The new graphic novels out now in young adult fiction didn't exist as a genre when I was growing up, and now I need to learn more about them. Where do I start? What do the Japanese terms like "manga" mean? Is there a way to distinguish quality work from lesser quality?
2006-08-29 20:30:55 · 4 answers · asked by juniperflux32 3 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Okay. Here we go with my ridiculously exhaustive knowledge of the subject...
I'd start with some of the "classic" graphic novels of the 80's. The Watchmen by Alan Moore is a good one--self-contained story, no need to know characters beforehand; deeply symbolic and philosophical; and inspired the current trend of the anti-hero in comic books, along with Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns (both published in 1986; if you're unfamiliar with Batman, read some older stuff before Dark Knight Returns). Neil Gaiman's Sandman series is also a classic, and for many is a sort of standard against which many others are judged.
In more current stuff...let's see. My main branch of knowledge is the Vertigo imprint (a more mature branch of DC Comics), which generally have high-quality storylines. Still, don't dismiss superheroes as kid stuff--they've deepened and grown much more thoughtful over the past twenty years--the best example of this, I think, is in the X-Men series, but that's my opinion.
Assuming you're already well up on literature in general, distinguishing of quality in comics is precisely the same thing. Strength of story, characterization...Comics do "read" differently, and it takes some practice to get reading comics down...Also the artwork is something to keep in mind. This doesn't necessarily mean that the better the artwork, the better the comic; it has more to do with how well the artwork goes with the dialogue in the actual telling of the story. Having both makes comics both one of the most flexible mediums of storytelling as well as one of the most complex.
Finally--and I probably should have said this first, because I would actually recommend this as your first stop--pick up Scott McCloud's exceptional book Understanding Comics. He goes into history of comics, the way the medium is used as storytelling, the different genres (including manga and how vastly different a manga's way of portraying a story is from western comics), and best of all--the entire book is done in a comic format, which he uses as a tool to show the reader the various devices used in comics.
Have fun--this is a great world that not enough venture into!
2006-08-30 00:28:20 · answer #1 · answered by angk 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga for a quick summary. Visit your local bookstore and see what's on the rack. You'll often find lots of fans hanging out in that area reading manga. See what they are reading and talk to them. Buy a few to read for yourself and see what you like. You'll be on top of your game in no time.
2006-08-29 20:37:29 · answer #2 · answered by jibjibjub 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its googling to google google : anime comic books
2006-09-06 08:20:53 · answer #3 · answered by Cathy V 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
mangapop.com, you can also download it on your cell- i do
2006-08-29 20:34:17 · answer #4 · answered by Susie K 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋