

Seven Seas has another title "No Man's Land" that I am looking forward to seeing. Apparently a sort of Gothic / Western mix.

I'm also looking forward to "Mail Order Ninja" from Tokyopop. This was another entry in the "Rising Stars" series, that I can't even begin to describe, except to sound like a Guiness commercial and exclaim "Brilliant!" I can't wait to see what they do with it in Graphic Novel form.

Anybody else with comments, thoughts, etc. about this? I would like to avoid the "It isn't Manga if it isn't from Japan" discussion. Let's just let that argument rest, because no one on either side of it is going to change their mind. Call it a "comic book", if you must. But, any thoughts on what you have seen so far, what you would like to see, etc.?

[oro!]

I really like Rod Espinosa's stuff, although I guess because it's colored, it might not count.
Some of the rising stars of manga are good.
Oh, and Seven Seas. I read a part of one of their manga. It did seem like a cliche, but was enjoyable still.

[Ashley]

The only titles that really seemed to grab my attention were Sorcerers @ Secretaries (the art looks very nice) and Comic-Con(? The one about the con and the girl?) The rest I thought were fairly sub-par.

[ChristianKitsune]

OOH! I read some of Unearthly on Gomanga.com (seven sea's website) IT WAS REALLY good..but...not for the young ones on ther board....

[mai]

The only ones I'm reading at the moment are Shutter box and Bizenghast, both by Toyopop.
They both are gothic/ fantasy though Biz. is more horror.
I'm really enjoying them, but I think I'd only recommend them if you Really like gothic/EGL stuff.

[EricTheFred]

OOH! I read some of Unearthly on Gomanga.com (seven sea's website) IT WAS REALLY good..but...not for the young ones on ther board....

Ermm... Yeah, probably should mention when things are for older teen and up, right? In Unearthly's case, in the GN, there is some suggestive dialogue that is explicit enough to keep this out of younger hands.

[ChristianKitsune]

I only read till like chapter 3...

[uc pseudonym]

First off, let me say that though I am in no way a manga elitist I have been fairly disappointed by a great deal of what I have seen from Tokyopop's new artists. Much of the writing is mundane and at times derivative. That having been said...

3) Psy-Comm - from Tokyopop. This thing has potential. Lots of potential. Only one volume so far, and it was mostly a "set up the story" volume, but had a nicely-turned cyberpunk setting and some good character development. I've got high hopes for this one.

I agree, this was one of my favorite reads until it was no longer placed online (so I have read only the first volume). There are a lot of things that I hope they develop well. The scene that really interested me was the one with the Board of Directors - very well done.

Otherwise, I see potential in the following projects:

Juror 13 - I can see how some people would be turned away by the sexuality, but the storyline is one of the few to actually involve me. The key to the entire series is only revealed at the end of the first volume, at which time it changes how you think about the previous part of the series as well as giving me a great deal of hope for the future.

Riding Shotgun - I'm not sure why I like this (as there are plenty of things I dislike), but every time I read it I am struck by the fact that it doesn't feel stupid. I find it enjoyable, anyway.

A Midnight Opera - Though I really want to like this series, I don't think the author does some aspects of the story very well. Still, it is a level deeper than a great deal of the new manga available.

The only titles that really seemed to grab my attention were Sorcerers @ Secretaries (the art looks very nice) and Comic-Con(? The one about the con and the girl?) The rest I thought were fairly sub-par.

Both of those I enjoyed reading at first, but had lost my interest by the end of the first volume. In the case of the former I started disliking all the characters, and with the latter it didn't manage to escape the soap-opera cheesiness for me.

OOH! I read some of Unearthly on Gomanga.com (seven sea's website) IT WAS REALLY good..but...not for the young ones on ther board....

Hm, I'll have to check out their website.

[Shao Feng-Li]

I've only read a few, but Dramacon, Midnight Opera and Psy Com look promising.

[Myoti]

The only one I've read was the first Volume of "Van Von Hunter", and...

Wow. I couldn't believe it was actually good. It just manages to parody off everything and still remain original. I must look more into some of these titles...

"The Flaming Prince!" XD

[uc pseudonym]

Those of you who enjoy Van Von Hunter may want to check out Atomic King Daidogan. While it isn't at the same level, it has a similar feel of random satire. If you're fond of Engrish you'll probably enjoy its slightly off-beat humor.

[Maledicte]

I want to see some more of DramaCon, she captured the feeling very well and has interesting characters. Her humor is top-rung as well.

I also want to see East Coast Rising, I watch the artist on DeviantART and her style and sense of humor are dark and wacky, two qualities I find admirable.

[EricTheFred]

I took a look on the Gomanga site this weekend and read what there is so far on "Destiny's Hand". Not sure where they're going with this (not enough story read so far) but it looks like it could be interesting. Sort of a Shoujo Swashbuckler?

However, it looks much more American Comic Book in art style. That makes me wonder if there are lines they should or shouldn't cross when trying to do "World Manga"? I suppose this could be the discussion I wanted to avoid (what is or is not Manga) but I am asking the marketing question, not the "snob" question. Does it hurt or help the publishers to mix art styles?

Book stores typically segregate the Manga from the American Graphic Novels (non Amerimanga, I mean), which I suspect is mostly because they would not go into the same shelves easily (typically very different in size.) They are often near each other, but if you watch people perusing the shelves, you will clearly see the fans of each stop as if they hit brick wall as soon as they are in danger of "crossing over" to the other format.

Note: If you aren't sure what I mean by American art style (since I am not referring to superhero comics or "Archie") you could go to a comic book shop and check out some of the stuff from Dark Horse or Image. The art in this particular story is reminding me of a very good 5 chapter mini-series from Dark Horse called "Samurai: Heaven and Earth". Despite the subject, a straight-up piece of American "serious" comic book work.

[uc pseudonym]

I think that, just in terms of art, it doesn't matter as much. There are definite differences between American and Japanese comics, but many artists are blurring those lines and some of the differences are rather insignificant. I think that both fields have strengths that I wish the other side would take from the other.

Ultimately, I think that if an artist is consciously trying to mix styles, that is probably a bad thing. But if they tell a story in graphic format that takes from both worlds, I don't think there's anything I'd hold sacred. The difference is that the former feels somewhat artificial whereas the latter is simply the way they have chosen to tell their story.

In terms of shelving you make a good point; if something was truly a mix between the two styles it would be more difficult to shelve (though generally there is some overlap on shelves, so I suppose they could always place it between). My hope would be that eventually this distinction will no longer be so absolute.