YOUR MANGA MINUTE: DARK ANGEL, RUROUNI, LODOSS: PHARIS

[MattBrady]

by Troy Brownfield

Welcome to the first installment of what looks to be an ongoing series of columns at Newsarama. With the unabating surge of manga in the bookstores, specialty video stores and comic shops of America, it’s only fair to take some time to discuss some of the titles that are making noise.

On another level, it’s also fair to say that there are some longtime fans of American comics that aren’t quite hip on the imported form. Maybe they’re unsure of the art style, or maybe they don’t have the background to know which titles might appeal directly to them. With that in mind, picture this column as a basic intro to a few titles in that wall of trades that you might be interested in trying out.

If you’re already a fan, feel free to use the talkback space to spread your gospel.

Dark Angel Vol. 1 by Kia Asamiya
Publisher: CPM Manga (Central Park Media)

Asamiya made a big impact on mainstream comics consciousness in the States last year with his stint on Uncanny X-Men and superlative work on Batman: Child of Dreams. You might have also been familiar with his work from his armada of famous manga titles, notably Silent Mobius and Nadesico. Now, Central Park is making the just-over-a-decade-old Dark Angel domestically available.

While the easy target audience for this book will be the previously converted, the heavy fantasy and fighting elements should extend the potential reach of the story. Our protagonist is the eponymous Dark; he’s a young man that inherits a vast swell of mystical power and a heavy destiny. Of course, he’s not quite ready for it.

Asamiya does a solid job of building his world here. We get a quick sense of the geography and politics of the four main regions, and we understand the interior conflicts that simmer. Dark’s the new protector of his country, and that plunges him immediately into a world where he already has natural enemies and allegiances. It’s a pretty steep learning curve.

Sequential Tart has called this book “amazing”, and they’re on the right track. The characters have depth and motivation, and the art is terrific. Dark Angel should appeal to fans of swords, sorcery, and the Hero’s Journey.

Rurouni Kenshin Vol. 1 by Nobuhiro Watsuki
Publisher: Viz

This one, you’re probably already familiar with. Whether you know it from the Cartoon Network or the series of Samurai X videos, you’ve probably at least noticed the adventures of the titular wandering samurai. With a certain Tom Cruise film in awards rotation sparking interest in this particular era of Japanese history, Kenshin might be in line to attract some new fans.

Kenshin has a lot to offer for those interested in samurai films and manga. There’s a great deal of accurate historical detail. Also, the notion that Kenshin has tired of an earlier life of killing and is trying to atone with his reverse-bladed sword is an interesting twist. Along with the loftier themes, you’re also often treated to comedy of both the romantic and screwball varieties, and an incredible amount of action.

The art itself flows with each situation. Things can get intense and hyper-realistic during the fight scenes, but then swing back to overexaggeration during the comic passages. Kenshin runs a gamut of styles, and would probably make a good introduction to the form.

Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis
by Ryo Mizuno and Akihiro Yamada
Publisher: CPM Manga (Central Park Media)

Now being shipped in the “Collector’s Series” (“manga trim”) size, Record of Lodoss War: The Lady of Pharis relates the events that occurred prior to the huge hit anime. Quite often during that series (both OVA and TV versions) you’re told of the earlier adventures of heroes like Beld. This series presents how those characters came together, and shows precisely why they’re so famous.

If you don’t know Lodoss, it’s a hugely popular fantasy. Suffused with the stuff of epic war, dragons, elves, dwarves, wizards, and more, it was created by Ryo Mizuno with Tolkien and gaming firmly in mind. The characters and world are engaging, with its own history and religious iconography that plays heavily into the plot. All of this is realized with great visual flair by Yamada (well-known as the character designer for RahXephon).

While there may occasionally be a spot or two where previous knowledge would give you some insight, Lady of Pharis is pretty accessible for someone new to Lodoss. The only potential drawback is all the cash you’ll spend on all of the various series and DVDs if you get hooked.

[Absorbing Man]

There's some great Manga stories out there.

Anyone else stubborn like me and enjoy the left-to-right format better though? I liked Lone Wolf and Cub where they transposed all the drawing to fit the American format of reading.

It just flowed better for me rather than having to flip my pages right to left.

Maybe I'm just old and stubborn.

oh yeah.. first post. (Maybe I'm just immature and goofy)

[OM]

There's enough manga out there to a) choke a horse, or b) scare off anyone not familiar with it.

...or c) enough to make US comic companies think they need to produce knock-off products which only cause me to toss my cookies in disgust and actually wish Manga stayed in Japan.

...Outside of Akira, the first few Appleseed years, 2001 Nights and Area 88, I've found very little manga in print that does anything for me other than go "do they all think we gaijin run around with stupid gapes and wide eyes?"

[1genxer]

I read Dark Angel when it was out in issue format years ago. I still feel like it is the best manga I have ever read. It made me a die hard Kia Asamiya. I manage a store, and we ordered 15 copies a month of that series. The ending makes you crave more, hopefully Mr. Asamiya will make more in the future. Definitly worth reading!

[1genxer]

Ooops...I meant to say die hard Kia Asamiya fan! Boy do I look stupid!

[magellan]

Never really been into most manga, but the few gems have been some of the best stuff I've read. Big fan of Akira (I have the Dark Horse Phone Book editions of it), Lone Wolf and Cub, and Battle Royale. I also admit Naruto to be an absolute guilty pleasure.

My only REAL issues come from the companies selling the stuff. Really low grade paper, stiff prices, and shoddy translations. Viz is notorious for not putting trades out on time (cough cough, Naruto, cough cough). My other issue is with the Manga fan who totally ignores American markets as being 'kiddy,' or 'crap.'

About the manga market: How come you never see collaborations, or famous creators doing guest stints on Japanese comics? For example: Daredevil recently had David Mack do a 5 issue arc. You'll never see Akira Toriyama do a guest spot on Iron Wok Jan. Also, Japanese writers and artists do guest spots on famous american titles a lot, and the reverse never happens. Are there any company owned characters in Japan, or is everything creator owned? Why is everything imported seem to be in black and white?

Josh out.

[djcoffman]

I was a big fan of Akira and LoneWolf BACK IN THE DAY-- I'm talking like mid to late 80s-- when stuff was slowly filtering over here, but it was much harder to get ahold of. The LoneWolf books started going through FIRST COMICS i think, i know i still have my run of those reprints with covers by Frank Miller---

But here's my gripe now. THERE IS TOO MUCH MANGA JUNK. UGH. It's like a flood, wiping away much of the trully good stuff. And much of it looks exactly the same which is sad, sad, sad. I feel like, I dont know, like it's the DISCO of American Comic books. And I totally hate seeing fellow creators suddenly catch the fad in American market-- and then start thinking about doing their own MANGA-LINE or whatever--- it's miserable. Even small publishers like ARROW Comics put out ARROW MANGA, long before Marvel had a Mangaverse... --- It all stinks to me. And yes, I have looked at it.....

Anyone who thinks my statements about DISCO are harsh-- take a look back at the gritting teeth early 90's titular comic explosion and now all that stuff looks cheesey--- and people would mock you if you put that out now. BUT it held some of the biggest selling comics of all time. Weird.

But yeah-- in America, it's top to bottom, left to right reading here... anything else is annoying here. People that think they're hip or cool for reading backwards and picking up some AUTHENTIC JAPANESE manga mags, I got a bag full of AUTHENTIC "YOU'RE A POSER" POGS, I'll sell you.

[Tivome]

Originally posted by magellan
About the manga market: How come you never see collaborations, or famous creators doing guest stints on Japanese comics? For example: Daredevil recently had David Mack do a 5 issue arc. You'll never see Akira Toriyama do a guest spot on Iron Wok Jan. Also, Japanese writers and artists do guest spots on famous american titles a lot, and the reverse never happens. Are there any company owned characters in Japan, or is everything creator owned?

Hmm, well first of all, almost all manga titles are creator owned. There are glaring exeptions, for example, the Gundam francise is owned by toy maker Bandai, and I believe Digicarat is owned by both Broccoli (publisher) and the Gamers stores. Galaxy Angel seemed to be a Broccoli invention as well. I know that various guest artist did different series of digiCharat, and Bandai maintained the Gundam anime empire by creating a new series once every few years with different creators (currently anyway). I believe that the character designer for Gundam SEED is the manga-ka for S-Cry-ed.

As for why no guest artist for creator-owned work... well, that's rather silly, isn't it? Why would you have someone else draw your creation? Every new manga artist in Japan dream about their own series making it big; no one would want to draw other people's work, except for fun in the sense of doujinshi (fan art).

Anime's a totally different ball game; almost all anime, like movies, are owned by an legal entity comprise of all investors: publisher, anime house, TV channel, manga-ka themselves, and/or private investors. Sometimes the manga-ka is not even involved in the anime creation process since they can't even afford an ownership stake in it. Only the richest mangaka can own the anime of their manga series.

Why is everything imported seem to be in black and white?

Because almost all manga was first published in a weekly or monthly anthology. Aside from a few color pages, most pages are in b/w. Also, manga-kas have to work fast; they need to make their deadlines like every other mangazine contributor, and aside from established manga-kas, most manga artists work alone or ask friends to help them for free or a small fee. Most manga artists are dirt poor and have to do all the work themselves. Some have friends help them for next to nothing. Since most younger or beginning manga-ka's must suffer the pain of weekly anthologies, they can't work in color fast enough anyway. There's a few exceptions which all pages are in color (I don't believe any of translated titles were ever in all color), but they're rare and more expensive.

[magellan]

Originally posted by djcoffman
I was a big fan of Akira and LoneWolf BACK IN THE DAY-- I'm talking like mid to late 80s-- when stuff was slowly filtering over here, but it was much harder to get ahold of. The LoneWolf books started going through FIRST COMICS i think, i know i still have my run of those reprints with covers by Frank Miller---

But here's my gripe now. THERE IS TOO MUCH MANGA JUNK. UGH. It's like a flood, wiping away much of the trully good stuff. And much of it looks exactly the same which is sad, sad, sad. I feel like, I dont know, like it's the DISCO of American Comic books. And I totally hate seeing fellow creators suddenly catch the fad in American market-- and then start thinking about doing their own MANGA-LINE or whatever--- it's miserable. Even small publishers like ARROW Comics put out ARROW MANGA, long before Marvel had a Mangaverse... --- It all stinks to me. And yes, I have looked at it.....

Anyone who thinks my statements about DISCO are harsh-- take a look back at the gritting teeth early 90's titular comic explosion and now all that stuff looks cheesey--- and people would mock you if you put that out now. BUT it held some of the biggest selling comics of all time. Weird.

But yeah-- in America, it's top to bottom, left to right reading here... anything else is annoying here. People that think they're hip or cool for reading backwards and picking up some AUTHENTIC JAPANESE manga mags, I got a bag full of AUTHENTIC "YOU'RE A POSER" POGS, I'll sell you.

Thank you for totalling cheering up a dreary day, Mr. Coffman. Totally agree with everything you said.

Are you ever going back to doing another project with Brian Lynch?

[OM]

...Here's the one that I've never seen explained: what the hell does "gundam" mean? Is it Japanese-specific with regards to definition, or does it have an English translation?

[LFKittsteiner]

Originally posted by OM:

what the hell does "gundam" mean?

From what I´ve seen of Gundam Wing, It looks like "Gundam" is the name of the special metal used to build the giant mechas.

LFKO.

[milly]

I'm amazed at the reaction i've seen in this thread.

Specially because i thought that all this "i-hate-manga" was a a generalisation (sp?), something played for laughs, because i couldn't honnestly understand that people could hate it because they don't like some books, or the look of the characters.

Hell, i can't stand some comics artists, and i can't stand some books, but i don't go and generalise and say that all comics are crap!

That would be stupid of me!

But i come here to find out that someone like OM, who i must say always struck me as one of the best "posters", acts that way!

I'm flabergasted!

Well, i'll recomend you four titles, all diferent, all GREAT, just to see if you all feel like smashing your prejudices...

Iron Wok Jan
Uzumaki

Eagle
Nausicaa

[Troy Brownfield]

Originally posted by milly
Well, i'll recomend you four titles, all diferent, all GREAT, just to see if you all feel like smashing your prejudices...


Uzumaki

Eagle

Great recommendations, Milly, particularly these two.

Uzumaki is a fine, disturbing horror title (the basis of a recent, well-received film). And Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President, which I covered extensively for Newtype USA last year, is one of the best examples of comics anyone can ever read; it also has one of the best impartial grasps on the American political process that you can find anywhere.

[Johnny Soko]

Originally posted by milly
I'm amazed at the reaction i've seen in this thread.

Don't be. Because I've found that there's a lot of ignorant people who post here, so it's just par for the course.

Anyway, great idea for an ongoing column, Troy. There's nothing here that really catches my eye this time, but I'll see what you got in the next one (although that Kia Asamiya Dark Angel does sound like it might be fun... ).

[Michael C Lorah]

Great idea for a column! There is such an influx of manga that I'm not sure where to start with most of it.

I've never cared much Asamiya's work (and I haven't read any of the American work), but Rurouni looks somewhat interesting. I didn't know it was on Cartoon Network (my TV doesn't really get turned on much during baseball's off-season), but I will page through it the next that I stop in the shop.

I don't agree, btw, that the prices are too high. I can find tons of manga in the range of $10 for 200 pages. You can't beat that deal!

[Ben543250]

LOVE HINA RULES!

[jasinmartin]

First of all, I think it's great that there's now a column of sorts here for Manga. And highlighting the different titles is a good start, because there are indeed so many.

Now on to comments...

Originally posted by djcoffman
I feel like, I dont know, like it's the DISCO of American Comic books. And I totally hate seeing fellow creators suddenly catch the fad in American market-- and then start thinking about doing their own MANGA-LINE or whatever--- it's miserable.

Now when I first read this I thought it was easily dismissed, but now that I've thought about it, he may be right. I mean if Manga=Disco then what do American Comic Books equal? Rock and roll? Okay, if so then early comics were like big band, or swing music and the golden and silver age were the rock and roll. That works. Then Manga a new interpretation on it is Disco, and for whatever reason the comics equivalent took a couple extra decades to hit stateside. Then what are your current music genre equivalents? Is American Manga-inspired stuff, rap metal (a hybrid) or electronic music (the modern equivalent of disco)? Kind of fun ,and kind of works. Where I don't see the similarity is in the lifecycle, calling Manga disco is saying you think it won't last, or it's dead ('cause we all know what happened to Disco). Don't agree with that part, and I think that's where you're coming from with the whole gritty teeth 90's analogy.

Of course, I'm a fan of Manga and American comics, and I'm a fan of electronic music. There certainly is a large percentage of people who see electronic music as nothing more than annoying blips and bloops, just as some people only see manga as big eyes and speed lines.

[Alex Scott]

The music comparison doesn't fly with me. To me, manga is like Nintendo, resurrecting the market after a total market collapse due to poor quality control, reliance on high profile but subpar games, and competition from personal computers. Ever wonder why it was called the "Nintendo Entertainment System"? Because no retailer in their right mind would take a risk on a "video game" system in 1984. Video games had already proven that they were a "fad."

Now look at 'em.

[zeraze]

Originally posted by OM
...or c) enough to make US comic companies think they need to produce knock-off products which only cause me to toss my cookies in disgust and actually wish Manga stayed in Japan.

...

There are plenty of countries like in the Middle East who are equally pissed off by how their cultures are being covertly or overtly corrupted by interaction with Americans. The Janet Jackson flashing incident in Sunday's Super Bowl was the latest in a LONG list of reasons why they think of us as a depraved, godless culture.

You're statement no longer sounds so strong when the tables are turned, huh?

zeraze

[Zadillo]

Originally posted by LFKittsteiner
Originally posted by OM:


From what I´ve seen of Gundam Wing, It looks like "Gundam" is the name of the special metal used to build the giant mechas.

LFKO.

The actual name of the metal alloy used is "Gundanium" (at least in the Gundam Wing series..... I think in the earlier Gundam series, there wasn't a specific name given to the metal used).

As for what Gundam means...... there are a few different stories. Some sources do describe it as an acronym, but there's not much consensus, and I think most of the acronyms most likely came up later on (i.e. they were certainly never mentioned in the original series from 1979).

The general answer is that it doesn't really mean anything per se, it's essentially a made up word, that sounds vaguely militaristic (two of the other original mobile suit designs in the Mobile Suit Gundam series were the Guncannon and Guntank).

-Zadillo

[jasinmartin]

Originally posted by Alex Scott
The music comparison doesn't fly with me. To me, manga is like Nintendo, resurrecting the market after a total market collapse due to poor quality control, reliance on high profile but subpar games, and competition from personal computers. Ever wonder why it was called the "Nintendo Entertainment System"? Because no retailer in their right mind would take a risk on a "video game" system in 1984. Video games had already proven that they were a "fad."

Now look at 'em.

I wasn't saying the music comparison worked, really just having fun with it. Besides after thinking about it some more, if we were to think of comics musically, Manga would be better compared to Rap. A new cultural style that emerged that the mainstream were quick to dismiss (like Disco), but virtually went on to take over the industry. Not saying Manga will take over, just that it's not a fad. The American popularity, possibly could become one to an extent, but certainly not the medium. Too soon to tell any way. But still similar to your video game scenario (though I don't remember a time the video game industry was ever collapsing).

[zeraze]

Originally posted by Alex Scott
The music comparison doesn't fly with me. To me, manga is like Nintendo, resurrecting the market after a total market collapse due to poor quality control, reliance on high profile but subpar games, and competition from personal computers. Ever wonder why it was called the "Nintendo Entertainment System"? Because no retailer in their right mind would take a risk on a "video game" system in 1984. Video games had already proven that they were a "fad."

Now look at 'em.

To me, Manga is shaping up to be to comics what rap is to music: a "fad" that not only becomes wildly popular, but ultimately redifines its medium. Manga is certainly on the same road as IC v2 reports that the medium not including American "knockoffs" raked in $100 million in 2003 alone and represents a 100% increase over 2002:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/4207.html.

To put this in perspecitive, back in 2000, the American comic industry was pulling in $250 million overall. The annual profits haven't really improved much since then despite all the comic-based Tv shows and movies.

So, I am increasingly doubtful that manga will suddenly disappear, thereby satisfying the naysayers.

zeraze

[Alex Scott]

The rap comparison certainly applies, too. I just think the parallels between manga and video games are much closer, if only for the fact that both Nintendo (a Japanese company) and the manga companies (who sell Japanese comics) entered a volatile market that had already experienced a staggering crash, infiltrated outlets that had already rejected their respective media, offered unorthodox and innovative products, and experienced substantial growth afterwards.

It's been twenty years since the debut of the NES. The market's skyrocketed, becoming a multimillion dollar industry, and it's still more or less dominated by Japanese games and consoles; many American games are strongly influenced by Japanese games. Manga might not have the same success, but it's already on the same path, so the possibility is not as preposterous as some might think (or wish?).

[Pete2525]

Hmm, well, I read plenty of manga. I think the problem most people here have is that most of the stuff released today is aimed at 12-14 year olds, and more than half of that is aimed at (gasp) girls! So, without further adue, my list of manga accessible to a male, adult reader of American comics.

Berserk
Battle Royale
Uzumaki
Gyo
Naussicaa of the Valley of the Wind
Lone Wolf and Cub
Blade of the Immortal
Vagabond
Domu
Akira
Planetes
Crying Freeman
Sanctuary
Strain
Gunsmith Cats
Benkei in New York

There are some more that I am thinking of, but I didn't put them on the list because they are too weird/have unusual drawing style/unusual subject matter, etc.

As for the manga reviewed in the article, I have not read Dark Angel or Lodoss War, but I have read the first volume of Rurouni Kenshin, and it seems kinda childish to me - I mean it was originally published in Shonen /jump, a magazine aimed primarily at the 11-15 demographic. For more mature samurai stories, try Lone Wolf and Cub, Vagabond or Blade of the Immortal (all highly recommended). The two titles out of the new crop of manga that stand out as ones every comic reader seems to like are Planetes and Uzumaki.

[beta-ray]

Originally posted by zeraze
To me, Manga is shaping up to be to comics what rap is to music: a "fad" that not only becomes wildly popular, but ultimately redifines its medium. Manga is certainly on the same road as IC v2 reports that the medium not including American "knockoffs" raked in $100 million in 2003 alone and represents a 100% increase over 2002:

http://www.icv2.com/articles/home/4207.html.

To put this in perspecitive, back in 2000, the American comic industry was pulling in $250 million overall. The annual profits haven't really improved much since then despite all the comic-based Tv shows and movies.

So, I am increasingly doubtful that manga will suddenly disappear, thereby satisfying the naysayers.

zeraze

Maybe it's a fad in the USA, who knows (been loving managa since the early 70s)... but in Japan it's been going on strong for a long time.