Comic Books VS Manga, which do you prefer?

[FatalFox]

I can't stand the japanese art style honestly, so I'll stick to the non-Japanese, but then again I don't read comic books cuz their kinda weird as MovieBob would put it, I DO however watch non-Japanese cartoons on TV, and really enjoying those.
So I guess my answer is neither, I prefer non-Japanese animated shows and webcomic strips.
(I call it non-japanese because there arent just japan and US that makes great comics)

 

[RandV80]

I love manga and anime that has that 90s/ 00s dark gritty cyberpunk style of Akira, Sci-fi mech or medievil Japan, I dont usually go for most of the highschool otaku shit thats popular now.

Current fave manga. Gantz & Tenjho Tenge (both have great artwork) Deadman wonderland,

Im getting more drawn to Korean Manwa nowadays like Id

BTW Ild give my left nut for Platinum Games to make a Gantz game, that manga is just ripe for converting into the most awesome superman-eske hack and slasher ever. Its pack with enough cool weapons and vehicles that would make batman blush

Yeah I gotta give a serious shout out to Manhwa here, Korea's version of Manga which is mostly the same in format to manga except its read left to right. But the real difference I find is that Manhwa is basically where Manga was 10 years ago before it started collapsing in on itself catering to the hard core otaku types. Yeah there's still some good new stuff that comes out, but so much of it seems to try and cater to someones fetish.

For the actual topic question for me it's not so much the medium as it is the genre, and the genre I like is fantasy. And as far as the medium giving me the genre I like I definitely have to take the Korean side especially with their relatively no format known as webtoons, an online format that rather than reads by pages is one big image that scrolls from top to bottom, and always in full colour! It may not match up to a GRRM or Stephen Erikson novel, a game like Neverwinter Nights or Elder Scrolls, or whatever, but I'm well served with original manhwa webtoon series like Tower of God, Magician, Kubera, Paladin, and so on.

 

[Fiz_The_Toaster]

I like both, can I say both? No?

Well fine then.

I like comics more only because that's what I grew up with, mainly the X-Men comics, and I loved The Sandman. Yeah I know that's a graphic novel, but it's still amazing. I like manga, it hits that sweet spot if I want to read something weird or if I wanted to read the manga of an anime that I like. But I will always go back to comics, like right now I'm reading The Penguin, and holy hell it's insane!

 

[Robert Ewing]

Never found much charm in comic books. Always loved Manga though. Yes some Manga is absolutely god awful, but I find a lot of stories that Manga provides very relevant to my tastes. Comic books have never really been that for me.

 

[V8 Ninja]

While I don't find myself reading much of any drawn, panel-based books, I tend to lean more towards manga, mostly because (A); the stories tend to be more unique/self-contained, and (B); you usually get more pages/story for your money.

 

[Hazy992]

Well, I definitely like manga better than the American superhero comics with their ridiculously complex continuities and lack of a single story. (Note that I do not like manga/anime like Naruto and Bleach for this very reason)

This is exactly why I stopped reading Bleach. It just got ridiculous and I got fed up with it.

It didn't make sense that even after

Spoiler

Aizen was defeated

it had a whole other arc.

And yeah the continuities are just ridiculous with American comics. The 'New 52' DC reboot was nothing short of a blessing.

 

[Vault101]

Comic Easily, as to why? Well Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrisson, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar and Garth Ennis. They're possibly the most creative people I've come across working today in any medium. And that's without going into the Artist and the lesser series.

Seriously Mange may be more popular and it's industry isn argueable healthier but if anyone tries to tell you it's definitively better or more original, then they're just plain wrong.

High five, especially for Warren Ellis. No manga will ever even approach something as superb as Transmetropolitan.

I've yet to read a manga that was really well written. There's a lot of style, never really much substance. Most are inane, and others too contrived to really be that interested.

To each their own though, I guess.

HI FIVE!!

seriously..find me a manga with a "bowel disruptor" or "Jesus sneakers" and mabye Ill give it a go

 

[Jenitals]

I find manga more appealing because I like anything funny and whilst comic writers haven't tried their hands at humour and manga has its share of angsty series I live for comedy and the only comics I've ever really laughed at were the Deadpool series. Also I find the depiction of feminity to be more absurd in comics. The need for wide hips and above standard breasts along with the over-sexualised poses just make me feel like I'm not part of the wanted audience as none of these appeal to me. I know this happens in manga but at least male characters get the same treatment to some degree.

However in comics, the characters I do like tend to be more built up with deeper back stories and likeable or at least ineresting personalities whcih happens less in manga.

 

[Ashsaver]

seriously..find me a manga with a "bowel disruptor" or "Jesus sneakers" and mabye Ill give it a go

Well, there is a manga where Buddha and Jesus are living together in modern day Japan.

*EDIT also Jesus wears sneakers....and bunny ears

 

[Mariakko]

I prefer Manga. I tried comic books but I just did not like the story and characters in them and there also seemed to be way too much American patriotism in them and that just makes me gag.

 

[Sion_Barzahd]

Never been that into the superhero scene really, and definately not enough to keep up with the story so American comics never really had a massive appeal to me.
I know there are american comics that don't have the whole superhero thing too, but i've yet to come across one that holds my interest.

So yeah i prefer manga. Not a great reason for it other than i tend to enjoy the writing and art much more.

 

[Amberella]

I like them both but Manga is my choice. :3 As I so happen to have just received my Sailor Moon Vol. 3 in the mail today. :3

 

[OtherSideofSky]

DO NOT BUY the Ghost in the Shell sequels. They are all terrible. Honestly, a Masamune Shirow series is probably a terrible place to start reading manga. Avoid all the Shonen Jump stuff too, as it's intended for 8-14 year olds and goes on forever. If you tell me what you like in Western comics I can probably give you some recommendations.

adivce duly noted....

also I know what you mean..it is confusing..BUT at least we have the internet, so you can do reasearch...but yeah hence why its not "newcomer" freindly



my other scource is a store that has a big section of trade paperbacks (and I imagine an even bigger section of manga but I dont go into that section because manga/anime weirds me out..no offece ment)

None taken. Manga is full of bizarre and outlandish things that probably shouldn't appeal to a healthy mind (one of the reasons I like it so much). Besides, if you went into the manga section you might run into those crazy people who insist on being called "otaku" and will talk your ears off about how series X is so mature and deep and nothing like those awful superhero comics even though it's actually serialized popcorn entertainment for middle school students. No one deserves to deal with those people, not even Hitler with Stalin's brain and Liquid Snake's hand.



.

I guess thats why limited/shorter series are good

anyway my aprehension about manga/anime I think is because I asociate it with the seedy backwaters of the internet....and the artstyle always annoyed me (I also asosiate it with emo teenagers trying to draw anime style in the seedy backwaters of the internet..uhh anyway)

BUT that said theres probably no denying theres some great stuff there (Ive been meaning to watch AKIRA for some time, and you dont need to tell me that it has somthing western TV animation lacks)

but anyway, getting into that would be like crossing some kind of line...Im not sure Im ready for the dark side

The manga for Akira is better than the movie (it has a lot more time to flesh out side characters and subplots, for one thing), although both are good and the movie is definitely worth a watch for anyone interested in animation as an art form.

..visually speaking how would you say the manga compares to the film AKIRA? Ive seen pictures of the movie...and the movie poster...DO WANT but I liked what I did see..must have been around or a little before the time AVATAR was on
..

The same guy that wrote and drew the manga had total control over the production of the movie, so they look basically identical. .

yes...also with AKIRA, from my unsterstanding didnt they do the "western" technique of recording dialouge THEN animating?

anyway Perfect Blue seems interesting, aparetnly its VERY similar to one of my favorite movies Black swan...so there must have been some "inspiration there" (which would makse sense since I think the Director of Black swan purchased the rights to perfect blue just to include that bathroom/scream scene in Requiem for a dream)

anyway thanks yourve been very helpful )

Yes, and Akira is the only anime (to my knowledge) with realistic lip movement as a result. It has the unintended side effect of making the English dub seem off in the same way live action dubs do (lip-flaps in most anime never really matched the Japanese dialog in the first place, so this normally isn't a problem). Apparently it was so much extra work that all of the animators involved decided never to do it again.

 

[The Pinray]

Comics because they make sense. Manga has too much sex/gender confusion. And they talk way too much. More than necessary.

Comics... make sense...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man

I rest my case.

OT: Manga, mostly because there are far more varied genres, and in many cases better philosophical discussion then "Do I punch them, or hit them with a bat-a-rang, then punch them?"

No, not really. Nice try, though. I'm talking singular stories, friend. But hey, differing opinions. Crazy, right?

Manga is plain ridiculous to me, but that's just a culture thing.

 

[Yokai]

I read Western comics pretty much exclusively--it's pretty ridiculous how many people think the entire medium is divided into manga and superhero comics, because that is evidently not the case. Transmetropolitan, BPRD, Northlanders, Scott Pilgrim, Unknown Soldier...all are brilliant in their own ways, utterly different from one another, and have fuck-all to do with superheroes. Not only that, but they're doing some interesting things in France and Britain as well, the end result being an absolutely ridiculous quantity of quality comics to read, which in general seem to stretch a lot further in their subject matter than most manga.

Granted, that may just be a problem with what manga is marketed here in the US, and I'm not completely averse to that portion of the medium. I love Berserk and Akira and I'll still occasionally pick up something from the library if it looks genuinely original, but the majority of easy-to-find stuff boils down to some combination of giant swords and yelling, high school drama, impossibly pretty people, and pseudo-philosophical musings that aren't as deep as they attempt to be. Of course, there's the same cliched nonsense with superheroes over here, but it's much easier to obtain the more interesting American comics where I am.

Comic Easily, as to why? Well Alan Moore, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrisson, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar and Garth Ennis. They're possibly the most creative people I've come across working today in any medium. And that's without going into the Artist and the lesser series.

This pretty much. Plus Brian K. Vaughan, Ed Brubaker, Brian Azzarello and so many more. To be honest though I think Mark Millar peaked on Ultimates 1 and 2.

Yes! People with the right idea! I'll continue the list with Brian Wood, Joshua Dysart and Brian Michael Bendis...there's been a complete overload of immensely talented writers in the last decade; I love it.

 

[theevilgenius60]

Comics vs. Manga? Comics by a mile. I freely admit to being the grown up version of that kid who used to explore new comics in the local comic book store all the time. I love superhero comics, but I love other genres as well. I just love the medium and the way things are presented. I grew up with it and it makes sense to me. I've tried manga, several different ones because I figured it was just the one I had tried, but I just don't feel it the way I feel comics. Spidey fan by the way.

 

[Jonluw]

Well, I definitely like manga better than the American superhero comics with their ridiculously complex continuities and lack of a single story. (Note that I do not like manga/anime like Naruto and Bleach for this very reason)

This is exactly why I stopped reading Bleach. It just got ridiculous and I got fed up with it.

It didn't make sense that even after

Spoiler

Aizen was defeated

it had a whole other arc.

And yeah the continuities are just ridiculous with American comics. The 'New 52' DC reboot was nothing short of a blessing.

I remember I used to like reading Spiderman as a child. I used to buy magazines sporadically.
A couple of years back I thought I'd try buying a new issue, and what I ended up with was some stuff about a "Civil war". I just read through the issue and looked at it in disbelief for a bit.
I think that was the real turning point for me. The point when I really stopped having any sort of real interest in western comics.

[sub]Well, aside from the artsy stuff. That can indeed be interesting once in a while.[/sub]

 

[thylasos]

It's not a fair question, really.

Comparing Alan Moore's political/occult/philosophical meisterworks to... Love Hina wouldn't be fair.

Nor is comparing the utterly mindless Superman vs. Predator to the immensely detailed dissection of a human relationhip in Kare Kano, or historical epics based on Sengoku period such as... Vagabond, etc.

These things are media, not genres. Moreover, they're the same medium. Pictures and text, working in harmony. The fact that they're from different countries is not immaterial, but one could draw a similar line, though it may not be as metaphorically thick, between British and American comics.

 

[BlastedTheWorm]

They're the same fucking thing.

 

[TheVioletBandit]

I've tried manga and for some reason it reminds me of the soap operas my grandmother watches so
I prefer comics.