Hey guys,
do japanes comic strips exist? You know, the japanese version of calvin and hobbes, the boondocks, liberty meadows, peanuts, doonsburey, .....................

short three panel or one page stories, often with politcal or social commentary of current events

i offer a pat on the head to anybody who answers

There are some shorter comics, though I don't know how many, and I don't know how equivalent they are to US newspaper comics. I've heard them called "4-koma" which I think means "4-panel" because....they usually have four panels.

I have a book of them (translated into English, with some explanations) called "Gloom Party", by Yoshio Kawashima, which seems to be mostly poking fun at Japanese culture (haven't read much of it yet). And let's not forget that Azumanga Daioh is made up of 4-panel episodes....

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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

hmmmmm.......i suppose.....but would they be in different types of manga style and such??

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4komas are the only thing, I believe. Check out "Lucky Star" or "Pugyuru" for a good example of what 4komas are like. They are usually drawn in either chibi style, or "Normal" shoujo style (From what I have read, anyway). Also, I believe They have translated versions of things like the comic strip "Peanuts", since I have seen it refferenced in anime.

You'll see 4 panel comic strips in manga volumes every now and then. Manga that do this that come to mind are ones like Fullmetal Alchemist (I love the ones she does at the end of her volumes, to bad she hasnt had the room to do any for a while now ), Genshiken (there usually are ones after each chapter), and Koshiki no Gash Bell always has a little one at the end of its volumes, and there are many more that have 4 panel comic strips in them aswell.

Now here is a blog that every now and then scanlates some gag manga strips, http://samehat.blogspot.com/2007/03/every-scanlation-weve-ever- done.html . Thats a link to every scanlation that they have done so far. For the gag manga strips, go down to the Yoshida Sensha and Koji Aihara section (the Poor Doggy strips are my favorite ). It would be awsome if anybody else knows of any other place that has scanlated a few 4 panel or more manga strips.

Yonkomas not only exist, but they were the only type of manga available during the late 18th and 19th century (That type of manga was known as Ponchi-e) and they're the very foundation of modern manga. It's really odd that you haven't come across any of these bully_jesus, since they're really popular and can be found everywhere, from magazines to newspapers. (The ones touch Japanese political and social issues don't really pick the interest of western audiences and that's why there aren't many scanlations of these.) But still, is very difficult to believe that you haven't heard of Sazae-san, one of the most famous Yonkomas ever. In fact, its animated version is so popular in Japan that has spawned more than 1820 episodes (Making it the longest running anime that has ever existed).


You should have pointed out that some mangas in that site are ero-guro (God, why do so many people like that horrendous genre?).

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Hello, I just noticed at SevenSeas that they will be publishing a manga called Neconoclasm that, according to SevenSeas, is a one volume compilation of 4-panel comics - all about cat-girls.
Unfortunately, this probably doesn't help much, since this title is not being scanlated

Do I still get a pat on the head? Please?

I've seen some really funny Chinese comics of this type. My fav is the one about the skinny guy and a fat guy. I dunno what it's called because the title was in Chinese, but there is no text in the comic (all visual humor). It's the same type of humor you would find in a mad magazine. If anyone knows what I'm talking about,let me know. I'd like to try and find more of it. k'thnx!

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