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Wired did a wonderful article about Manga on the American scene and it's importance in Japan. Now those of you who are truly against manga, knowing what influence it has in Japanese culture is pretty amazing. There people read comic books. And by people I mean everyone reads comics. EVERYONE! You can see a ten year old reading a manga with a business man of no relation, in his fifties next to him reading the same title.
We here have seen comic books drop their foothold several times. The industry almost crashing more times than even the best fanboy would like to admit to knowing about. Comic readers are still somewhat shoved between perverts and reality show junkies on the pop culture scale.
It's probably because we, and I mean the American public and the general comic reading audience, think that comic books are just people in pervert suits and augmented breast running around never really doing anything, and being incredibly sexually frustrated.
Japanese comics have a beginning, middle and end. Even the titles that last decades, they still have an ending. Something that is truly lacking in most mainstream American comics, an ending. Which is the most damning thing about them.
The Japanese industry of comics is a sight to behold, where anyone can create a story that would make them live a good life. It's the fans that makes them do it. It's the people's buying dollar that makes the millions of copies fly off the shelves. Setting up deals of cartoons and everything else.
Wired has a several articles out there on Manga in Japan, America and the impacts in between.
Japan's Manga Industrial Complex
Wired's PDF on manga.
Manga does Shakespeare
This is your brain on Manga
Manga 101
Posted by TheLintTrap at October 24, 2007 04:34 PM