Comic Books VS Manga, which do you prefer?

[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.

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]

Yes it's really daunting. I've been wanting to read them properly for ages but I was really put off. It's a good time to get into them though as there's been a bunch of reboots and things.

 

[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]

Yes it's really daunting. I've been wanting to read them properly for ages but I was really put off. It's a good time to get into them though as there's been a bunch of reboots and things.

I'm sure that might be the case, but my concern is not that the continuities make the comics hard to get into.
What keeps me from reading them is that I'm not interested in reading a neverending tale of a couple of superheroes broken up into smaller storylines. I want a proper story with an ending. A story that is treated as one. A story with its own characters and setting.

It appears that this neverending story deal is something inherent to western society. Perhaps it is a product of capitalism.
I really liked the first season of Dexter when I watched it. The same goes for Breaking bad. However, I stopped watching both when I realized they weren't trying to tell a serious story: They were trying to get me hooked and subscribing to their money-machines with a great opening, as evidenced by both series lying at around 5 seasons at the moment.
They aren't true stories to me. They're soap operas in disguise.

In my opinion, a story has to be written with an ending in mind, and preferrably a predetermined length.
All the best series I've watched were between 12 and 50 20-minute episodes long, and the longer ones (e.g. Death note) could definitely stand to cut some material out of the middle.

 

[Jonluw]

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

If you don't mind my asking: Which manga, exactly, was it you tried?

 

[NathLines]

After some thinking I'll have to go with manga. When I think of comic books, I can only really think of superhero comics that will never end. Ever. Manga can be about all manner of things(I know there are most likely comics that aren't about superheroes/gags but I have not seen any) and actually tend to have endings; at least if you stay away from some shounen stuff.

I do love me some Marvel though.

 

[Grimh]

I like the one where the narrative is conveyed through sequential art and word balloons.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I like the one where the narrative is conveyed through sequential art and word balloons.

This. "Manga" is Japanese for "comic book."

 

[Jonluw]

I like the one where the narrative is conveyed through sequential art and word balloons.

This. "Manga" is Japanese for "comic book."

Oh quit being such a pedant.
It's pretty obvious that the OP means "do you prefer western or Japanese comics". It's phrased the way it is because in the west we refer to Japanese comics as 'manga' and western comics as 'comics'.
In the same sense 'Katana', in Japanese, just means sword. In the west, however, the word is used to denote a specific kind of Japanese sword.
The phrase "Do you prefer Katanas or longswords" wouldn't make sense to a Japanese person, but it does in the west. The same way "Do you prefer comics or manga" does.

 

[Kahunaburger]

I like the one where the narrative is conveyed through sequential art and word balloons.

This. "Manga" is Japanese for "comic book."

Oh quit being such a pedant.
It's pretty obvious that the OP means "do you prefer western or Japanese comics". It's phrased the way it is because in the west we refer to Japanese comics as 'manga' and western comics as 'comics'.
In the same sense 'Katana', in Japanese, just means sword. In the west, however, the word is used to denote a specific kind of Japanese sword.
The phrase "Do you prefer Katanas or longswords" wouldn't make sense to a Japanese person, but it does in the west. The same way "Do you prefer comics or manga" does.

The point is more that they're both pretty broad categories. "Do you prefer a comic book from country X or country Y?" makes no sense.

 

[Jonluw]

I like the one where the narrative is conveyed through sequential art and word balloons.

This. "Manga" is Japanese for "comic book."

Oh quit being such a pedant.
It's pretty obvious that the OP means "do you prefer western or Japanese comics". It's phrased the way it is because in the west we refer to Japanese comics as 'manga' and western comics as 'comics'.
In the same sense 'Katana', in Japanese, just means sword. In the west, however, the word is used to denote a specific kind of Japanese sword.
The phrase "Do you prefer Katanas or longswords" wouldn't make sense to a Japanese person, but it does in the west. The same way "Do you prefer comics or manga" does.

The point is more that they're both pretty broad categories. "Do you prefer a comic book from country X or country Y?" makes no sense.

I think it makes a decent bit of sense.
They are corresponding aspects of two very different cultures. Asking which one you prefer is hardly less meaningful than most things discussed in the forums.

Asking if you prefer all western comics to all Japanese comics naturally doesn't make sense, but it's still fine to ask which culture's trends and traditions you feel are superior.

 

[Daggedawg]

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

And that is also one of the most awesome mangas ever.

Me, I don't read either that much, but if I had to choose, I'd say manga.

 

[Archer666]

At first I only read manga, but after reading some comics I realized that comic books appeal more to me. I can only read so much HIGHSCHOOL GUY GETS INTO ADVENTURE stuff, and manga of any other variety is hard to get.

Stuff like Preacher, Constantine, Shade the Changing Man are just more to read for me than the usual manga stuff. Could be I just outgrew manga too. Been reading the stuff for close to 10 years now.

 

[ZehMadScientist]

I prefer manga. It has more variety genre wise and the general art style appeals to me more.

 

[Joshimodo]

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

Loose, watery...Prolapse!

 

[Stephen Wo]

I'll recommend two different stand-alone series from each genre to you. Once you're read them, you can decide which you like.

Give Alan Moore's Watchmen a try for American (British, actually) comics. For manga, try the first few volumes of Death Note.