After reading OMK, Molester Man and the original version of Onepunch-man... Yeah, great plot can cover for bad artwork. Or is it just that you get used to it?

I still find it difficult to pick up a random manga with bad art though.

I think it strongly depends on the kind of manga and the story they're trying to tell. A good action manga lets you see the movement of the characters - too much detail can actually be a drawback as you lose the sense of motion and it feels like a static but beautiful image. A compelling romance or drama is strongly dependent on the "setpieces" and the expressions of the characters as far as art goes, but also very strong writing (monologue, dialogue); psychological manga is the same in that regard, though the focus is different. Comedy manga, though, are often about reactions, so character expressions can be exaggerated (which may cover for the artist's lesser competence), clarity of movement is not largely necessary, and art can be simple or even objectively bad; so in that case comedy manga are all about the writing and the plotting, and the art is almost entirely secondary except where it hinders a reader.

As long as the art is not an impediment to storytelling (e.g. clarity of movement), and in fact is the vehicle for storytelling (e.g. complicated character expressions), the style or quality of the art doesn't truly matter. A good artist, however, has a better grasp on the subtlety and the nuance, so arguably, good art and good manga storytelling go hand in hand; even if you don't prefer the artistic style (RoxFlowz for instance says OMK and Molester Man had 'bad' artwork, but here I would disagree - character design was sometimes all over the place, but the art itself is consistent and very well captures the characters' feelings and experiences).

The best manga are those that approach their storytelling like both a movie and a novel - they primarily use the visual medium to express movement or character emotion or visual symbolism, but they also make calculated use of monologue, thought bubbles, dialogue and narration as needed; in other words, they get the best of both worlds, film and literature, and choose from the visual or written medium wherever it is most appropriate, whichever technique best tells the story.

Having said all of that, my sentiments echo RoxFlowz's: I still find it difficult to pick up a random manga with bad art though.

Mangas are read for there stories, and thus the artwork doesn`t matter as much.

I don't think that only great plot can save bad art. a manga with good plot and bad art is still good. Also, a manga with good plot and great art will stay good and bad plot with amazing art is still bad. To me, art doesn't matter at all. Well ok, it does matter a bit, but only anatomy. Anyway, there are not so many manga's with bad art. Only with different art (the exception proves the rule). It's not like manga artists try to draw realistic.

art comes in all shapes ans sizes. so frankly, unless art is so bad to the point where i can't recognize what the figures are, it's plot that matters

unless of course, it's hetai. thats a different story

Talk about Angel Densetsu, Yagi Norihiro's first serialized manga, the story so great but the art is so painful to see . But his drawing skills is evolving to very fascinating from there to point on.

I'll read even the bad stuff as long as there's something that interests me. Besides, bad stuff can be... entertaining. And certainly useful for writers.

Shingeki no Kyojin anyone?

I cant stand horrible story/plot, while ugly artwork can be forgiven with a great story/plot.

Nah, I'm kinda confused with this one, since even if the plot and artwork is good, It wont do if the way the author tell the story isn't good. And I would be fooling myself if I say artwork doesn't matter..

In this case I gotta join the majority

I've tried all kind of mentioned combinations and I'll always read a manga to the end if I like the story and the plot makes sense.

Actually I'll even read not-so-good stories if I like the characters. Thus characters > story to me I guess.

Hands down great plot/story>bad artwork.

But generally, I can take anything except for terrible storytelling (and what genre as well). The best art can't make up for a terrible plot period.

Those who complain about art when the story is exceptional are shallow as heck. One example I can think of on the spot (since I recently reread it) is Dance Subaru. Let me tell you, the art was a mix of manga and realism--not a good combo but it provided the means of tension and intensity that the plot was bringing across.

Great story overshadows bad art.
Bad art usually makes me reluctant to start reading the series, but once I see that the story is good, I don't pay much attention to the art. In fact, I often grow to like it too. (Well, mostly when it's more "original" than "bad", e.g.: One Piece or Ares.)

I'll take anything no matter how bad so long as I find it entertaining. For example, the original Onepunch Man (not the ones currently being released) has absolutely terrible art, but I still read it. I guess I do like rough artwork, like Alice in Hell and Dorohedoro, but not bad artwork. There is a difference Manga where there isn't real images (like buildings in the background) in almost every panel is nice.

If the art is bad, I wouldn't consider reading it no matter the plot, so definitely not #1 for me. Average art with a great plot is a completely different story, but about bad art I don't have any tolerance. Bad drawing bothers me a lot, so if every page is an eyesore, then no story is good enough. I wouldn't go with #2 either, though--if the plot is so bad that I would end up only looking at the pretty pictures and not reading any of the words, I wouldn't say it wasn't enjoyable (I do love beautiful pictures), but at that point, I would consider the work to be just an artbook and not a real manga.

So that leaves the two midway options, but I don't have too much of a preference between them... I can deal with average art for a good story and vice-versa. I guess I will pick the one where the art's better, so I'll go with #4.

If I wanted a great story without the great art to go with it, I'd read a book. To me, Manga has to at least look good. What's the point of reading a graphic novel otherwise?

Great plot and story, the art doesn't really matter as long as I can grasp the situation. Angel Densetsu and Claymore are best example for "Great plot and story can cover bad artwork".

This was a really fun poll!

It was a tough one for me, but I chose the great art with nonsensical plot in the end. Maybe that makes me a superficial person? I'd like to think it just points to my heightened sensitivity to the visual, aesthetic quality of a work (lol)

Outside of these (definitely) imperfect options, a great plot and story is usually just as important to me as pleasing artwork and effective execution. Also, I have actually been put off different manga (mangas?) multiple times because of bad artwork, but from what I remember the plot of those manga wasn't great either... so really there was nothing to keep me reading anyway.

I love baby finger but I don't think it's necessarily bad art. It's a certain style and I think as soon as you start reading it it hooks you. I need great art for mediocre story lines but it doesn't last long. I get sad when art is really great but the sentence structure, and plot is so confusing and boring. Dengeki Daisy has kind of become that...

I would pick story because I think the art is there to make things easier for you to understand. So it's also hard to justify having a bad art that just gets in the way of the story. But If the story is bad I would just drop the manga no matter how good the art is. On the other hand I would just try to read on even if the art is bad if the story is worth it. But you won't know if you'll like the story if you won't pick it up because of bad art... It's hard to be a leech. So yeah, good story/bad art for me. It would be the other way around for H titles though...

For me, art comes first. And then the story. I'd drop the story if the artwork messed up halfway through, like Hunter X Hunter.

But if a mangaka that have only that kind of artwork, but the story is good, like initial D, Shingeki no Kyojin, I'd read them anytime. provided I have run out of mangas to read.

the manga must confirms with my eye first, then my brain.