×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Forum - View topic
NEWS: Mangaka America


Goto page 1, 2  Next

Note: this is the discussion thread for this article

Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
minakichan





PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 12:45 pm Reply with quote
Rivkah, Svet, AKG, and Nyanko-chan.

This will be SO HOT.
Back to top
Viga_of_stars



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 3:36 pm Reply with quote
minakichan wrote:
Rivkah, Svet, AKG, and Nyanko-chan.

This will be SO HOT.


true dat!

i glad american manga-ka are getting more in the spotlight.

the first generation of manga ka!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Successful_Troll



Joined: 20 Mar 2006
Posts: 132
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 4:52 pm Reply with quote
Gah! Why do they keep calling them mangaka? They aren't mangaka. They're just americans drawing comics. That's it. And most of the ones I've read so far if they didn't sort of look like manga no one would buy them.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Drowning_Wolf



Joined: 26 Sep 2006
Posts: 193
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 6:46 pm Reply with quote
My, I didn't even know that Dramacon wasn't japanese! I think it's pretty cool to see more and more manga-inspired comic (One day Im pretty sure they'll be accepted as manga too) and the book could be quite interesting.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Wed Oct 04, 2006 11:12 pm Reply with quote
Nothing from Fred Perry, Ben Dunn, or anyone else at Antarctic Press? Wotta rip. Evil or Very Mad
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 11:40 am Reply with quote
I really gotta be careful not to come across as a troll, but I really can't stand this trend of calling American work manga. I don't think it's an honest way to market these comics.

Manga is Japanese comics. A mangaka is a Japanese comics creator. That's it. There is no manga style and unless you publish in Japan, you are not a mangaka. Anything else is marketing BS just to jump on a bandwagon of buzz around the word manga. Anyone with a memory of the market and history of manga for more than five years can tell you this.

Drowning_Wolf wrote:
My, I didn't even know that Dramacon wasn't japanese! I think it's pretty cool to see more and more manga-inspired comic (One day Im pretty sure they'll be accepted as manga too) and the book could be quite interesting.


Why would you think it's Japanese? It's not printed left to right and Svetlana Chmakova sure the hell doesn't sound like a Japanese name. Are fans this easily fooled by Tokyopop? Please people think before you buy.

Now I'm NOT saying to not purchase books by these people or Tokyopop. I'm NOT saying they're bad. All I am saying is to be informed and know what you're buying.

I don't think they should ever be accepted as manga. They should be accepted as American work and stand on their own merits. Why do American artists have to ride on the coat tails of manga popularity? It's almost like saying American creators are inferior and we need to emulate manga to be noticed. Bullcrap.

Of course the crazy thing is that many of these people work in the American comic book instustry already. Adam Warren? I've been reading his comics for years.

"Tania del Rio (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, Archie Comics)"

How can somone working for Archie comics on characters even my mom read as comics be considered a mangaka? Bullcrap. Total bullcrap. They are an artist. Period. Are they a good artist? Well, that's for you to read their book and judge. Calling them a mangaka is just nonsense.

America needs to find its own identity in creating comics and quit trying to emulate Japan. Oh hey, let's ignore the comic industry aleardy in this country and go for the cheaper format that's called 'manga' (even though it only half emulates how manga is published in Japan).

There already is a comic book industry in this country. Tokyopop and many abusing the term manga want you to forget that. There are professionals who have been working in it for decades and yet these people get a spotlight beause they call themselves by a Japanese name? That's cheap.

I always like to bring up that Frank Miller was influenced by manga years before all these Jonny-come-latelys showed up. In particular, he loves Lone Wolf and Cub. Now I don't see the art of any of these American 'mangaka' looking like the detailed art of Lone Wolf and Cub. I also sure the hell don't see Frank Miller calling himself a 'mangaka'.

It's good to be fans of the house that Tezuka built. I love manga too. Yet to ignore the house that Eisner and others built here in America and abandon it to pretend to be Japanese as American artists is disgusting.

Successful_Troll wrote:
Gah! Why do they keep calling them mangaka? They aren't mangaka. They're just americans drawing comics. That's it. And most of the ones I've read so far if they didn't sort of look like manga no one would buy them.


THANK YOU! I'm glad not everyone is fooled by the simpleton marketing of people like Tokyopop.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
The Xenos



Joined: 29 Mar 2004
Posts: 1519
Location: Boston
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:29 pm Reply with quote
Viga_of_stars wrote:
i glad american manga-ka are getting more in the spotlight.

the first generation of manga ka!


First generation of manga ka? Um.. No. How does that make sense.. at all? They're not the first generation of mangaka as they've been many generations in Japan. Even if you maant to say American mangaka, that's also wrong because there have been gererations of both American comic artists and American comic artists influenced by Japanese artists.

This has been going on for a long time. It's just that you and many others have ignored it. Just because you've gotten to the top of the mountain now, that doesn't mean you can ignore all the people already up there.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
fuchikoma



Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Posts: 36
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 12:46 pm Reply with quote
I'll toss in my vote for "These may be good comics, but they're comics, not manga."

Some people would think this is just discrimination, but I guess it depends how much being manga matters to you... being manga doesn't make it good, but it must be made in Japan to be manga.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message My Anime My Manga
Curtis W.



Joined: 30 Sep 2006
Posts: 94
Location: KCMO
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:01 pm Reply with quote
Successful_Troll wrote:
Gah! Why do they keep calling them mangaka? They aren't mangaka. They're just americans drawing comics. That's it. And most of the ones I've read so far if they didn't sort of look like manga no one would buy them.


Manga=Comic/Comic=Manga

It is just like all things animated are Anime. You can't say that no one would buy them, I would. I think it is great, and I give them my full support on this.

Quote:
but it must be made in Japan to be manga.


What about manga in korea, China, and Tailand? Look at the definition

Manga (漫画, Manga?) is the Japanese word for comics and print cartoons.-Wikipedia

So your statement is false, they do not have to be made in japan to be a Manga as Manga is just the japanese word for comic.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
Viga_of_stars



Joined: 17 Aug 2006
Posts: 1240
Location: Washington D.C. in the Anime Atelier
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:35 pm Reply with quote
The Xenos wrote:
Viga_of_stars wrote:
i glad american manga-ka are getting more in the spotlight.

the first generation of manga ka!


First generation of manga ka? Um.. No. How does that make sense.. at all? They're not the first generation of mangaka as they've been many generations in Japan. Even if you maant to say American mangaka, that's also wrong because there have been gererations of both American comic artists and American comic artists influenced by Japanese artists.

This has been going on for a long time. It's just that you and many others have ignored it. Just because you've gotten to the top of the mountain now, that doesn't mean you can ignore all the people already up there.


well fine maybe second gen of AMERICAN manga ka. i dont read antartic press that often and they been around for 20+ yrs.

and IM NOT COUNTING AMERICAN COMIC ARTIST JUST THE ONES WHO DO MANGA-LIKE STYLE!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Visit poster's website
jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 1:53 pm Reply with quote
The Xenos wrote:
I really gotta be careful not to come across as a troll, but I really can't stand this trend of calling American work manga. I don't think it's an honest way to market these comics.

Manga is Japanese comics. A mangaka is a Japanese comics creator. That's it. There is no manga style and unless you publish in Japan, you are not a mangaka. Anything else is marketing BS just to jump on a bandwagon of buzz around the word manga. Anyone with a memory of the market and history of manga for more than five years can tell you this.


Man, this argument looks mighty familiar....

Very Happy

We got in this discussion before, of course, and I see no need to repeat myself, but yes, I agree.

The Xenos wrote:
I don't think they should ever be accepted as manga. They should be accepted as American work and stand on their own merits. Why do American artists have to ride on the coat tails of manga popularity? It's almost like saying American creators are inferior and we need to emulate manga to be noticed. Bullcrap.


I'd be interested to see the sales figures, but I bet that these "global manga" titles that Tokyopop puts out probably can't hold a candle to the sales of most mainstream comics, I'd wager.

The Xenos wrote:
"Tania del Rio (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Josie and the Pussycats, Archie Comics)"

How can somone working for Archie comics on characters even my mom read as comics be considered a mangaka? Bullcrap. Total bullcrap.


Those manga-style Archie comics are total bullcrap. Rolling Eyes I snagged an issue of Archie not that long ago that had a pretty standard Archie story, a Katy Keene story with absolutely AWESOME old school American good-girl art (go, Andrew Pepoy!), and a manga-style Sabrina story that was just downright awful. It was so horribly derivative, and had nothing to do with "manga" other than the characters having big eyes.

What 99% of these American "manga" artists don't take into consideration is the storytelling techniques that the Japanese authors utilize. Adam Warren and Fred Perry get it...and the American artists who like manga but don't draw manga style, such as Frank Miller and Erik Larsen, certainly get it. Not to be mean, but Tania Del Rio does not get it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
elinwinkler



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:43 pm Reply with quote
The current generation of American manga artists is probably more like the fourth generation.

First Gen: Ben Dunn, Lea Hernandez, Colleen Doran, Frank Miller, Wendy Pini, Adam Warren, Tim Eldred, Rikki and Tavisha Simons (and it is SIMONS, not SIMMONS, as the article claims), Reggie Byers. Late 1970's to the 1980's.

Second Gen: Fred Perry, Joe Wight, Robert DeJesus, Dean Hsieh, Will Allison, Chynna Clugston, Dave Wilson, Bruce Lewis, Joe Madureira, Humberto Ramos, etc. The 1990's.

Third Gen: Josh Lesnick, Diana Sprinkle, Michael Vega, PMBQ, Rod Espinosa, Locke, John Barrett, Jo Chen, etc. The late 1990's-early 2000's.

Fourth Gen: Svetlana, Rivkah, M. Alice LeGrow, Tania del Rio, Corey Lewis, Tracy Williams, Elizabeth Cheng, Zel Harris, the rest of the TokyoPop Rising Stars of Manga crew, the WirePop.com crew, the webcomics folks. Mid-2000's to present.

Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it. And yes, I know these are incomplete lists of creators, there's no way to list every single one of them, so I hit the highlights.

--Elin (who was there, in 1990, when you could not get arrested if you drew in a manga style...)
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jgreen



Joined: 14 Mar 2005
Posts: 1325
Location: St. Louis, MO
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:10 pm Reply with quote
elinwinkler wrote:
--Elin (who was there, in 1990, when you could not get arrested if you drew in a manga style...)


ha! Ain't that the truth... Laughing
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website My Anime My Manga
HeeroTX



Joined: 15 Jul 2002
Posts: 2046
Location: Austin, TX
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 3:27 pm Reply with quote
elinwinkler wrote:

Second Gen: Fred Perry, Joe Wight, Robert DeJesus, Dean Hsieh, Will Allison, Chynna Clugston, Dave Wilson, Bruce Lewis, Joe Madureira, Humberto Ramos, etc. The 1990's.

Third Gen: Josh Lesnick, Diana Sprinkle, Michael Vega, PMBQ, Rod Espinosa, Locke, John Barrett, Jo Chen, etc. The late 1990's-early 2000's.

I'm not sure I totally agree, but I "get" your delineation between first and second gen. I don't get the "basis" for the separation between 2nd and 3rd tho. (the 3rd and 4th makes perfect sense with the rise of TokyoPop) I'm just saying since the timing is practically the same (or at least overlapping) and I don't know if I'd say there is a different "view" on the material between those two "generations", it seems more like the "older members of gen 2 vs. the younger members".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message AIM Address
elinwinkler



Joined: 05 Oct 2006
Posts: 2
PostPosted: Thu Oct 05, 2006 4:05 pm Reply with quote
Well, yes, there is naturally some overlap. But the younger part of Generation 2 should be seperate from the older part of Generation 2, hence why I delineated it as its own group. Basically, I based it more on when their work became noticed/publishing dates. Anime smile Also, many of Generation 3 did fan works for the stuff created by Generation 2, and that was how they got their start- in the various anthology books like the Ninja High School and Gold Digger annuals/swimsuit issues, or the books that were published by people of Generation 1 and 2, such as MangaZine and Mangaphile. Most of Generation 3 rose to their prominence in the late 1990's, around 1997-98 and later, not really "breaking out" until the very early 2000's. Then of course, the webcomics scene and TokyoPop scene blew up huge, and voila, that's definitely a Generation 4 split there.

Until Generation 4, the first three generations sort of blurred into each other, with less clearly marked splits.

--Elin

edited by me for putting typos in the word "generation", guh...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Anime News Network Forum Index -> Site-related -> Talkback All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2  Next
Page 1 of 2

 


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group