my country produces its own comics...but sadly its very rare...

you see i love manga!! its very unique and its not that rare and out of reach and of course the art and the plot is out of this world!!!

i just gotta say that manga may not be the best but...its great!!! 🙂 😀

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GUESS WHO??

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Man, so much bias, though I did expect this.
I am someone who reads Manga/Manwha, American comics, and European comics (or bandé dessinnée) and I enjoy all three equally.

You cannot say one is more developed and varied than the other; this is simply untrue, and if this is your thinking you clearly haven't read much of the other forms. Each has their own pro's and con's; each has something for everyone. Its a matter of just looking around.

A lot of people seem to claim that comics are just plain hard to find; haven't they heard of ordering online? Or if money is a problem (or you plain out just don't buy comics or manga), there are plenty of places online to download them from. Or even request your local library or bookstore to order some in.

Also, Sijy, you are seriously missing out if you don't read Watchmen. But if the art is enough to turn you away from it, then so be it; I doubt you would appreciate Moore's intricate plot and visual devices anyway (which where a big factor in my enjoyment of the comic)

Quote from Highway-STAR

Man, so much bias, though I did expect this.
I am someone who reads Manga/Manwha, American comics, and European comics (or bandé dessinnée) and I enjoy all three equally.

haha, its a manga site, what do yo expect?

Quote from Sijy

Another example I thought about: Frank Miller. Often regarded as the best out there, the only one I actually stomached was his Batman, everything else I haven't liked at all.

Tried reading 300 and watchmen, but couldn't because the art is not to my liking. Sure he has great stories and characters, but the movies make it infinitely better than his drawings simply because I don't like his style.

haha, alan moore did watchmen.
frank miller's a weird dude though. his art is something you need to bare through and i have no idea what he did with All Star Goddman Batman and Robin but i totally agree with Hoghway-STAR. You should try and "stomach" watchmen and enjoy how symmetrical and symbolic the entire thing is.

i like comics as well
don't kill me

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Quote from Sijy

I recognize that Alan moore(my bad on who's who) is a great story teller and have said as much(and am greatful that his stories make it to movies for me to appreciate somewhat).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but have you actually read any of Alan Moore's comics, or simply watched the film adapatations? If it is the latter, then I'm afraid most of those films largely missed the point of his stories and deviated quite a bit. This is proven by the fact that Moore has distanced himself from the films, and refuses to have any participation with their creations.

Quote from Sijy

The art and format I dislike, but the story I wanted to get into, but couldn't. I tried reading Watchmen and 300 at seperate times, and both times couldn't get through the first chapters.

The art in those two comics are practically polar opposites! Dave Gibbon's art in Watchmen is professionally technical and realistic, whereas Miller's art on 300 is extremely stylized. What kind of art are you looking for in a story like Watchmen?

Quote from Sijy

Similarly with old comics. I wanted to read Xmen and Spiderman from the beginning, but the art was old and offputting.

Wow. If you really wanted to start from the beginning, you'd be going back years, to the era of Jack Kirby's legend.

Quote from Sijy

But I have the same problem with Osuma Tezuka. Not my cup of tea.

Your misfortune, you're missing out on some of the greatest stories ever told by manga's own godfather, and only because of your prejudice towards outdated styles. Seriously, are you expecting art like Obata Takeshi's or something??

Hmm I expected this to be a huge flamewar but surprisingly everyone is being very mature about the subject.

As for the topic at hand it really is subjective. In some ways I prefer manga. Why? Because it seems more flexible in terms of story and central themes (I certainly wouldn't want to see emo Bruce Wayne spend 50+ issues figuring out why he can't confess his feelings to Cat Woman). Also, manga tends to focus more on visual story telling rather pages and pages of word bubbles. And finally, let's all fess up to it: the best things in life are free 😃 . Of course some of us, like me, go out and buy the occasional hard copy to keep the industry alive, but when we want that latest chapter or that unlicensed project, chances are that we're not ordering it straight from across the Pacific.

The same rules would apply when talking about Western comics. I prefer American comic strips over most comedy and 4 koma manga anyday. Why? B/c the humor applies directly to me and my culture. Another thing that I like more about Western comics doesn't really have to do anything w/ story or art or central themes, it's the whole legend and mystique and the history behind the characters. The reason series like Batman, Spiderman, and X-men seemingly have no end in sight is b/c they are too iconic to let disappear. In manga it feels like the legend of the chars simply start and stop w/ their respective series, whereas more often than not in Western comics you have a whole universe around these characters. So if you're reading a Superman issue you'll probably stop and think "Somewhere in this fictional world Batman is kicking several types of ass."

(sorry I went off on kind of a tangent in those last parts) In conclusion, I really can't say which I prefer more b/c as someone said before they each have their own pros and cons, and everything else is subjective. Nevertheless in order to make my post somewhat relevant I'll pick comics. 🤨

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

Your misfortune, you're missing out on some of the greatest stories ever told by manga's own godfather, and only because of your prejudice towards outdated styles. Seriously, are you expecting art like Obata Takeshi's or something??

I agree. Osuma Tezuka's drawing style is outdated and I am not into most of his stuff. The reason is that, his works were pretty varied in terms of demographic and themes. Some of them were simple and made for little children. I was impressed by Black Jack and think it's one of the best in manga history.

Why Manga?

1st of all: its unique.
I found this really nice than the traditional Western comics I read since I was a kid.
At first, I had hard time reading it.

2nd of all: I like the art

Lastly: Its more appealing. 😉

I like newspaper comics actually, more than I like a lot of manga.

I've never read superhero comics, because I've never figured out where to start, you know?

I grew up reading Peanuts, Gary Larson, and stuff like Garfield. Peanuts is one of my favourite comics of all time. I enjoy that format.

Why not manga?

Manga is like a book or movie, but just...manga. It has unique features and I like reading it. Is there any other motive?

Lalala~

Quote from Highway-STAR

Quote from Sijy

I recognize that Alan moore(my bad on who's who) is a great story teller and have said as much(and am greatful that his stories make it to movies for me to appreciate somewhat).

Correct me if I'm wrong, but have you actually read any of Alan Moore's comics, or simply watched the film adapatations? If it is the latter, then I'm afraid most of those films largely missed the point of his stories and deviated quite a bit. This is proven by the fact that Moore has distanced himself from the films, and refuses to have any participation with their creations.

Quote from Sijy

But I have the same problem with Osuma Tezuka. Not my cup of tea.

Your misfortune, you're missing out on some of the greatest stories ever told by manga's own godfather, and only because of your prejudice towards outdated styles. Seriously, are you expecting art like Obata Takeshi's or something??

I would do the same thing if I were alan. V for vendetta (the movie) for instance missed a huge point in the end. But that movie and watchmen weren't bad movies imo. But nowhere near the original work.

I agree it's silly to drop a manga/comic just 'cause of the style. Well unless the style is incorporated to earn cash that is.

And the term comic may seem confusing to my question. Call it comic, manga, graphic novels or whatever.

Anyone read any European quality stuff? Like Blacksad or Murena? Masterpieces imo. 😀 😎

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In terms of superiority, I lean towards manga for a number of reasons, but Western comics have their good points too. I'll list because this topic has too much text as it is.

1. America (and else-where) have yet to figure out their is a demographic besides teenage boys. Females are almost forgotten all together.

2. Colour isn't always better. Personally I feel is destroys clarity and readabilty when overused on poor paper stock. Black is clear and cheap.

3. Range of stories. Manga has romance, comedy, action, sex, etc, sometimes in the one comic. Western comics to lean to heavily towards one genre.

4. Style. I feel that comics by DC and Marvel tend to be very... heavy. I prefer the lighter weight of manga, though obvoiously there are lots of styles. I feel it is easier to read and follow.

5. Western comics are too text heavy. Seriously, it is a visual medium, show it! I swear these people write them like books sometimes.

6. Onomatopoeia. Seriously, they have us beaten on this one. It just works better in manga.

I could keep going. I feel that western comics that have suceeded in breaking free of the rather opressive super-hero mold, are still very artistic and therefore limited in their demographics (Sandman, Maus, etc). The ones I have read and enjoyed are graphic novels and therefore one offs, so I don't get the enjoyment of a lonfg read. I feel western comics are 'behind' in terms of evolution, but they have potential, giving they can find the right audience and support.

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why not?
i like western comics too but a lot are too obscure or have been going of way too long for it to be of any sense. anyway, the bottom line is the manga are and stories are much better but that does not make western comics bad

3. Range of stories. Manga has romance, comedy, action, sex, etc, sometimes in the one comic. Western comics to lean to heavily towards one genre. I'm almost 100% certain you can blame the Comics Code Authority on this one. For nearly fifty years they kept the comics industry under their boot heel. Their rules for what kinds of stories could be published were draconian. Which is also the main reason there are so many superhero comics today. Before the CCA stories in comics were much more varied. The industry is still suffering from lack of variety even though most everyone now ignores the CCA. So if there's anyone to blame, its them.

I've got lots of experience with manga and western comics. Most of my experience with European comics comes from Heavy Metal, which is not all that large a selection, but is quite varied.

I'm not a fan of huge crossovers in western comics. They're annoying. The prices are getting ridiculous too.

Most manga is not worth buying. Which is why there are sites like this one. 😛 Now I do have a lot of manga, but they're all mostly of the same series, or of a certain genre.

I'd choose western comics in any case. And if you can't find a wide variety on the internet, you aren't looking hard enough. You really do have to look hard. Marvel and DC love sending cease and desist letters, so most comic sites aren't as obvious to find as dailymanga, mangatraders. mangaupdates, mangahelpers, etc. You see where I'm going with this?

Sarcasm just doesn't work over the internet.