Manga killed the Comic Strip Stars…
So, apparently, Universal Press has decided to put Manga type strips in newspapers to “lure” teenagers into reading the newspaper. - See article -
It amazes me that they would do this before actually getting rid of some of the dino comics and maybe replacing them with a new generation of strips. Also, it boggles my MIND that you can say words like SLUT, BITCH, ASS on tv ALL DAY long, public tv, but you can’t say anything similar to that in actual newspapers.
NEWSFLASH, syndicate people…. #1 you need to grow some balls and AT LEAST move into the 90’s.— the reason teenagers can’t relate, or want to read the comics in the papers today is because they can’t relate to them, they’re still catering to the old ladies who write in and complain about how the girl from Liberty Meadows was too sexy, and sexual innuendos. — So replace it with MANGA? Are you high??? Why do you think so many teenage boys actually READ manga… it couldn’t be for the miniskirts and boob shots and really over obvious sexual innuendos, COULD IT?? I think that’s a big subliminal part of it. There is GOOD manga out there, sure… but are kids going to relate to watered down Manga that the newspapers would put out? Probably not at all. It won’t work.
Maybe I’m wrong though.. maybe kids would totally follow a long drawn out Dragonball Z fight scene that lasts for like 18 weeks in the newspaper run. “Monday’s strip: Fajita punches Goku, flys through the air yelling NOOOOO….” NEXT!
November 9th, 2005 at 8:45 am
As a manga reader myself, it makes me wonder what they’re going to do once any real manga has to deal with someone getting seriously hurt (or killed), or any discussion of philosophy or god.
I don’t think they thought this out very well.
November 9th, 2005 at 8:52 am
Yeah, Im not dissing on Manga– I want to make that clear— but, yeah, to me, all the good manga the kids are reading seem to be WAY beyond the intellectual level of daily comic strips. Plus, good manga, can it really be packed down into those WEE TINY spaces they give.
Maybe newspapers should make the comics BIGGER
November 9th, 2005 at 9:23 am
This needs a well written parody played on a uke.
Remember, a tentacle up the ass doesn’t make Dagwood gay.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:18 am
No! Keep manga out of the newspaper! I love Japanese manga comics and anime series/movies - I really, really like em - but this ain’t the solution to the the comics page woes… our newspapers should be trying to innovate within the Western comic strip tradition, borrowing from other traditions too, but not just supplanting it… we need new Gary Larsons, Murray Balls and Bill Watersons, not pseudo-manga in our newspapers… don’t let the hordes of vacuous, Japan-obsessed nerds win, damn you!
Mm, bad mood.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:36 am
I only get the Sunday paper but it’s not for the comics.
Outside of “Opus” and “The Boondocks” it’s a wasteland for humorless hacks.
Even if they added a “Page 3 Girl” type attraction I doubt I would start buying dailies.
November 9th, 2005 at 10:59 am
As an avid webcomic reader (can’t wake up in the morning without them) I’m surprised that the UP feels like the last resort to revitalizing the floundering newspaper comic scene is with manga, rather then raiding the webcomic circuit much as the music industry regularly raids the independent circuit when they’re in dire need for something new. Personally, I enjoy manga, and I too echo the same concern that there’s no way they could minimize a good manga strip into newspaper form. Plus, try finding a popular manga that doesn’t hit on normally “hot” topics for society; while manga readers are going to be ok with this I’m willing to bet you’re average comic reader is going to be rather confused by what will almost certainly be a watered down version of a rather complex, often hard-for-those-with-no-imagination-to-understand story. Honestly, there’s just too many people doing it online in a way just ITCHING to be stolen by the papers if they ever managed to get themselves together. Who knows, maybe one day webcomics will find their “Nirvana” (with hopefully a much more stable writer then they had singer) and there will be a massive infusion of “cool” into the mainstream. Just a though.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:09 am
They COULD accomplish the same effect by adding a weekly insert into their newspaper subscriptions as well. Like one of those sunday inserts but only all manga… it needs to stay off the daily pages i think… if they want to fix those, they need to bring things up to date and bring in a ton of new talent — and not be afraid of things like Liberty Meadows.
Ultimately, it doesnt matter what the syndicates do it’s ultimately the newspapers themselves who will not like this idea. It’s a good sell to them at first, I’m sure.
November 9th, 2005 at 11:18 am
I think the oddest part of the whole thing is that it’s not even real manga they’re selling to the papers - it’s American made comics done in a “manga style”. When did that become manga?
There’s nothing wrong with artists drawing from whatever influences they please but it seems like a disservice to the Japanese artists to try and pass it off as “manga.”
November 9th, 2005 at 11:33 am
Syndicated manga, eh? How will manga’s interpretation of the “boy, do I hate mondays!” joke manifest itself?
November 9th, 2005 at 11:44 am
Richrad… Im not a big fan of manga… however, I think that’s kinda like reverse racism, if something doesn’t come from Japan, it can’t be MANGA? Or if you’re not Japanese you can’t draw “real manga”
What the fuck is up with that?
That’s like saying ALL comic books aren’t real comic books unless they were made in America where the Comic book Industry was created.
BAH!
November 9th, 2005 at 11:45 am
Hmmm…seeing a Manga Garfield would be….just as stupid as the comic itself!!
November 9th, 2005 at 11:49 am
I’m not trying to come off as racist at all. Is it racist to call someone from Malaysia Malaysian? Is it racist to call a certain style of Japanese made art manga?
November 9th, 2005 at 12:08 pm
Getting back to the DBZ reference.. “Join us in October, for 31 days of Goku’s hair changing to blond and him screaming!” I can see it now.. BRILLIANT! I’msa go git me sum noospapers!
November 9th, 2005 at 12:12 pm
No but it is to say only Japanese people can create it. Like Mega Tokyo, Manga or not? Alot of kids think this is the best around, and their opinions count as much as anyone else. a “No Japanese, no care.” attitude doesn’t work.
November 9th, 2005 at 12:20 pm
Megatokyo is manga influenced but it isn’t manga because it’s not from Japan. There is nothing wrong with this! I don’t care either way!
My point is, what is the big deal about the American newspaper adding more American comics? It’s sort of a non-story. In any other case no one would be writing news articles about the people/cultures/whatever that influenced the artist of the strip.
I don’t care that the American paper is putting in American comics. I wouldn’t care if it was putting in Japanese comics. I would probably take notice if it started putting in Martian comics, but we all know that Martians can’t draw.
November 9th, 2005 at 12:39 pm
But…. MANGA is just the japanese word for COMIC–
It’s like saying something can’t be hip hop if it’s not from America. That’s ludicrous!
November 9th, 2005 at 12:44 pm
The way I’m looking at it, manga explicitly means “a comic from Japan.”
That’s it. No connotations positive or negative.
November 9th, 2005 at 1:44 pm
Speaking as an American teen (for 11 more days, anyway. That counts, right?) I’m going to officially ask the hard question: What the fuck are they smoking? The people I know don’t read Manga for the Manga style. They do it for the hot boy/boy or girl/girl action! Unless they’re gonna start putting that in the comics, count me out. If they are, well I’m game for six weeks of gay sex! If they’re just going to give Blondie giant eyes and insane hair, well, that would also be pretty fucking funny but not for more than a week or so.
Sorry syndicate, you suck.
November 9th, 2005 at 1:52 pm
I’m actually mildly curious how they’d go about printing it. It’s not like the style lends itself to three-to-four panel setup.
Also, on the idea of the whole manga/comics issue [no pun], I guess I consider manga to more represent a style than a place. When I was at Wizard World Chicago this past summer, tokyopop was previewing a whole line dedicated to “american manga stars.”
Of course, when I look at the comic that I’m about to publish [www.creepybean.com], I can’t lie to myself — there are non-western influences in the art, but despite the similarities I wouldn’t call it “manga.” But maybe some would… The term is very inconsistant, I suppose.
And as far as capturing a new demographic by putting it in the paper, well… porn would do the same thing. So would an extra line to the jumble, now that I think about it…
–Randall
November 9th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
The problem with the way you look at it, Richrad, is that the actual definition of the term “Manga” doesn’t specify location. Manga is just the japanese STYLE of comics. Has nothing to do with where it comes from. But hey, opinions are like assholes, everybody’s got one.
November 9th, 2005 at 3:25 pm
Just to add in a point, most people that read manga and want to read it on a sceduled basis probably subscribe to Shonen Jump, which pretty much has 5 or so pages of a certain series in each issue. Then they have about 10 series per issue. It’s a thick book, and probably does the job a lot better than any newspaper would.
I think DJ was right earlier, they really just need to give the artists more space and general freedom with the material. I don’t think seeing Sally Worth getting rubbed out is going to do anything, but it would be interesting to see someone be able to do something a bit more creative than yet another watered down gag that no one cares for. Aside from The Boondocks and Watterson’s stuff, what have you really heard about anyone talk about from the comics page in the last 20 years or so? I might glance at Non Sequitor, but thats it really.
And while raiding webcomics might be okay, it seems like a lot of webcomics just seem to be “We’ll say fuck and use some sprites” kind of things. Not saying all of them are terrible, or else I wouldn’t be here, but it might be just the same problem but with different material.
November 9th, 2005 at 4:01 pm
Those people over at the papers have to realize that the target audience (teens) aren’t going to share the views of those grandmothers who write in saying “dang!” is too racey a word. Teens want fast-paced, meaningful, original, and dare I say FUNNY comics.
No one cares if it’ manga or classic cartoon style, what the papers really need to do is hire some cartoonists who are willing to break away from the average political and family-themed strips.
man, i’m really tired of dubya jokes. i mean, he deserves it, but enough is enough.
November 9th, 2005 at 4:40 pm
I miss the Far side.
November 9th, 2005 at 5:06 pm
Not trying to stir up a hornets nest or anything, but I thought Manga was a descriptive term for a comic, AND a movie/television show, AND a toy-line existed for the same property. For instance Naruto would be Manga, but something that existed only as a comic with no toy or movie/television show would not be Manga.
November 9th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
Nah, manga is *just* the comic form. Anything in animated movie/television form would be termed “anime,” a catchphrase derived from Japanimation, and any other number of terms people pulled out of their ass when it started getting popular out west. And toys, well, toys are toys, and when you’re dealing with something that has a cult-style following, they sell like hotcakes collector-wise, so it’s just a common sense addition to market the holy hell out of manga and/or anime.
Now also, many, if not most, anime features are in fact based off of a popular manga series, but this is certainly not a requirement, just more of a natural progression, especially considering the mature level of entertainment that manga features.
Anime is much different than western cartoons in that rather than being an art form aimed at children, it’s just a more productive/cost effective way of making a mature themed movie, as there is no need for a huge special effects budget, or a ridiculous amount of “takes” before a scene is done right. Just good voice acting. Yeah, random, I know.
November 9th, 2005 at 5:49 pm
Ugh. I can do without manga and anime both. Then again, I can do without most of the American comic strips/cartoons as well. You know what I’d like to see? A comic book based upon the rock band KISS!
No, wait, that’s been done already.
Well, if they want to attract the younger readers, they could do a serialized version of regular comics, like Spider-Man.
Er…
Face it, newspapers: You’re fucked.
(I miss the Far Side, too, Doc…and Bloom County)
November 9th, 2005 at 5:52 pm
Yeah Murch you got it right, Japan doens’t really have the room for large amounts of sound studios like we do and Europe. That’s why they only release a few movies a year, in comparison to our hundreds of movies including independents.
But back to the newspapers, I enjoy reading a lot of comics, but there are some I just don’t get or think are funny anymore. When I was little I loved comics like Beetle Baily and Doonesbury, but how many times can you laugh at the same joke. I really liked Liberty Meadows Sunday strips, especially the HOW TO DRAW GUNDAMS, first draw a circle for the torso, then a circle for the head and arms and legs, third part add detail, done. Insane.
I think the problem in todays comics really does stem from the censorship issues papers have with their artists and writers. And the length they have comics in their newspapers causes them to become stale. It just feels like newspapers feel no matter how many times Garfield kills a spider or eats John’s food, it’s hiliarious, don’t get me wrong I love Garfield, but come on. It’s been decades.
That’s my rant sorry it took so long.
November 9th, 2005 at 6:00 pm
I totally understand where you are coming from. I think that they are going to spoonfeed watered down manga-style to people and thusly pissing off your old grannies AND your manga readers. I’ve always thought as the newspaper comics as little hits of joy. This isn’t something that manga-style strips (if you can call them that) aren’t really geared towards. Some of the best manga-style webcomics out there aren’t these little hits, they’re serial lines.
I just think the whole idea is retarded. What they need are new “traditional” comics. Stop with all the same shit we’ve seen since we were in our fathers’ sacks and give us some new material. Jesus! I’d love it to be able to turn to the comics page and see a Yirmumah-esque comic in there. You don’t have to drop the f-bomb to be cool, but you can be edgy and that’s really what newspapers need.
And a lesson to the last few posters…Japanese 101
manga = comic/drawn story (generally they come serialized in giant phone-book style publications in the land of the rising sun ala Shonen Jump style)
anime = animated (it means cartoon, not a style)
Merchandising really doesn’t have anything to do with determining proper use. It’s the western use of the words that has really butchered their meanings. Also, I read somewhere that most Japanese hate the word Japanimation. It’s rude. I’m sure they’re plotting a word of ours to misuse and get back at us…maybe it’ll be soda. ROFL. Who knows?
*snort giggle snort* I’m a geek. ^_^
November 9th, 2005 at 6:01 pm
Sorry Adam and Castro…lesson not intended for you. My apologies.
November 9th, 2005 at 6:18 pm
Well, it’s not really manga that they are adding to the lineup. They are adding alot of Tokyopop titles. These titles like Peach Fuzz and Van Von Hunter are not produced in Japanese and are not really manga. They are still American comics with a manga style. It is also an interesting to note that Van Von Hunter is a webcomic in addition to being a print comic, but they are different storyboards in the two different mediums.
So they aren’t outsourcing their comics, and are adding new American made comics. However, first they should have just axed some of those dinosaur comics. Plus this “manga” is already in print somewhere else.
November 9th, 2005 at 7:55 pm
You don’t have to drop the f-bomb to be cool?
Fuck. My high school friends lied to me. LIED!!!!!!
November 9th, 2005 at 9:36 pm
The reason the average age of the newspaper reader is 53 is because they don’t know how to use the internet. The newspaper is a dinosaur. If you’re old and retired and can read the paper over your coffee that’s great. But most of the kids will get their news off the internet. Why wait for an update on a breaking story to come out in the paper tomorrow morning when you can go online and get your info.
Same for comics. Regardless of what they put in the paper it can never be as edgy or as versitile a format as the web. And we can get a larger size strip in color every day at Yirmumah. I’ve got my bookmarked favorites and that’s what I read daily.
The days of the newspaper are over and there is no strip, no Dear Abby, no Ed Anger that can help them increase readership. This is the digital age.
November 10th, 2005 at 4:25 am
Besides the pedantics on whether “Manga” style comics are only True to Form if they’re from Japan, which imnsho given the adaptation of the form in (web)comicland is nowadays more a definition of drawing style than anything else, the only way I see that type of comic appear in US newspapers is as chibi one-liner gags.
*shudder*
November 10th, 2005 at 4:32 am
Shiva, so, you’re saying manga means comic and anime means cartoon in japan? Well it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out how we could get, in the west, for manga to mean japanese style comic, and anime japanese style cartoon. That would be like you telling me I had to call my dollar, a Canadian dollar and what I call an American dollar, a dollar, and Im just butchering the meaning.
Every two weeks I get a call from a newspaper company,
” Awesome newspaper deals!”
“umm, I get all my news online, and its free”
“but you can take this anywhere!”
“I have a laptop and books in the washroom, I don’t need it”
“Oh, ok have a nice day”
“I will.”
Honstly the only phone calls I get are from people trying to sell me crap, I think im going to disconnect my phone and go msn only.
November 10th, 2005 at 1:04 pm
“They do it for the hot boy/boy or girl/girl action! Unless they’re gonna start putting that in the comics, count me out. If they are, well I’m game for six weeks of gay sex!”
Okay, now I would totally read “Family Circus” if this were the case!
November 10th, 2005 at 2:26 pm
“And as far as capturing a new demographic by putting it in the paper, well… porn would do the same thing. So would an extra line to the jumble, now that I think about it…”
————————————-
whoa…brain exploded with this thought…..JUMBLE PORN. Holy crap I’m a marketing genius it’ll save these newspapers from the slow financial death that is ever imminent like a baseball bat to the skull!!!
side note: If you want to see some very different manga, go read Bleach or Monster, two of my most favorite series in the whole world. Monster in particular is a very gripping drama/horror manga/anime(both version are exceptionally well done) with very deep story and character interactions. Check it out, you won’t be disappointed. If they did stuff like that in newspapers(it’d most definitely have to be more than 3 panels) shonen jump would have to buy the papers out and run them into the ground.
November 11th, 2005 at 5:45 am
Okay I just want to clear up a few things: First the word manga (漫画) in Japanese means comic book (the word for comic strip is tsudsukimanga, 続き漫画). In Japan this can mean any comic book; although western comics are sometimes called komikkusu (コミックス) a japanization of the word comics. Also the word anime (アニメ) is a shortened form of the word animeshon (アニメショーン) and was borrowed from Japanese by English speakers in much the same way as the word manga was. Of course the Japanese borrowed animation first but yeah…
Now that being said, I think forcing a definition on a word is pointless. Here manga or anime can mean whatever, and that definition can certainly be different from the original Japanese meaning. My point being that when you’re talking about comics or cartoons here in the US it’s is handy to have a word that differentiates the “native” style from that influenced by Japan. Is spaghetti not spaghetti if it wasn’t made in Italy?
November 11th, 2005 at 12:19 pm
Wow Kaleoahenahe– that was CONCISE!!! I think this is definitly a problem with just standard American thinking, where even though they don’t want to admit it, things are broken into race or cultural divides SO Much.
November 11th, 2005 at 12:24 pm
So, this might make sense if they were planning to serialize something like Azumanga Daioh. It is a 4 panel comic strip that would fit in normal newspapers, and it’s completely hilarious. (Seriously, it was put out by ADV manga a few years back, go to your local comic store and check it out.) It’s even generally pretty innocent, although there is a male teacher with a high school girl fetish, and boob size comes up a couple times. The main problem is, you just can’t get around the fact that the comic is happening in Japan. Attempts to Americanize it would just result in muddling it.