Tags:comics, DC, japan, manga, Marvel, publishing, superheroes
The Guardian’s Book Blogs columnist Ned Beauman recently commented on the death of Minx, DC’s attempt to woo Western teenage girls away from the manga racks. Beauman raises some interesting points.
But that specific audience is Japanese, not American; and the odd result is that just as British kids of my generation grew up watching so much Saved By the Bell and Sweet Valley High that we talk about “jocks” and “proms” even though these barely exist within our direct experience, tomorrow’s Americans will be looking around for the otaku and bishonen that are supposed to populate every school. It’s nice to see cultural colonialism happening in reverse, and of course teenagers love to plunge into an esoteric world that makes no sense to their parents, but at the same time it does seem a bit ridiculous that an American 16-year-old can’t pick up a comic that more closely reflects her own life. So there was room out there for Minx; and if it failed, it may just have been that – boring issues of marketing and distribution aside – the quality wasn’t actually very high.
Yes, well - Minx failed because it sucked. Pretty simple assessment, I suppose.
I should point out that the U.S. has a perfectly legitimate alternative to manga - we call them comic books (or for the more intellectually demanding crowd, graphic novels). When we in the U.S. describe manga, more often that not what we’re talking about is the idiom of Japanese comics, the way they tell stories in comic format. We in the U.S. have our own idioms, and while there is a gulf between the U.S. and Japan with regards to how we express ourselves, it’s important to understand the distinction between the form and the content.
If I remember correctly, Scott McCloud likened this to confusing a pitcher of liquid for the liquid. One contains the liquid, one is the liquid. I know it probably sounds like I’m splitting hairs here, but I think it’s important to make the distinction. American comics will always be American comics, even if we take some cues from the Japanese. Just as Italian comics are Italian comics, and French comics are French comics. It’s all just words and pictures, people.
Speaking as a life-long comics reader, I should point out that I’ve more or less abandoned the activity since both Marvel and DC seem intent on bludgeoning us with multi-title ‘events’ that require one to invest inordinate amounts of time and money to follow properly. This is exactly the kind of thing that drives people like me to download said books off the internet rather than blow all my spare cash on superhero rags.
And before anyone gets uppity - yes, I do know independent comics exist. And yes, I do occasionally read them.
According to the New York Times, American comic company Marvel is teaming up with Japanese animation studio Madhouse (creators of Ninja Scroll and Highlander: The Search for Vengeance) to create 4 anime series featuring Marvel superheroes. The characters will be anime-ized in Madhouse’s unique style. The only character specifically mentioned in the article is Iron Man. Who do you guys think the other 3 will be?
OK, here is my dilemma. I’m a little in love with Frank Castle (a lot of women are, apparently- it’s unbelievable how often that guy gets laid, considering his chosen career). The Punisher is my favorite comic character, due to his complex psychology and sheer badass factor (and the fact that my own personal savior Garth Ennis has written him for so long on the Marvel Knights and Max series).
