Forum - View topicNEWS: Manga Does Not Rule U.S. Graphic Novel Sales in July
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AceRyonik
 Posts: 145 |
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To be fair, Watchmen hasn't influenced as many conventions as Dark Knight Returns has, but its style and its portrayal of superheroes as flawed individuals were very revolutionary. Still, there are many things that ARE borrowed from previous stories. All of the characters are analogues of other, lesser-known characters (originally, Moore intended to use characters from a defunct line before DC decided that they might bring them back).
Rorschach is an homage to The Question, Dr. Manhattan to Capt. Atom, The Comedian to Patriot, Nite Owl to Blue Beetle, etc. So it's not ALL original and innovative. And after looking at the chart, I'm pleasantly surprised. I didn't realize that Y: The Last Man was selling so well. |
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arbitrary
Posts: 16 |
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Because NO one buys domestic goods anymore right? Please use your BRAIN and THINK about what you are saying.
I could say the same about HARDCORE Comic book fans who claim anything Japanese is trash, but I bet you are ok with that though, huh? I look to America if I want to read a good Novel(graphic or otherwise), but my head is not placed up its ass like so many HARDCORE comic book purist. |
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Who Is This Guy!?
Posts: 183 |
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I agree. Hell, if there's a superhero comic from Afghanistan, I'd read it if it's good and enjoyable! Really, preferring one region over another completely blindly is absolute elitism, and absolutely pathetic. |
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Aura Ichadora
 Posts: 2290 Location: In front of my computer |
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Hey, if it helps, I read manga and I still read a series of American comics called The Amory Wars. Although sadly I'm unable to buy them; my local comic book and Hot Topic stores doesn't carry the darn books. >.< |
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arbitrary
Posts: 16 |
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Not if they are into American comics of course then it's ok to be elitist. |
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Who Is This Guy!?
Posts: 183 |
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I didn't say that. Now, if that's your own personal opinion from heart, then sir... 
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The Xenos
 Posts: 1519 Location: Boston |
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Of course, we're saying that Watchmen is an American comic. The funny thing being that the creators of the comic are British. Yet it's still an American comic. "Published by DC ... Copyright C 1986 1987 DC Comics.. DC Comics, 17000 Broadway New York, NY 10019" Of course another funny bit is "Printed in Canada." Soooo... British creators, American publisher, printed in Canada. Same can be said for number four on the list, Killing Joke by Moore and Brian Bolland.
Of course Watchmen also looks at American history and the cold war. Mind you, it's history to us now, but we were still in the thick of it when the book was written. It looked right into the abyss of nuclear war, the very real possibility of the end of the world. Plus it talks about the nature of the universe itself, space and time. What's it like to have godlike powers. Actually, I was rereading it and totally forgot about Jon / Manhattan's first girl. At one point, I was suddenly reminded of the TV show Lost. I already got hints of Manhattan from Desmond, as well as some Slaughterhouse 5. Yet there's a bit in Watchmen about the photograph at the amusement part which seems almost the same as Lost. Of course the creators of the show cite Watchmen as a heavy influence. Aside from that character, the storytelling as a whole seems to be learned from what Moore did in Watchmen. So aside from the Watchmen movie, the book has also spawn a hit TV show. That's another thing. Watchmen is so dense with symbolism, theme, and layers crossing over each other. It's one of the most intelectual comics I've seen. The only other, non-Moore, books that come to mind with this might be Gaiman's Sandman or Mack's Kabuki. The recurring symbols and themes certainly work similarly in Kabuki. Anyway, enough of me geeking out over Watchmen.
Yeah. Very nice to see Y selling well. Same for Walking Dead. |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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*Whew*, is it hot in this thread or is it just me?
Anyway, I can't say I'm surprised by this overturning of Japanese dominance, since both the Watchmen trailer and Dark Knight movie were completely awesome. I wasn't aware the Y: The Last Man 10 was selling yet, though, so I'm even happier that it entered the top 20 than I'd normally be. I read volume 1 a few months ago, only to discover that the story was on the verge of finishing, so I decided to wait until the last volume was released and then run through it all at once. Now I can finally pick up volumes 2 through 10 
As for watchmen, I admit I haven't read it yet either; but a friend of mine as been bugging me to read it for months, and I think all the positive comments it's gotten in this thread will finally push me over the edge (not that I was hesitant about how good Watchmen supposedly is -- I hear nothing but good things about it, save from GATSU here -- but normally my money is pretty much all tied up in manga). |
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HyperGatack
 Posts: 209 Location: MA |
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I blame Rorschach. That is one sexy, sexy face. |
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The Xenos
Posts: 1519 Location: Boston |
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Well, when 2/3 of the American comics market is foreign material from Japan, yeah, I see a problem. Now I don't think anyone should boycott Japanese books either. That's just as wrong. Yet I can't help but wonder about the mentality of the readers skewing the numbers to Japanese sales. Why are they not giving American books any chances? I highly doubt Japan's strong comic market is skewed toward foreign material. It's simply unhealthy for the American economy if so many people are not buying American. Meanwhile, arbitrary said about the diversity of manga as a whole. Good point. Is it just these hit shonen and shojo manga that have anime, or is there more manga out there selling well to keep overall sales afloat? Sure Naruto, Bleach, and Fruits Basket sell well. Yet where is that heading? Will these kids move on to more mature books or leave them aside? Will this turn out to be a fad or will they continue to read manga or maybe even American comics later in life? There is an interesting post on that here: http://pwbeat.publishersweekly.com/blog/2008/07/07/meanwhile-the-future-of-manga/ |
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Pirkaf
 Posts: 156 |
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There's no wonder that "2/3 of the American comics market is foreign material from Japan" because american comics are totally boring. Who wants to read the same stories about the same superheroes over and over again? I don't.
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14796 |
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Well, of course, Lost's first story editor is Paul Dini. Look at his credits; he's quite familiar with comics. 
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testorschoice
Posts: 468 |
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2/3rds or more of many other countries' comics markets was or still is foreign material from America. Are you equally willing to stand up and say those were and are "problems," too?
Why assume and generalize that they didn't give American books any chances? When the ratio was skewed completely the opposite direction for decades, did you wonder about the mentality of the readers that didn't give European and Asian books any chances? Or did you accept the status quo? Couldn't it be the reverse--that many American comic publishers didn't give female readers many chances for decades? It is no small coincidence that the rise in Japanese manga in North America coincided with Tokyopop and Viz's mass release of titles aimed at the female comic readers that have been marginalized for generations. The rise in Japanese manga sales has less to do with decimating the American comic audience, and more to do with expanding the audience to those who wouldn't have read comics at all. How is that a bad thing? |
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ClichedUsername
Posts: 14 |
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There's also the appeal of supposedly getting more value by buying a volume of manga as opposed to a volume of an American comic. A volume of manga probably averages around 180 pages for $10, while a volume of say, a Marvel title, may hover at 140 pages for $15. Of course, this is without features found like fully colored volumes and glossy pages, but at least comparing page numbers, manga appear to offer a better value. |
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Mobius Archer
 Posts: 26 Location: Michigan, USA |
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I hate superheros. I still prefer American style of comic book to Japanese ones though. Not all of them are about super heroes. I'm loving the Transformers comic thats going on right now. There is also a Korean comic from a few years ago that i love called Megacity909. it was done in the American style and looks fantastic.
I recently picked up The Armory Wars volume 1 collection. it looked like it was sci-fi so i had to get it. it ended up having more superheros than i liked, but it did end in a way that makes me want to keep going. |
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