Just looked at information online for all the ones you listed; while some have josei-ish storylines most seem a lot more like manga usually listed as seinen & I didn't see anything very similar to the type of shoujo I read (not that you have any way to know what I read, of course, but these all seem rather Nanaish).

If I were to look for a US comic more along the lines of, say, W-Juliet, Basara or Skip Beat!, or even shounens like GTO or Ranma 1/2, would I be able to find any?

As far as ordering some of these US comics from a bookstore, I'm not prepared to commit to spending without having any opportunity to look at the book. Providing a list of "woman-centric" comics is a nice idea, but if you can't find them to look at in the first place, all you can go on is the opinion of others, which is...not always reliable.

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"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

Seinen don't have a single art style. But to attract shoujo and josei readers, mangas have to have art styles pretty and appealing enough to those readers. Therefore certain conventions formed. Check out Are You Alice? for an example of appealing shoujo or josei art tyle.

Story-wise, being drama/romance, etc doesn't mean something is necessarily shoujo or josei-ish. Shoujo and josei plots and characterization usually contain certain fantasy/escapist and fanservice elements for female readers. I somewhat agree on TofuQueen's comment on the Nana-is (Mariko Parade, perhaps). But I think Nana is still more female-oriented than most of those. If they were manga, they would probably be assumed by editors to attract readers of Yunagi no machi; Sakura no kuni, Undercurrent, Genshiken, and the like rather than the shoujo titles listed by Tofuqueen above.

Last edited by base_coat at 7:10 pm, Jul 1 2009

One reason that I can think that manga is "superior" to comics is that you don't get alternate universes (Unless we're talking CLAMP, but that's...something else).
For example, Marvel and DC has a multiverse if I'm not mistaken. There are so many different storylines for every character. From their origins to their outfits and even their love interests.
It gets sorta confusing at times. To discuss about them, you gotta mention the specific titles or else no one will be on the same topic. Either that, or you call the other person a liar

Oh, and before anyone mentions it, I know there's AU fanfics/doujins and what not, but they're non-canon anyways.

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Everyday I'm tumblin'

That does get annoying. I don't mind it as long as it's easy to follow from a singular POV (unlike Civil War). Like how DC finally wrote Batman out of Detective Comics, so they can start separate story.

Also all manga isn't "unique". In fact, the market often gets so over-saturated w/ the same old garbage that more deserving series get overlooked and sometimes canceled.

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LOOK AT MY WITTY SIG!!11!!!!11

too much to read in comics with lame action scenes.... thats why manga is number one, more action, less talk.

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I actually like both manga and comics, but I read more manga because it's more accessable online

Plus I quite like the whole black and white thing they do as well.

As for comics, well the characters in all the Marvel and DC have been going on for so long, it's quite difficult to jump into it. I do like the graphic novels though. It's like everything thrown together in one volume XD

Plus, I like how there are so many different manga out there about all these different things and situations. Much more varied I have found.

Oh I also like the manga art style as well Although there are some amazing paintings in the comics as well.

No, I don't think that manga is superior to comics from other parts of the world...even though I do prefer manga to others. Comics everywhere developed under separate circumstances for different cultural audiences. When it comes down to comics it is a matter of taste, not quality.

Take page layouts, for instance. Manga is usually praised by fans for having "smoother" transition between the panels, like watching a movie (thanks, Tezuka). It's more "natural" to read, without the odd "jumps" or momentary "breaks" between panels in American comics. Manga chapters are given higher page counts than the average American comic, hence the ability to tack in more panels that allows this smooth transition. I don't know how many times I've seen this lauded as being a "superior" or "evolved" way of drawing comics, thus making manga better than comics from everywhere else. Yet, in the Western comics world there is a new school of thought (ahh, I can't remember what its called) that posits a purely minimalist approach to layouts and panels: not only will there be fewer panels, but all of the action will take place from the same vantage point in each panel; it will never change. This is like watching a play on a theater stage, as opposed to watching action on a movie screen. So, is it a matter of "superior quality" or just preference? Realize that this Western theory of comics is much newer than Tezuka's theory of manga. I think it is preference. I'm not a fan of this "single-panel" theory because I like the whole "smooth transition" thing, but that does not make Western comics inferior to manga. I just happen to enjoy the reading experience more.

(I also don't like the multiverse stuff either; but I have friends who prefer the multiverse because, they say, there is an evolving mythology to it, like ancient Greek or Celtic myths where certain characters show up in different stories. I'm more of a straight-track reader myself.)

I used to think that manga was better, but I was young and stupid then. The more American (and foreign) comics I read the more I wised up. I prefer manga, but it isn't because American comics are crap. I just started out reading manga and am used to it, so now its what I prefer. 'Tis all.

Last edited by noisette at 8:07 am, Jul 2 2009

I like the storylines and art of manga.
I don't read comic books because they tend to be stuff like Batman. I'm also not that interested in a cartoony style.. xD

good art + interesting storylines = total win

'nuff said. hahaa.

Not really. if a manga is crap i won't read it, same for comics.
i recently read Global Frequency- Planet Ablaze and Detonation Radio, Ian Rankin - Dark Entries, Persepolis-a story of a child hood and a story of a return, hard boiled, Batman Year One and Marvel 1602

These were great except Hard boiled which i felt had nothing going for it.
everything i read i read it as a standalone and i don't compare until i have completed it. i don't think manga it superior to comics or vice-versa.

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http://westsiders2.deviantart.com/

Put simply, if there is a large amount of something, there is a high chance of good stuff being in there.

Japan has a large amount of mangaka creating manga, while the amount of American comics pales in comparison. A lot of manga is boring, but there are quite a few that are wonderful in quality. For American comics, I can snatch up the good series and run out of them by the next day.

However, going by average quality...I get the impression that the Japanese have spent longer refining the art of creating manga. Early Japanese manga somewhat resembles American comics in presentation and flow. Present day manga seems more fluid and diverse in how it presents situations, conveys moods, and is overall creative. The manga builds on past manga and learns from it. American comics, on the other hand seem like they want to go their own way, being unique.

Basically, I prefer the "learn from others" manga rather than the "do it my own way" comics.

I like them because of the art, humor, hours of my time dedicated to 1 storyline, and because mangas seem less restrictive on content, allowing basically anything to be adapted into one. Of course you can find comics that aren't manga that are still amazing, like Amulet or Hatter M., but I find that it to be easier for me to find a manga I like.

Oh, and does someone want to do something about the above post?

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I care waaaaay too much...

I just reported it.

I prefer manga, and the graphic novel format in general because I'm a very visual sort of person. My original draw to manga over western comics were three different reasons. First, the diverse subject matter found in manga always gave me something fresh and new to read and engage in. From Yakitate!!Japan's comedic adventures in baking bread, the high speed illegal street racing in Initial D, to the brutal action and intense drama of the epic fantasy manga Berserk there was always something new. Second, since a series usually has the same primary artist from start to finish, the characters and art are usually much more consistent in design than in western comics where one artist's interpretation of a superhero can vary greatly from one issue to the next. Lastly, most series are finite in length with a start and end. Many western superhero comics have endless arcs and multiple artists that never seem to end and I feel this dilutes my attachment to such characters. I couldn't care less about the latest superman arc, but I'll always treasure the time spent growing up with characters like Son Goku, since there will never be another Dragonball manga. I feel this makes the stories and characters found in manga that much more significant than their western counterparts since you only get once change to engage with them.

On a side note, I have gradually revised my opinion on western comics after gradual discovery of quality* graphic novels by prominent western artists and authors. Maus, by Art Spiegelman, Ghost World, by Daniel Clowes, and Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi are just a few I highly recommend.

*not endless pulp superhero crap.

That's exactly what I was going to say. It's like Hollywood: Sure, the US produces huge numbers of terrible, derivative, garbage movies, but it also has huge numbers of film schools, masses of people trying to get into every part of the industry, and so many individual movies, that there are lots of brilliant ones. It has such a massive, massive, massive audience that niche markets are possible: cult films, gay and lesbian cinema, teen movies, movies about aging, movies aimed at women, romantic comedies about Greek immigrants--you name it, someone in the US film industry has managed to market it.

There are plenty of talented people everywhere, but the relatively small, unprofitable US comics industry means that plenty of people who might have pursued a career as a mangaka if they'd been born in Japan will instead pursue a career as an illustrator or a painter or something else entirely. (And, yes, I realize that the total number of comics sold in the US is plenty big. Relative to how big our population is and how rich we are, our comics industry is still tiny compared to the ones in Japan and France/Belgium and all the other places known for their comics.)

I think of it as percentages vs. absolute numbers. For every weird US comic like Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, there are tons of old Garo titles that would appeal to the same twisted sense of humor. They might both represent some particular 1% of their respective comics industries, but the number of titles or artists is going to be much higher in Japan. As a consumer, I don't really care whether the good stuff is 1% or 100%. I just want to know how many individual series are worth my time.

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More i than choku