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American comics vs. Japanese manga

American comics or Japanese manga?

  • American comics

    Votes: 5 6.4%

  • Japanese manga

    Votes: 40 51.3%

  • I like them both equally

    Votes: 26 33.3%

  • I don't like either of them

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • It's impossible to compare the two

    Votes: 7 9.0%
  • Total voters
    78
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While I think they're not exactly the easiest mediums to compare, I chose "I like them both equally" because... well I like them both equally. There are mangas that I have enjoyed reading (Pokemon Special, Bleach, One Piece... just to name a few) but I also like many American comics (Spiderman, Deadpool, Batman... and more)
 
Well i gotta go with manga since i dont really like the comics in america since all my favorite shows are based on anime.So i go with japenese manga some of the comics i like are garfeild and some others.
 
Well, it's hard to say.

I see the horrors of American comic writing weekly, but there some good characters and stories. Japan has some great artists and writers, but a lot of the stories seem to be the same thing...

Eh, I can't choose.
 
I don't really know, so I went for both. I have more manga than American comics, though.
 
I'm sure there are some cinematic manga serials out there... I just haven't seen any brought over to the US...

The truth is, the graphic-novel medium in the US, especially the more underground/indie stuff, is full of brilliance. As much shit there is to dig through, you are going to find a helluva lot of true pieces of art that reject the comic-book conventions... I've yet to read a manga serial that does the same with the conventions of Japanese graphic-storytelling.
 
I like both equally as well. There are good and bad examples of both but it really comes down to taste. I do think that American comics covers a much large ammount of material and styles than Japanese manga.
 
I'm gonna go with Manga's.... mainly cause I've always read them, waaaaaaaay more than comics lol... I've only picked up at least... 10(?) comics in my days. and at least 50+ Manga's XD
 
I couldn't live without either. That's the cold, honest truth.

Well, I could /live/ without them, but if I had to choose between one or the other for the rest of my life? Foo' you crazy.

American comics aren't just DC and Marvel, and Spawn and Watchmen. It's Fables, and Mouse Guard, and Empowered, and stories just as bad ass as any manga.
 
Franco-belgian comics.

There's more than two countries in the world, kids.
 
I don't think any of them are better because the collective quality of both go all over the place, I tend to prefer Japanese Comics, and Japanese Styled Comics because I prefer the pacing and find it more similar to film, (Where most art and dialog in that panel would only be contained in the shot of that scene)

Most pacing in American/Western Comics I've read seem more like books (Where you have an image snap shot and then a clump of dialog like a caption for that image... or I guess what I mean would be more like a picture book or a chapter book that has accompanying pictures for each page/paragraph)
 
Manga, because very simply, there are so many important messages that come across more than American comics. I have learned so much from those that have written these. I won't say I'm nothing without them, but I will say that a large fraction of the way I think was formed from reading these. I haven't read nearly as many American comic books, but from those I have, I'd say they can't compare.

I truly believe in the phrase "books with pictures" when referencing manga.
 
to me its kinda hard to compare japanese manga and american comics, mainly because the two deal with different cultures so that to me makes it hard to go with which one is better, but both sides almosr=t always have great stories
 
I think it's pretty obvious where my vote falls. But it's not just the superhero books that get me (though there's a wider range of material covered in "superhero books" than is usually thought of. Stuff like Adam: Legend of the Blue Marvel, Alan Moore's Captain Britain run, and Paul Jenkins' Sentry books all explore superheroes from angles not normally explored and largely deal with bigger issues, like race relations, the machinations of government, and an individual's need to exist. And countless others).

And, like Luna said, things like Fables are amazing. Y: The Last Man. Bone. The Last American. Atomic Robo. Groo. Six From Sirius. Stalkers. That's just naming a few, ranging from the humorous to the profound, from the out-there to the...well...really out there.
 
I picked manga. You have so many more options then with American comics, which, when you get right down to it, are pretty much all just about superheroes and what not.
 
Rellik said:
I picked manga. You have so many more options then with American comics, which, when you get right down to it, are pretty much all just about superheroes and what not.
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That's just a stereotype. Trust me, even staying within Marvel and DC, there are PLENTY of non-superhero comics. Always have been, always will. Superheroes just get the attention.
 
Rellik said:
I picked manga. You have so many more options then with American comics, which, when you get right down to it, are pretty much all just about superheroes and what not.
Click to expand...
I'll also point out that the Japanese do the "superhero" stuff in less obvious form. Astro Boy, DBZ, Sailor Moon, Bleach, Naruto, One Piece? Those are about superheroes. Rise to power, rise to glory. It's action, it's fantastic powers, and in the end, the hero still stands to fight another fight. Just because they don't wear a cape, doesn't mean they aren't superheroes, fighting to save the people and their loved ones.

The most popular stories, the ones of infamy...do you see a pattern? They're action. The ten most popular current manga, if OneManga means anything in what the majority read? All action.

Action is popular; "magic" powers are popular (guess what Pokémon falls under?). You find it everywhere in mainstream, in the US and Japan.

The problem is, in the US, for most people who aren't comic-book fans, all they know is the front-runners of DC and Marvel (and maybe Dark Horse, if they were paying attention). They don't realize the sub-culture of it, and that it's not all about action and saving the day.
 
GrnMarvl13 said:
And, like Luna said, things like Fables are amazing. Y: The Last Man. Bone. The Last American. Atomic Robo. Groo. Six From Sirius. Stalkers.
Click to expand...

Wait, I thought you didn't like Robo?

Rellik said:
I picked manga. You have so many more options then with American comics, which, when you get right down to it, are pretty much all just about superheroes and what not.
Click to expand...

Not... really. I certainly like the superhero stuff, but like GrnMavl said, there's plenty of other options.

I have a lot of trouble reading mainstream comics, since so many of them are steeped in decades of continuity and seem determined to screw their heroes over as much as possible. But I agree with those who say there's nothing better than a good graphic novel. Another thing I like is series that go on from a pre-existing franchise, like Chris Mowry's work in the Transformers Movieverse, Greg Weisman's continuation to Gargoyles, or Joss Whedon's Firefly comics.
 
Martonimos said:
Wait, I thought you didn't like Robo?
Click to expand...

I like it well enough. Not a favorite, but it's uniqueness and off-kilter quirkiness makes it worth mentioning. Don't buy the series on a regular basis, but I always pick up the Free Comic Book Day offering.
 
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