Ok, I have read a lot of comics in my life. I must admit I don't find manga to be superior to other worldwide comics (manga = comic if you didn't know).

My question is: Do you find manga do be superior to other worldwide comics. Why / Why not.

By manga I mean manga, manhua or manhwa. Meaning Japanese, Taiwan, Chinese or South Korean comics. People tend to put these in the same "pot".

I'll give my view on the topic after a few replies.

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I've only read manga myself, so I can't really compare it to comics from other areas of the world. I have vaguely seen the art styles from other forms of 'comics' though, and sort of prefer the 'manga / anime' style of characters more. There are also many themes I particularly enjoy that seem as though they would be specific to Japanese culture, and thus probably wont be found in comics from other parts of the world.

I also think the popularity of comics in Japan, compared to other parts of the world, and the inherent struggles that authors encounter in trying to get their series publicized/serialized creates higher standards for comics in that country as well.

Why Manga?


Well, I've only otherwise read American comics, and compared to those, manga and stuff has a wide varity of stories; I've found most American comics only contain stuff like Batman and Superman, which I don't really find all that interesting.

So Manga, because its more like a book, and has a wide varity, and American comics are just mostly superhero stories.

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(Crap, haha, i actually read the topic and so i changed my responce...)

its not. i don't find it superior at all. they're basically on even footing and though i do find comics more enjoyable then manga most of the time, they both have their perks.

comics have a wide universe. everything is interconnected and a much richer history. they've been around since the second world war and helped people cope with the cold war and the red scare. regardless, with each generation we get a new creative team that takes over a hero and we get to see their take on it, whether it be good or bad. and in some cases, really really bad.

and, i know i might get a bit bashed around for this, but i find comics a better read then most manga. though there are many exceptions, but i think comics will almost always have a better story because the writers can dip into the mythos of the character, something that manga characters just don't have (besides some comics like ippo and conan of course....). they can take not the character itself, but the essence of that hero and show you what that means to the writer in question.

manga is just helping to cope with my comic addiction, though i do enjoy many manga titles and read them whenever i get the chance.

oh right, before i forget. READ INVINCIBLE <- Great comic. It is as awesome as NPH

Last edited by Krazy Apple at 9:46 pm, Mar 22 2009

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I seriously don't know"why" I like manga, but I have read comics and I don't think that manga is superior, 'cus there's crappy manga just like there are crappy comics...
My only complain w/ comics that are not manga are that:
1)...they are hard to come by cus there's not that many comic book stores(at least not anywhere near me)
2)..they are somewhat pricey(but they are in color, so I shouldn't complain too much)
and 3)...they are confusing to keep track of! (im trying to read the Civil War series, but i'm so baffled by it all that i don't even know where to start.I mean there's Road to Civil War, Civil War, adn the X-men Civil War, Spider-Man Civil War, etc, and I feel like i need to read them all to get the whole story) whereas manga jsut go vol.1, 2, 3, etc, etc, etc....
If I have to say tho, I prefer most manga art to american comic book art, other than that, I love Spider-Man juat as much as I like Bleach or Furuba...

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Last edited by Sijy at 10:53 am, Dec 25 2015

haha, they're very pricey. they recently boosted the price of most issues to about 4 bucks...but they come with more pages anyway, so i really can't complain too much either....



haha, most crossover events like the Civil War, Final Crisis, Infinite Crisis, Secret Invasion, Dark Reign (not sure if this is a crossover event though), and the Blackest Night all require you to read a wide spectrum of comics for you to even begin to try and understand the story. i would actually suggest to skip these...they're not really that important and you can just read what happens on them online...or you can do what we do with manga and download the entire freakin' thing.


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i like comics as well
don't kill me

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Last edited by Sijy at 10:53 am, Dec 25 2015

wolverine is one of the only characters that turely have this problem though because he is literally in everything. I remember reading an x-men book a while back and wolverine was complaining that he can't be on every single team. though i laughed at that at first, it seriously has come down to the fact that wolverine is in everything and due to this you need to know a lot to understand anything about him nowadays.

it's always hard to jump into the series blind, comics more so do to it's very defined back stories, wolverine especailly. but for me, as long as i know the general premise of the character, i can jump right in into any series. the character that i'm trying to read about never changes, well most of the time he never changes, though there might be storylines and villians that go around and you might not understand what the hell is going on at first, after a few issues, you usually get the gist of it.

if you wanna avoid a problem like this, just read some of the more independent titles like invincible or some of the lesser known heroes like iron fist. their historys are defined by the single book that they're in and thus, it is much more easier to get into.
(personally, i'm actually reappy happy that i get to talk about comics =D)

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i like comics as well
don't kill me

I've only really read US comics (and not that much of them) and Tin Tin (which is French, I believe??); manga is my favorite by far.

Most US comics are super-hero-based, which just doesn't interest me, plus there's the whole crossover/done by different people/alternate universe/huge backstory/whatever stuff that is simply too confusing. I've tried reading not-so-mainstream US comics when I've come across them, but they just didn't hold my attention enough to get me to search out more. My lack of interest in comics as I knew them probably delayed me reading manga for ~10 years, because all I had to go on was US comics so I just wasn't interested.

US comics tend to have the same problems as US tv shows - they just go on and on and on until they lose popularity; tv shows are usually canceled while comics seem to get new writers &/or go off on weird tangents. (I don't watch US tv series either.)

Certainly some manga do go on long after they should have ended, and some are canceled abruptly, but overall with manga you have a much better chance of being able to read a complete story than with US comics.

I'm mainly a shoujo/josei reader, and I don't see ANYthing like shoujo/josei in US comics.

The manga art style appeals to me more than the US comics art style; this may or may not be a byproduct of liking the manga stories better (I also prefer black & white to the colors often used in US comics).

With the exception of newspaper comics (which aren't really the same thing as manga or US comics that come out as issues) I also haven't heard of US comics that incorporate so much humor into the ongoing story. (Again, certainly not ALL manga has humor in it, but it's not hard to find and even series that aren't humor focused tend to incorporate it to a certain degree.) Maybe they're out there, I certainly haven't done much searching lately, but a while back something inspired me to look for US comics I might enjoy and .... I didn't have much luck.

Edit - got so busy with the other stuff, I forgot the conclusion!

I, personally, strongly prefer manga over any other comics I've read. I would not say categorically that "manga is better/best", but for the kind of things I like to read, it definitely is. Someone with other reading preferences may well come to the opposite conclusion, & that's fine.

Last edited by TofuQueen at 10:24 pm, Mar 22 2009

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I thought there was a similar thread already, but couldn't find anything~

Anyways...
I have read very few other comic types besides manga, but I have never found anything that comes close to the variety and originality so many manga have.
I did watch a bunch of those popular comic based movies, and cartoons when I was younger, like Superman, Batman, Spider man, X-man and all sorts of other man...

Manga just appeals better to me, and I like the art styles more.

You can't ask a person "why" he prefers something.
It's a matter of taste, and if you think US comics are better, nobody stops you or says it's wrong.
It seems like you think it's wrong for us to like manga more, no? lol

So to answer your question, yes, I do think manga is better simply because I like it more, but I'd name originality, variety and art style as the factors.
Why? Because it's my choice to enjoy what I like, and just because I prefer it. :3

It's just my opinion and taste. (well, TofuQueen put it better)



Exactly that.

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wait...i can download the entire civil war series? where?
but w/o straying too much away..yeah...manga can get long winded, but at least is all in the same timeline u can say...
comics are in a way like doujinshi...cus there have been a plethora of artists/writers that have written for a certain series, only difference, most doujinshi isnt canon, and i think comic books are, but correct me if i'm wrong....

I like manga over other forms of comics, not because it's "superior" because that's subjective, but I feel that as a medium it has been allowed to develop more then other countries comics. American/Western comics tend to be very limited in terms of genres and artstyle (though there are exceptions) while manga is much more varied and the artstyles changes with genres. I find Western comics to be very 'heavy' in terms of art and I feel that artist haven't ex[perimented as much with comic conventions. Mostly I like the wide range of stories, but I also have a tendency to prefer that style, and I tend to get what is going on more.

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The thing i like about manga is usually it is 1 story vs western manga which might be a new story every couple of issues, The westerns doesnt really allow for character development unless the series runs for a really long time and usually the main characters is a muscular superhero kinda boring and generic.

I haven't read lots of comics, just some random stuff in childhood and some others from time to time. superhero issue is one of the disturbing ones, but there are also great pieces, like Watchman, but to call it comics... honestly. sometimes it's like a little face in the corner and a huge bubble with text for a whole page how can you call this a comic? it's more like overillustrated novel or something...

second this. hit the bull's eye.
and one more problem for me personally - it's hard to find this stuff, cause I'm not living in North America... almost impossible to be honest, except all those superhero series.
one more declaration for manga is it's variety and that it's easy to get it. I've read some Swedish comics, but it's a domestic product, which is almost impossible to find somewhere except the country of origin.

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