I find them to be made well, quality art and all, but the style is just not my cup of tea. Something about the realism of everything that doesnt work well with my idea of being transported into a fictional world and away from reality. I would like to hear your thoughts on this, and obviously nowadays the western comics are being butchered by politics...
What are your thoughts on western comics?
- Thread starter Domeniko
- Start date
I was referring to marvel/DC, mostly, but I think most western comics are quite different style wise from manga
If we're strictly talking Marvel and DC, I think they're pretty abysmal. They're not interested in good storylines or characters. They just want the ability to print comics in perpetuity. That's great for them, bad for fans.
I grew up on that style of comics, but as soon as I discovered and could get access to manga regularly, I never looked back. I absolutely hated the cyclical nature of storylines in superhero comics, where responsibilities pass from one creative team to the next, each team stepping into the shoes of all the people before them and the chain of decisions that led the characters where they are now. Nothing ever matters. And when it seems like it will matter? Naaaah reset the universe! (DC in particular has hit that button ~4-5 times just in the past 30 years.) The publisher doctrine for the kinds of stories they let their writers tell and how consequential those stories can be are massive hindrances to good storytelling. And any successes over time can only truly be called workarounds.
As for why manga is fundamentally different, it's generally from the mind of one person with few limitations on what they can do, and ownership of the characters they've created. That's much more conducive to creating a good story, so long as the person behind the pen is skilled enough to make it all worthwhile for the readers.
I still check in from time to time, mostly because I respect the medium, if not the publishers that drive it here in the states. And recently, I quite liked where Jonathan Hickman was taking X-Men, but about a year ago he announced he was leaving to do other stuff, and as a result, they abandoned his original plan for the Krakoa scenario. So I really felt like I once again wasted my time in trying to care about a Marvel title.
I grew up on that style of comics, but as soon as I discovered and could get access to manga regularly, I never looked back. I absolutely hated the cyclical nature of storylines in superhero comics, where responsibilities pass from one creative team to the next, each team stepping into the shoes of all the people before them and the chain of decisions that led the characters where they are now. Nothing ever matters. And when it seems like it will matter? Naaaah reset the universe! (DC in particular has hit that button ~4-5 times just in the past 30 years.) The publisher doctrine for the kinds of stories they let their writers tell and how consequential those stories can be are massive hindrances to good storytelling. And any successes over time can only truly be called workarounds.
As for why manga is fundamentally different, it's generally from the mind of one person with few limitations on what they can do, and ownership of the characters they've created. That's much more conducive to creating a good story, so long as the person behind the pen is skilled enough to make it all worthwhile for the readers.
I still check in from time to time, mostly because I respect the medium, if not the publishers that drive it here in the states. And recently, I quite liked where Jonathan Hickman was taking X-Men, but about a year ago he announced he was leaving to do other stuff, and as a result, they abandoned his original plan for the Krakoa scenario. So I really felt like I once again wasted my time in trying to care about a Marvel title.
Yeah tbh I think that hammered in my distaste for Marvel/DC further, nothing really matters, the only thing derived from it is "oh hey thats cool!" or "hey thats pretty funny", but to have a meaningful impactful story you need the characters to not be used like public toilets
I see.I think the difference between them and manga is the narrative approach.I prefer a story with substance rather than watching superheroes.
They're very hit or miss for me. I personally am a big fan of the Cerebus series. It's black and white, which made it easier for me to get into (something about everything being colored in on every page makes it really hard for me to get immersed a lot of the time), has absolutely gorgeous artwork, incredibly creative ways of making use of visual storytelling and beautifully written storylines. The author himself is not really a good person and in the later issues, let that bleed into his work. It's easy for me to still enjoy a work if I fundamentally disagree with the philosophy of its creator, but the misogyny that is present in the later portions of the story is very distasteful and it makes it very hard to enjoy for many people. Highly recommend reading through High Society, Church & State and Jaka's Story though.
Outside of Cerebus, I also enjoy the Hellboy comics by Mike Mignola. Minimal art style, really well done plot writing, the whole nine yards. Hellboy's art style is abstract enough to where the colorwork doesn't pull me out of the story, but actually draws me in more. Really good stuff.
Outside of those two, there aren't any Western comics I've found myself really enjoying to a similar degree as Berserk, Vagabond, Shigurui, etc. but I am also pretty new to exploring them. I think there's likely a lot of great stuff if you stay away from Marvel/DC. Dark Horse publishes some really nice comics, there's a big culture of independent comic artists and publishers, then there's the pure "graphic novels" that are kind of in their own lane. It's a wide world of comics and I struggle to believe only the Japanese folks got it right.
Outside of Cerebus, I also enjoy the Hellboy comics by Mike Mignola. Minimal art style, really well done plot writing, the whole nine yards. Hellboy's art style is abstract enough to where the colorwork doesn't pull me out of the story, but actually draws me in more. Really good stuff.
Outside of those two, there aren't any Western comics I've found myself really enjoying to a similar degree as Berserk, Vagabond, Shigurui, etc. but I am also pretty new to exploring them. I think there's likely a lot of great stuff if you stay away from Marvel/DC. Dark Horse publishes some really nice comics, there's a big culture of independent comic artists and publishers, then there's the pure "graphic novels" that are kind of in their own lane. It's a wide world of comics and I struggle to believe only the Japanese folks got it right.
Zagor
It's an italian comic book created by Sergio Bonelli and artist Gallieno Ferri in 1961 which is still ongoing. The genre and setting is Western-ish, but it's also mixed with fantasy, horror, sci-fi and so on, depending on the episode. The main character is Patrick Wilding who is better known as Za-Gor-Te Nay which is derived from a fictional algonkin language meaning "Spirit with the hatchet" or as known in the Balkans, where the series is immensely popular, even more so than in Italy, Duh sa Sjekirom.
From my knowledge, the comic never got released outside of south-east europe ( with some minor exceptions like Usa ) so it's main audience outside of Italy has been Jugoslavija and other parts of Balkan such as as Greece and Turkey.
It's an italian comic book created by Sergio Bonelli and artist Gallieno Ferri in 1961 which is still ongoing. The genre and setting is Western-ish, but it's also mixed with fantasy, horror, sci-fi and so on, depending on the episode. The main character is Patrick Wilding who is better known as Za-Gor-Te Nay which is derived from a fictional algonkin language meaning "Spirit with the hatchet" or as known in the Balkans, where the series is immensely popular, even more so than in Italy, Duh sa Sjekirom.
From my knowledge, the comic never got released outside of south-east europe ( with some minor exceptions like Usa ) so it's main audience outside of Italy has been Jugoslavija and other parts of Balkan such as as Greece and Turkey.