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Melanchthon wrote:

Oh DC, you trollin'. You know what? I would by American -- if there was an American comic WORTH OWNING. Or if you had any characters that didn't predate my grandfather. Or you got rid of the rampant misogyny (well, Japan has that problem too). In other words, you be better off spending your ad money on someone with actual ideas that don't involve superheroes.

DC publishes plenty of comics that don't involve superheroes....

And for that matter I'd argue that Scott Snyder is writing a better Batman comic than any manga I've read in the past 5 years

ikillchicken wrote:

-There are hundreds of American comics worth reading. (Anyone who makes such an absurd and universal generalization is just exposing their own ignorance).

-Even just looking at DC (to say nothing of all the other publishers) there are hundreds of more recent characters.

-DC's misogynistic tendencies are well documented and rightfully so. They are also, quite frankly, a drop in the bucket next to Japan.

-There are mountains of non super hero comics out there. I've demonstrated this several times in the past. Do you want the link?

I'd like to by and by second these points, especially the first and last. I might have let my disdain for, "BUY AMERICAN!" nonsense exaggerate my reaction. There are a lot of American comics beyond the iconic folks in capes, whom I confess have never interested me, despite a few good ol' college tries on my part. I wish that they weren't so firmly tied to the public image of DC and Marvel. I wish that there were more emphasis and attention, especially among people who read manga, given to American comics outside of them. When I was glancing through my pile of old issues of Wizard I was surprised, but pleased, to see regular features about comics that had naught to do with anybody in spandex. (In one issue was also an interesting gallery of X-Men designs by Kia Asamiya that had only faintest hints of a clearly Japanese aesthetic)

I own mostly manga at the moment, but that's largely a matter of my monomaniacal tendencies hitting upon them at the right moment. I owned virtually no manga and a very modest collection of comics (all of Transmetropolitan, the first Rising Stars collections, the first four Bomb Queen graphics novels some Hellboy graphic novels and some Sin City graphic novels) until this fall and will surely go back that way again. I'm keen to read more Hellboy and Sin City especially, but Y the Last Man, 100 Bullets and Invincible looking alluring too. Oh, and that issue of Quantum & Woody that I read years ago was a hoot, I believe that the series was never finished, but it's probably still worth the time. (See here for a listing of American comics of note offered by Princess Irene, IKillChicken and RestlessOne)

The antagonism is silly and hardly necessary.

Has there ever been some sort of 'exchange club' wherein manga readers and American comic readers would recommend works from their respective bailiwicks to one another, then share impressions? That seems like it would at least yield some interesting opinions.

slickwolfie wrote:

Sunday Silence wrote:

Nice to see we still can't shed the racism of WWII. "Buy American, not that (racist slur) crap!!"

Ugh. Guess this is 2012's version of last years Tohoku earthquake casualty toll comparison to PEARL HARBOR!!

This is racist? Seriously, you need to look up the term racism before you make such an obscene statement. This is a company saying they want people who read manga to start reading American style comic books, nothing more.

Slick, its Xenophobic at its core.

Teriyaki Terrier is going to be 100 per cent behind this.

Daimao Raki wrote:

slickwolfie wrote:

Sunday Silence wrote:

Nice to see we still can't shed the racism of WWII. "Buy American, not that (racist slur) crap!!"

Ugh. Guess this is 2012's version of last years Tohoku earthquake casualty toll comparison to PEARL HARBOR!!

This is racist? Seriously, you need to look up the term racism before you make such an obscene statement. This is a company saying they want people who read manga to start reading American style comic books, nothing more.

Slick, its Xenophobic at its core.

If you WANT to interpret it as xenophobic or racist, that's exactly what you'll see.

I'm all for making stuff in America, it's one of the major reason why our economy has been awful for the last 25+ years. We don't make crap anymore.

But this is just silly.

Last edited by Blood- on Wed Jan 18, 2012 10:16 am; edited 1 time in total

It is kind of interesting that a retailer and publisher in the US - long an entertainment superpower and dazzling successful cultural products exporter - feels the need to encourage readers to buy American. Oh, how the world is changing.

Tamaria wrote:

There's also the (somewhat) famous Tintin Shop in Kyoto Very Happy

I've been there! Found it completely by accident when I was in Kyoto a few years ago.

Someone wrote:

This is racist and/or xenephobic.

Someone else wrote:

No it's not, it's protectionist.

The other guy wrote:

It's just a joke! Robama!

IMHO, both points of view are, to a degree, correct. There is an inherently racist element to protectionist propaganda.

Certainly it can be viewed from an entirely non-racist point-of-view. Even if you don't have a shred of racism in your body, you can still view this ad and be convinced to "buy American." It's generally reasonable from an economic point of view to support your local economy.

That said, ads like these always play to the racism in people. They are designed to take advantage of racism, whether that racism is obvious and acknowledged by the individual or completely subconscious and denied by the individual.

Whatsmore, it honestly wouldn't surprise me if the creator of this ad was, somewhat racist. I doubt he's thinking about the comic book trade balance (deficit/surplus) in entirely objective terms. He's probably a little bit miffed to see these dollars go to foreigners. Obviously he doesn't want to come across as racist, and may not even be entirely aware of his own sentiment, so he's not going to include any overt racism in the ad, but as I said above, he doesn't have to.

After reading this, What the hell, DC Comic? Did you forget Batman: Gotham Knight, you had that one with Japan. I don't like the way how DC Comic telling people to sell their manga to get an American comic book. I like both manga and American comic book, but this is just too xenophobic, and DC, you're going to upset Japan with that (and Masazaku Katsura, the mangaska who happen to be a big fan of Batman).

The ad is definitely a joke, and I wouldn't characterize my reaction as "offended." It just feels divisive, and that's not always a good sales tactic (insert obligatory reference to politics here).

There have always been a subsection of American comics fans who were irritated by and disdainful of manga fans (not entirely unfairly; plenty of us are annoying). It feels to me like this is the group that will find it the funniest, and of course, they aren't the target.

On the other hand, it clearly pisses off some portion of the target they're seeking: manga readers who are curious about getting into (or back into) American comics.

So, it seems like a bad move on DC's part to have approved/been involved with it, although in the long run it will probably net the comic shop some decent sales by attracting a crowd of comic readers who don't dig manga or manga fans.

Time will tell!

Five pages and no "Cyborg gets compared to Obama just because he's black? Really?"

Then I remembered I'm not on a comic forum, so people only care about the anti-manga-thus-anti-Japan sentiment.

Also, from what I hear there are a number of 52s that are probably more than worth the bargain if you can dig up a volume of crap for cheap (Like a 60% off volume 1 of Bleach from a dying Borders).
New 52 Batwoman, for example, has some gorgeous art.

Daimao Raki wrote:

slickwolfie wrote:

Sunday Silence wrote:

Nice to see we still can't shed the racism of WWII. "Buy American, not that (racist slur) crap!!"

Ugh. Guess this is 2012's version of last years Tohoku earthquake casualty toll comparison to PEARL HARBOR!!

This is racist? Seriously, you need to look up the term racism before you make such an obscene statement. This is a company saying they want people who read manga to start reading American style comic books, nothing more.

Slick, its Xenophobic at its core.

Not even close Daimao Raki. It's an ad saying buy American goods. There is no hate or disdain for manga, just a company saying "try our new comics". They see a large segment of young Americans are interested in comic like books, and they are trying to get some of those customers.
Slick

Red Hood and the Outlaws.

That is all.

Last edited by RestLessone on Wed Jan 18, 2012 12:37 pm; edited 2 times in total

Hypeathon wrote:

Okay, for the record, I can't help but find this dumb myself. However putting that aside for a minute, I couldn't help but browse the comic book section in the Toonzone forum to see if there was any mentioning of this ad. It turns out there was also a generally negative reaction to this as well as a bit of info from Toonzone reviewer, Ed Liu who more or less gave a bit of insight on who specifically did the ad.

Ed Liu wrote:

DC Comics DID NOT create this ad. This is an ad from a retailer. It seems that DC is partially funding for the ads, but through a program that assists comic book dealers with advertising costs. I don't think they have any control over the content. Either way, I think slamming DC for this ad is sending venom at the wrong target. If you want to fling mud at anyone or boycott a company, I'd direct that at A Comic Shop in Orlando, FL (their address is right there at the bottom).

I think they aren't going to get many offers because it's a rotten deal, even if you can't get back anything close to cover price for vol. 1 of a manga. I also think the "Buy American" is meant a joke, but it's easy to misconstrue.

Honestly, that makes more sense, and I wish more people actually read your comment. It's one ad for one store. I could see DC becoming more involved for a nationwide campaign, but this is a drop in the bucket. It makes more sense that they funded it through a program. (Though, at this point I'm guessing DC will attempt to get them to drop it.)

That said, I don't think this was meant to be as "racist" as people think. It is obviously based on a those propaganda posters, but it can't really be taken seriously. "Robama?"

Konopan wrote:

Five pages and no "Cyborg gets compared to Obama just because he's black? Really?"

I see your point, but I think they were just trying to choose a moderately popular character. (After all, they couldn't use Black Lightening.) John Stewart would have been better due to his personality, but then we would have...Grobama. Better than all of them would just be using Uncle Sam, but I'm not sure how many comic fans actually care about him. Everyone else would just assume he's the propaganda-Sam, rather than DC-Sam.

EDIT:
Apparently the Robama idea came from this:
http://www.comicsalliance.com/2011/01/20/steampunk-palin-comic/

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Forum - View topicNEWS: Comic Shop's DC-Funded Ad: 'Buy American,' Trade Manga for DC Issue

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NEWS: Comic Shop's DC-Funded Ad: 'Buy American,' Trade Manga for DC Issue