Rachel Walker Mr. Taylor AP Lit Period 5 3/12/15 Eat My Ink: How the Manga Industry Is Overtaking US Comic Books
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Rachel Walker Mr. Taylor AP Lit Period 5 3/12/15 Eat My Ink: How the Manga Industry is Overtaking US Comic Books While pop culture is considered, by definition, to be fresh, modern, and mainstream, the term “pop culture” was coined at least as early as 1854.1 In fact, pop culture itself has existed ever since humans began walking the earth, and it can especially be seen in the various art forms throughout the ages. Cavemen surely looked at others’ drawings on cavern walls and took inspiration from what was considered conventional art at the time: skinny extended black bodies and flat brown herd animals running away from the primitive hunters. Today, we see those images as little more than stick figures, but at the time, those drawings demonstrated the essence of Stone Age pop culture. In Ancient Egypt, portraits of pharaohs and gods were carved in odd, anatomically impossible poses, with a focus on the afterlife. The Ancient Greeks made use of balance and perfect proportions to portray their idealized heroes and warriors. During the Renaissance, high foreheads and pale skin were considered the height of beauty. Impressionism brought a new appreciation for capturing life as seen by the artist. Today, modern styles of art vary widely, but one prevalent example of contemporary art is the comic book. Some would argue that comics are not an art form; however, this medium follows most previously set conventions. Comics convey a message, idea, or story, focus on the interests of the population, use a highly recognizable style, and capture the views of the artist. But as seen through historical example, popular art evolves with the times. Very few people, if any, still draw hunters and buffalos on cave waves in the style of the Stone Age. Comic books, while still holding onto popularity currently, must change with the times lest they fall behind into the annals of art 1 Fox, Margalit. "Ray Browne, 87, Founder of Pop-Culture Studies, Dies." The New York Times. New York Times, 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 9 Feb. 2015. Walker 2 history. Already comic books are lacking many of the traits needed to hold onto their success. However, their artistic cousin, Japanese manga, has achieved much of what US comics lack and may soon take over the market. If it doesn’t want to be left behind, perhaps the US comics industry should take a page out of the Japanese manga industry’s book. Comic books have been an essential part of US pop culture since their origin in the 20th century. The very first American comic book, Funnies on Parade, was a collection of comic strip reprints from newspapers and was published in 1934.2 Original comic content soon replaced the reprints, and the first huge success for comic books, Superman, hit the newsstands in 1938. Superheroes quickly became the staple of US comic books. Characters such as Captain America, the Flash, and the Green Lantern were widely popular, especially during World War II. Today, the most popular comic of 2013, The Walking Dead Issue 113, had 329,000 estimated orders.3 Jay Knowles, contributing editor of Ain't It Cool News,4 explains that the huge effect comic books have had on US culture can especially be seen in the “history of film, radio, stage and TV” and references dozens of classic movies, books, and TV shows with connections to the comic book world, such as The Wizard of Oz and The Lone Ranger.5 While comic books have irrevocably influenced US culture, they have also had a major effect on Japanese culture and what many consider the Japanese equivalent of Western comic books, manga. Japanese manga may have existed without the influence of US comic culture, but the industry may not have been as large or successful without the creative boost given by US comic artists. The term manga, a word that can be translated as whimsical sketches, was first used in 2 Lalumiere, Claude. "A Short History of American Comic Books." January Magazine. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. 3 "2013 Comic Book Sales Figures." Comichron. John Jackson Miller, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. 4 Ain't It Cool News is one of the most popular movie review sites online. 5 Nygaard, Sandra. "Comics' fantastic influence on U.S." Chicago Tribune. Chicago Tribune, 17 Aug. 2003. Web. 10 Mar. 2015. Walker 3 1798 when describing a Japanese picture book written by Santo Kyoden, Shiji no yukikai, and later used again in 1814 in the titles of several compilations of drawings.6 But manga as it is known today began to develop during World War II and the period directly after the US occupation of Japan. When US comics and cartoons, such as Mickey Mouse and Betty Boop, were introduced to Japanese culture, Japanese artists modified these inspirations to create a similar but revolutionary style of drawing: manga. Japanese people, newly influenced by the West, seized upon this novel reading material. Currently, a popular manga series can sell over 18 million copies in one year domestically and millions more internationally.7 Each medium has undeniably had huge market success, but manga has slipped ahead in both profit and readership, taking greater advantage of its markets. Comic books are estimated to have made about 540.4 million dollars in sales in 2014, with the most popular comic, Amazing Spider-Man Issue 1, selling an estimated 559,217 copies.8 However, manga sales reached a staggering 2.3792 billion US dollars in 2014,9 with the most popular manga, One Piece Volume 73, selling over 3 million copies.10 One Piece V. 73 sold over five times more copies than Amazing Spider-Man Issue 1 in 2014. In addition, the astounding popularity One Piece enjoys even at its seventy-third volume shows that readers keep coming back for more. In contrast, Issue 2 of Amazing Spider-Man sold only 137,680 copies in 2014,11 revealing that readership of US comics drops drastically after the first issue, even for the most popular series of the year. Both industries have had increases in yearly sales as of late, with the comic industry growing by 6 Wood, Jennie. "Manga and Anime: The Japanese Invasion." infoplease. Pearson Education, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. 7 "Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Series: 2013." Anime News Network. Anime News Network, 1 Dec. 2013. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. 8 "2014 Comic Book Sales Figures." Comichron. John Jackson Miller, n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2015. 9 "Japanese Manga Book Market Rises to Record 282 Billion Yen." Anime News Network. Anime News Network, 23 Jan. 2015. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. 10 Robinson, Natalie. "Top Manga in 2014 by Sales." Saiyan Island. Saiyan Island, 1 Dec. 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. 11 "2014 Comic Book Sales Figures." Walker 4 about 22.72 million dollars in sales between 2013 and 2014 and the manga industry growing by about 0.11 billion dollars, or 110 million dollars, between 2013 and 2014.12 But while US comic book sales are still increasing yearly, their actual rate of growth is slowing down, as each consecutive annual increase in sales is smaller than the previous one. US comic books are not going to catch up to manga any time soon, especially because American comics lack much of what manga has to offer. Manga may have originally been inspired by US comic books, but the style has since taken off in a different direction. Manga is printed from right to left, with the first page at what Westerners would consider the back of the book.13 Text and panels are written and designed to be read from right to left as well. While manga is originally printed in magazines side by side with other stories, popular pieces go on to be published as books. The style of the artwork itself is often described as exaggerated. Eyes are large, chins are pointy, mouths are small, legs are impossibly long, noses are almost nonexistent, and hair color is usually abnormal.14 Emotions are also exaggerated, as writer Albert Aaron points out, for “when a character cries, it usually pours out in buckets, when they laugh, their face becomes engulfed by…their mouths and their eyes becomes slits.”15 Yukari Fujimoto explains that Japanese often refrain from articulating emotions through words, and must “try to read each other’s expressions.”16 With this societal background influencing the artistic style of manga, manga often brings meaning to the emotions of the characters through their extreme facial expressions. In comparison, comic books are read from left to right, and they are often sold in comic book stores and online rather than at newsstands as 12 See Appendix A for recent sales trends in comics and manga. 13 See Appendix B for further instructions on how to read US comics and Japanese manga. 14 See Appendix C for examples of manga drawings in comparison to comic drawings. 15 Albert, Aaron. "Manga 101 - Basic Walk-through of the Manga World." About Entertainment. About.com, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. 16 Rash, John. "Understanding Japan through Manga." StarTribune. StarTribune, 2 May 2014. Web. 4 Feb. 2015. Yukari Fujimoto is an associate professor at the school of global Japanese studies at Meiji University in Tokyo. Walker 5 they once were. Facial expressions are also exaggerated in comics, but the focus is more often on the physical movement of the characters, sometimes with whole pages dedicated to action shots, and the whole storyline is set at a much faster pace.17 The use of lines to exaggerate movement is also common in comic books, rather than to express emotion, such as in manga.18 In essence, comic book layout and style is designed to capture the readers’ excitement, whereas in manga, layout and style are used to draw in a reader emotionally.