books Manga vs. Comics

[Middnight Snack 24]

I've been reading comics and manga ever since I was a little kid. And I remember my first comic ever was Spawn, first issue too. But I also had some great memories with manga as well. My friend had brought a Japanese version of Naruto #1 which did not censor the sexy jitsu (or whatever the fuck it's called). But as I grew I up I leaned towards American comics, because they just seemed more imaginative and not afraid if they choose a different style or not. But I want to here your opinion on it. Oh, and fighting in this thread is accepted and wanted.

Edited March 12, 2013 by Artemis
removed inappropriate tags

[Betez 1,734]

I could never really get into any mangas, so I voted for comics. I've always loved to read comics, whether it be in the paper, or occasionally a Marvel/DC comic.

[Shiki 5,855]

 

because they just seemed more imaginative and not afraid if they choose a different style or not

You obviously don't know enough about manga or the general Japanese culture.

 

Unless by style you mean artwork. There, I can understand, because most people don't see the differences between typical styles; especially when discussing manga.

 

But seriously. American comics are all the same shit. Superheroes. Action. That's about it. 
No thanks.

 

It's a big cultural difference. Comparing the two is kinda... not "wrong," per se, but just... it doesn't work.

[Planty 1,053]

I love the MLP comic, but love reading manga such as Naruto and Bleach so i went for manga.

 

I just love the stories in manga loads but love the comic for its detail in the pictures, but I've only ever read manga online so I'm not sure if it's more impressive when you you have a physical copy

[HunterTSN 1,444]

I went through both a comic book and an anime/manga phase and looking back I can honestly say that both are lacking. After you have read through a few then the rest get monotonous  I'm not gonna say either are un-enjoyable, but there seem to be very few break that out of the common stereotypes.

Edited March 12, 2013 by TheSteampunkNinja (TSN)

[Middnight Snack 24]

You obviously don't know enough about manga or the general Japanese culture.

 

Unless by style you mean artwork. There, I can understand, because most people don't see the differences between typical styles; especially when discussing manga.

 

But seriously. American comics are all the same shit. Superheroes. Action. That's about it. 

No thanks.

 

It's a big cultural difference. Comparing the two is kinda... not "wrong," per se, but just... it doesn't work.

There's the fight I want. By style, I mean art and writing. And they are not all the same by a LONG shot. Manga has a lot to choose from, I get that. But manga is just so unoriginal almost all the time. And we ain't just talkin' 'bout superheroes honey. I'm talking about Scott Pilgrim, Tony Chu from Chew, and all the wonderful web comics out there like Blaster Nation. Face it, comics are the source of manga and will always be better.

[Shiki 5,855]

 

comics are the source of manga

I was thinking good things about your post until I read that.

 

Do you realise how old manga is? Pretty sure it's what inspired American comics.

 

 

Scott Pilgrim, Tony Chu from Chew

It doesn't help that I am honestly rather ignorant to the stuff out there. However, I haven't nearly heard about as much American/Western comics and such in comparison to manga.

I watched Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World the movie and thought it was great. Perhaps I should bother getting a bit more familiar with the field.

 

 

But manga is just so unoriginal almost all the time.

For the most part, yes, absolutely.

I sometimes forget about the more popular manga that literally are the same crap. It's a lot different whenever you're like me; picky. Out of the shit ton of manga and anime out there, I've only read/watched about 50 - 60 all the way through. Most is all pretty generic. Must admit to that. But I don't affiliate myself with them, so I forget about them.

[Bardock 139]

I'm tempted to say manga just because of Dragon Ball/Z, but in all honesty, I don't have much experience with both. The only American comics I've read were several Sonic the Hedgehog issues, which was quite awhile back. As far as manga goes, the Dragon Ball/Z manga is freaking amazing IMO, but I don't really have any interest in other manga books out there.

 

I dunno, I just never was a major superhero fan or a Japanese literature maniac.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Bardock

[Jammo 986]

Both use a ton of cliches and you'll find a lot of good with a lot of the bad.

That being said I feel comics give more bang for the buck. Full color, detailed artwork. I dunno. Nothing against manga but colorful superheroes saving the day in gorgeous setpiece shots does more for me.

[SailorCardKnight 85]

I mostly prefer manga.

 

With manga I feel it's MUCH easier to figure out the starting point of a series, vs American comics wheres theres decades upon decades of continuity. So it feels very intimidating for a new reader. Plus I find manga has a very nice...flow to it, and i like the wide variety of genres. As most American comics (the more commonly available ones anyways) are all about superheroes, it gets old really.

 

 

*sees most of the comments of what manga series people have read being mostly Naruto and Bleach* Seriously? When theres hundreds of other titles out there? This saddens me greatly.

 

Do you realise how old manga is? Pretty sure it's what inspired American comics.

 

 

Actually, they both developed separately if I recall correctly, but at one point some American comic artists where influenced by Japanese ones.

 

But yes, manga IS pretty old.

[Bucky McGillyCuddy 956]

Fighting is encouraged? Lol

 

I don't really read Manga anymore but i used to read Naruto Shippuuden weekly. I don't think I've ever read a comic book in my life. 

[Evilshy 5,090]

I like both, but I'm more familiar with manga, so that's what I voted for.

 

It's true that both have a lot of cliches, and both have some series that are really out there.

It's also true that many of the most popular series' of both manga and comics are action, because the target demographics like action. But to say that either one is nothing but action would be wrong. I also think manga has Western comics beat in this category, because manga covers a lot more ages and demographics. There are, for example, a lot more manga is written for adults and for girls than comics. Obviously, male kids and teens are the biggest group for both, though. Not saying comics don;t have that stuff, though. Ever read Watchmen? That's some deep shit, and it's not at all targeted at kids or early teens.

 

As for art style, I prefer most manga styles to most western styles. From what I've seen, while western art styles generally are more realistic than manga, they're less consistent and less detailed, especially on older stuff. Of course, this isn't always the case. But while I've pretty well liked all western art styles I've seen, there are some manga art styles that I can't stand. I'm not sure what different styles are called, but things like DBZ, Inuyasha, Yuyu Hakusho... I've never read/watched any because I can barely stand to look at them.

 

This was already said, but there's also the problem with Western superhero comics being highly inconsistent. With so many different authors writing for the same characters, there are a ton of inconsistencies and continuity issues. Manga is pretty much always made by one person or team for the entire life of a series. There might be spin-offs written by others, but not direct continuity.

[Middnight Snack 24]

Let me explain this. Alright, so pictures telling stories had been around, well, since the Egyptians. But never was text added to them. Many a existed before comics but they only used pictures to show the story. Then comics came which influenced manga to add text or so to speak. But manga has also influenced american comics with the style and how characters will break out of the panel. So I think its safe to say both came at the same time.

[NeverNeverland 1,940]

I am a bigger fan of comics rather than manga. Granted, I haven't read a lot of manga in the first place, and I've only just started to read more comic books, but from what I've read in both I found myself much more emotionally invested in comic books.

 

 

I'm talking about Scott Pilgrim, Tony Chu from Chew, and all the wonderful web comics out there like Blaster Nation.

 

In this argument, are you looking at comics in a whole or just printed ones by noted publishers/etc. (Vertigo, IDW, Mirage, etc.)?

[Evilshy 5,090]

Let me explain this. Alright, so pictures telling stories had been around, well, since the Egyptians. But never was text added to them. Many a existed before comics but they only used pictures to show the story. Then comics came which influenced manga to add text or so to speak. But manga has also influenced american comics with the style and how characters will break out of the panel. So I think its safe to say both came at the same time.

Uh... What? Pictures with writing has been around for millennia. The drawings in caves by cavemen thousands of years ago is pictures telling a story, and that's waaaaay before Ancient Egypt. Also, the Egyptians had plenty of writing with their pictures.

Manga has most of its roots in traditional Japanese art, and was influenced by American comics brought by occupying soldiers after WWII. I don't see why it matters which was influenced which, though. Manga has taken the medium a lot farther and into more markets successfully than western comics ever did.

Edited March 13, 2013 by Evilshy

[MelancholicMemory 2,025]

 

But seriously. American comics are all the same shit. Superheroes. Action. That's about it. No thanks.

You obviously don't know anything about American comics. Superhero comics are the most known ones, but there are lots of different kinds of comics, just like there are manga of every genre. Saying comics are all superhero comics is like saying manga are all like Bleach and Naruto.

 

Manga have one key advantage, and that is the fact that they usually give there stories clear-cut endings and move on to another story. As a result, one writer develops the whole story. In American comics, though, characters change radically in many different ways all of the time because the franchise can last decades. Look at Superman. His character is so inconsistent that no one can really be sure how powerful he is. However, American comics have many of there own advantages.

 

Both have about the same quality in regards to art, with some artists being pretty bad, and some be extraordinary while most art is just average. Both have their good series and there bad ones. They are pretty close in regards to quality.

 

To some degree this is like judging apples and oranges, but I think I'm going to go with manga.

 

PS Cool avvie, Plummy

[Clover Heart 978]

The extent of my knowledge of American comics goes about as far as companies like Marvel and DC, (mainly super hero stuff, to my knowledge,) things based off of cartoon series, the whole realm of Archie Comics and the comics in the newspapers. Do correct me if there's more out there, but I find none of those appealing.

 

I've been reading manga for 12 years. I've found some stuff I don't like, but a lot of stuff I do like. Guess that's it. *shrug*

Edited March 13, 2013 by Clover Heart

[Pinguino~ 85]

When it comes to manga you can tell how much work went into making each and every frame. Every word and sentence thought over… and over…. Until perfection is found! The art work is so detailed an perfect… from the shadowing and facial expressions to the wrinkle in clothing nothings is spared! Although when you look at a comic book it looks like something that you dipped in ink and it was born nothing special. Anyone can make a man fly but to bring a story to life with nothing but black and white text that is something to be amazed at!

[pinkiefan1287 610]

I picked mangas.

 

My problem with comics books is, sometimes you need to know a lot more form other stories before just picking up any comic. Where mangas you just need to pick up the first volume and you can start from there and hopefully understand it in one go. During the big DC reboot, I started going to my comic shop and picking stuff up. Some of the comic I liked and understood pretty well, but other I had a hard time with. Like this Static Shock comic I got. There was a lot going on in it and I did not understand most of it, because I had never read any other comics from that one.

 

The other problem is length. Comics feel to short to me. When I read a comic I feel like it does not last long. For a manga it feels like I read half of a chapter from a book.  

 

I have a few other problems, but overall I think manga's are better because u can get more out of it.

[Cowl 128]

Agh! Don't make me choose.

 

Manga/Manhwa/Comics/Web Comics/Novels

 

They are all great, it's just a question of finding an original story.

[Scootalove 10,689]

I'd have to say manga. I have read a lot of comics from Marvel and DC but, I prefer manga for the very interesting storylines and plot even when it is a manga. Especially, anime manga like from Naruto and Dragonball Z. I still like comics, but a manga has a very long span in chapters that can interest you in a flash.

[Middnight Snack 24]

Although when you look at a comic book it looks like something that you dipped in ink and it was born nothing special.

Are you kidding? Sure manga looks nice, the art is good, color would be cool but not always needed. But you can't say comics look nothing special. Comic books have a lot of glorious colors and that's good for marketing, also they are printed on glossy paper and you can get a limited edition which really amps it up using thicker paper and extra artwork. I'm not sure manga does this, but they don't do it enough. I'd have to say comics look more easy on the eyes. If you let a child choose between a colored novel between one in black and white, chances are he'll choose color.

[duidamasterXD 9,627]

While most of the manga and comics that I've read have been fairly mainstream (For comics a lot of Marvel stuff, and also V for Vendetta and Watchmen, and for manga One Piece, Rurouni Kenshin, Death Note and Naruto) I'm going to have to say that based on what I've read, I pick manga. I generally prefer the art style, and one thing that slightly bothers me about the superhero comics I've read is that they seem somewhat slaves to the status quo, and just bounce around plot twists. At one point when reading X-Men I realized that there were only so many times that Jean Grey could die/come back from the dead or Magneto could become good/return to evil before it lost its impact on me.

 

On the other hand, because they've had set beginning and endpoints, the manga that I've read have been able to develop some really interesting characters over time, work on plotlines that take years to reach fruition and have generally been able to satisfy me more. Granted, Watchmen was one of the most powerful things that I've ever read, but I think I overall prefer manga as a medium. 

[Shift 4,272]

Manga is really good, I love how it's kept into the japanese style and that's how i'm used to reading comics. It always messes me up, but I just think comics are better that way. Not saying comics are bad; i've been loving this one comic since five years ago.

[Kantu-chan 40]

Manga, 'cuz reading from left to right is too mainstream.

 

On a more serious note, they both are victims of the generic element. However, I'd much prefer manga because its art style appeals to me more as well as some of the plots and developments that can be found in them. I'm always able to find something unique within all the common action as well as have a great amount of emotions evoked from them.  I have nothing against comics, nor am I saying that they don't possess these qualities, but opinion-wise, manga wins for me.