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There comes a point when you realize you are barking up the wrong tree. In talking about the elements of manga you realize that many comic book fans will never give manga a chance and try it. Lots of reasons, all of which I've talked about before: the fact the books read different, different art styles, different cultural elements, weird girls in sailor uniforms who are supposed to be high school girls but don't look like . . . well I digress. Point is that many "comic book" fans detest manga. Not all, most I know try it and enjoy a small smattering, with a smaller percentage enjoying a lot of it. In my personal experience probably 40% of comic book readers enjoy comics and manga, 40% will not try manga and hate it, and the last 20% of comic book readers enjoy manga and come to read it as much if not far more then "normal" comics.
However, the elements of manga reading go the other way as well. I have many manga fans, otaku, whatever you want to call them who would never read a "normal" comic book, be it super-hero, or Love and Rockets, Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, or Bone. Not happening. What they get from the experience of reading a "manga comic book" (and I use that term very loosely) are the elements that make most comic book readers run in terror and decry manga. It is the differences that most otaku like. To be more specific I find most American otaku enjoy the fact that most of the genres of manga are genres they know, but that are so different, or at least a little different, both artistically and culturally that they seem new, fresh, and unique. Again the traits of manga keep manga fans enthralled and many comic book fans in detest.
Is there common ground? I'm not sure. See if we take a look at comic books in America (let's not make this massive and include European comics) we can break it down very simply (and again no offense here) into the genres of manga, super heroes, and all the other genres. These three intersect, but Bone is not super heroes, nor is it manga. It has elements of both though, but is the child of neither. Indeed Scott McDaniel in his books on understanding comics comments that while comic book genres, share many art form similarities but also many storytelling differences. Those differences in art choice also explain why some fans love George Perez, hate Ashley Wood, love Akira Toriyama, hate Amano, or vice versa. The differences in storytelling techniques, from detail to minimalism are broad just among those four artists and account for a great degree of difference in styles.
Either way, whether you like manga or don't, there tends to be a lot of snap judgments about genre reading, be it comic book in terms of superhero or manga, that people tend to like what they like and pan the rest. Which is fine, but decry what they don't like as complete trash or not worth enjoying goes a bit far, or attacking it. Again it is interesting as American fandom did this for many years with manga, finally begrudgingly accepting it and moving on to attack the newest incursion in the fandom. Many comic book fans still decry manga as being "unworthy" or a "fad", but lately the intrusion has been Twilight, causing fandom, even manga fans to decry this new comer. And announced to go with this trend, is a manga adaptation of Twilight coming next year . . . wow. That is like gas for an already lit fire . . .
Now still all this comes down to are personal preference and some fans no matter what will not like manga, no matter what. Even some fans of anime never get into the manga-sphere because they can't get past the differences. Their choice, their tastes. What was really startling of late when it came to manga was the announcement of 2.85 million copies planned for the first print of One-Piece Tokuban 56. First, the announcement that 2.85 million first printings will be done is astonishing, as this is more planned for a first printing than any other manga tokuban before it. Next, that One-Piece is at 56 tokubans! One-Piece is quite the juggernaut in Japan, but in America it is a lukewarm series enjoying no where near the following that Bleach, Naruto, or Death Note currently have despite the fact the manga is at 56 books, 14 more then Dragonball ended with, and at over 429 episodes as of the end of the first week of December 2009. That's enough to show one episode a day for over a year . . . Wow. Now, I like One-Piece and read the manga and watch the anime, but it is not my absolute favorite . . . Still I enjoy it and at the end of day manga itself occupies that place in many people's read lists: I like it but it isn't my absolute favorite. For some though it is an absolute favorite bordering on obsession (hello my fellow otakus!), but for others it is something to be avoided and shunned. To the last group I saw give it a try. You don't have to go out of your way, but maybe if something look interesting and on sale, give it a shot. The elements of manga are compelling and worth a shot. For those otaku out there though who shun all other elements of the comic book art style that aren't in nice neat tokuban size with anime based on them, loosen up and give a comic a try! Reading Authority won't kill you! To those in the middle who enjoy both, thank you, I promise I won't dwell on this topic again, and remember to sample the elements of manga often and deeply.
As always you can reach me at vdf1@hotmail.com otkau
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