Does the American comic book industry "hate" the Japanese manga industry?

[piloting]

Now as I get older I'm finding myself that longer breaks from the "Big two's" superheroes for the much more versatile range of genres and intended demographics in manga even though for most of my life I've grown on American superhero comics and their plots (which I still find easier to keep track of).One of the reasons for this is the disappointing crossover events (esp.Flashpoint which has made me loss favour in DC until I see a "New 52" TPB) and a growing taste for something other than supes which American comics cant really do outside of crime stuff (which I'm barely interested in),war or movie or video game tie-ins.

If I were to say when the American comic book industry started seeing the Japanese manga industry as a threat it was in the mid-90's during the first full wave of wider-scale manga and loads of kids anime to reinforce it's popularity after past decades of rare encounters with stuff like Speed racer,Astroboy and Robotech.For example I cant help but think that when this article (http://www.comicbookresources.com/?p...ticle&id=24683) was done Stan Lee (who they show in a hilarious Blech-esque get up)was actually thinking "I doing that Marvel Mangaverse and Heroman c--p I'll figure out all the secrets of these b-------ds soon enough and get all my customers back".

Even with all the bizzare and outlandish stuff there's certain to be at least one manga a/o anime that'll appeal to someone on some level.And it does help that a fair chunk of manga gets greenlit for being turned into near exact anime adaptations.As much as I would LOVE to see that happen with "the big two's" comics I know that's not going to happen outside of a direct to DVD adaptation of a story-arc like "Planet Hulk" or a motion comic b/c outside of production problems like money there's the issue of how an issue in a comic story-arc ussually changes it's artist at one point which would cause I can only imagine what kind of dilemmas.So American comics are mostly stuck in the Western animations bounds of being either a vulgar sitcom,"kid's stuff" or maybe switch to an anime style (ex.The legend of Korra).Also I think that a significant reason for manga & anime's appeal in the West is that deep down psychologically it'll always have a sense of novelty for us,esp.to see such high quality animation and sequential art that's not American (even though most manga is in monochrome).

Has the American comic book industry in anyway responded to the competition from the Japanese manga industry?.

[Sabrina_Fried]

I don't see that most American comics are competing with manga at all. For some genres where there are currently manga being published, the American companies aren't publishing anything. If you want to compete, you have to put out a comparable product.

And let's not forget that some American comic publishers, such as Dark Horse, are actively licensing the translations of manga to be published in North America alongside their domestic books.

I think the bigger problem is that the American comic book industry is still so largely fixated on superhero books to the exclusion of so much else. The Japanese comic book industry is proof that a diversity of story genres, with books appealing to all audiences and ages is possible.

[Hazard]

Not sure if hate is the right word. However, I am sure Marvel and DC would like to have the sheer variety the manga industry can have.

It's not like there aren't comics other than superhero comics (I read Tin Tin as a kid), but, at least in America, superhero comics make up the bulk of what is printed. I have seen Marvel kind of try to branch out some times, but it doesn't stick (though Journey into Mystery is less a superhero book and more of a modern fantasy story).

On the plus side, Marvel and DC have a captive audience. Then again, that's also a bit of a con side in regards to variety, they have a captive audience, and that's the audience they need to appeal to to keep their sales. It's a safe zone so to speak.

That said while it would be nice to see them branch out, they don't really need to (not in a purely business sense).

[Johnny P. Sartre]

First of all when you mean American Comic Industry does not mean just Marvel and DC.

The second is, no, manga is still very popular within the American scene (I'm talking about US, Canada and the Latin American countries) and still popular with cartoonist. comics writers and artists. The manga influence is still pretty alive and prevalent. Now if we're just talking about the big two, yeah, I can see a bit of disdain in those crowds but the overall American scene, no.

There a good amount of diversity within the American comic industry and it's mostly found within indie companies (Image, Dark Horse, Fantagraphics, Drawn and Quarterly (Non-US but still American) and others) and that's not adding the Latin American countries which is FULL of diversity.

EDIT: P.S. for those confused, this is the Americas I'm taking about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americas

[Hazard]

Double Post

[Hazard]

Pretty sure people in these thread know America is a continent with many countries.

But I am also pretty sure when the OP says America he is referring to the United State specifically. It's a thing people (especially US people) do.

[Johnny P. Sartre]

Then there is still a good level of diversity within the indie comic scene (something the big two lack) and a good level of appreciation for manga in that scene two.

I would say the only difference is the level of popularity from the two countries. What I mean is while we are diverse, supes are more popular and are in reign while in Japan and other countries the popularity for different genres is more prominent. Does that make sense?

[Krypto_16]

I think manga at its height outsold American comic books in America easily. What happened was everything good (and modern) got translated and the kids started losing interest, and the economic collapse probably helped in taking a lot of kids disposable income away and that's why manga companies have essentially disappeared in the states except for Kodansha and Viz comics.

I stopped buying manga because honestly it never ends. Things like Naruto or One Piece just keep going on endlessly, which is counter to what appealed to me about manga which was that one creator could create so many different stories in totally different genres. Its become a little bit like American comics, except the creators never change.

And yeah, to a large degree I think the big two, DC and Marvel have always envied and hated manga. They've never been able to co-opt the feel or the popularity with younger audiences that manga has. But a large part of that appeal I think is the foreigness of it. How can Spider-man ever be foreign when he was created in the states. Amerimanga can't impart anything about Japanese culture because its made in the states and so on ... the independent companies that embraced manga and brought it over like Dark Horse obviously didn't hate it, but they learned they couldn't sell manga like American comics.

A sure sign that the big two were never fond of manga is that they've never really tried to do what manga does. Either in trying for diversity in their comics, or selling their comics in cheap phone book style books. Yes, they used artists and even did Marvel Mangaverse but they were half-hearted efforts at best. Marvel making American comics manga style didn't bother trying to sell them like tankobon or courting more than one big name Japanese artist. I don't think the other companies much cared but Marvel and DC were never really fond of manga, even DC's CMX line was always in trouble with the fans for censoring or not respecting their original source material. At best their overtures have always seemed like half hearted efforts.

[Hazard]

I stopped buying manga because honestly it never ends. Things like Naruto or One Piece just keep going on endlessly, which is counter to what appealed to me about manga which was that one creator could create so many different stories in totally different genres. Its become a little bit like American comics, except the creators never change.

Given the amount of manga that have ended this year alone, that's an odd statement to make.

Yeah, manga like Naruto and One Piece are long (especially the latter) but it is understood they are going to have an ending. Kishimoto has said he knows how he wants the manga to end, and Oda outright called one of his arc the halfway point. So yeah, long? yes. Never ends? Not really. At least not in most cases.

[Inkthinker]

Given the amount of manga that have ended this year alone, that's an odd statement to make.

Yeah, manga like Naruto and One Piece are long (especially the latter) but it is understood they are going to have an ending. Kishimoto has said he knows how he wants the manga to end, and Oda outright called one of his arc the halfway point. So yeah, long? yes. Never ends? Not really. At least not in most cases.

Hell, it seems pretty clear that Naruto is wrapping up now, with a big finale battle involving almost every character in the series (including the dead ones).

There's still good series out there that haven't yet been brought over (Vinland Saga and Zetman are a couple I'd like to see), but it's true that the publishing landscape has changed.

On the OP topic, no... I'm sure there are haters in the industry (usually older people), but that's typical of all industries. By and large I see a lot more respect and admiration than hostility. Certainly the cutting-edge generation of artists wear their influences on their sleeves, and manga is a part of that.

[stelok]

I stopped buying manga because honestly it never ends. Things like Naruto or One Piece just keep going on endlessly, which is counter to what appealed to me about manga which was that one creator could create so many different stories in totally different genres. Its become a little bit like American comics, except the creators never change.

There are more manga one-shots and shorter manga series than longer manga series.

Many manga have completely only one volume each.

[Alex]

I don't think they think about manga at all.
They are too busy writing stories to be adapted into movies that make a billion dollars now.

[GhostKarma]

You only talk about the Big Two and ignore the indies cause Image,Dark Horse,IDW and Dynamite are putting out a lot of good titles right now also DC has the vertigo imprint for non superhero titles right now.I don't read Marvel so I can't talk for them though.American Comics sales are getting higher since superhero movies have been coming out.All in all Comics and Manga are equaly great though.