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Andrew W. said on January 2nd, 2010 at 5:58 pm

I think that there is not just no overlap in North American comics and manga, but that amongst readers of North American comics there is resistance to manga. The most vocal elements of North American comics readership do not want manga elements in their precious comics, even though those comics never do anything right.

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Tales to Enrage said on January 2nd, 2010 at 7:32 pm

If there is a resistance to manga among North American comics readers, I think it’s partially from the difference in audience age. Most younger kids know the big superheroes, but that doesn’t mean they buy or read much of their comics, whereas there is a chance they will read the manga their favorite anime show is based on. So you both have an older audience looking down on a younger one, and the uncomfortable feeling of looking back at a past version of yourself, and seeing many of the same behaviors, but for a medium with a very different tone.

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“the problem for comics companies is that special-effects have advanced to the point where movies can do a better job than comics at delivering the kind of excitement superhero comics promise.”

I don’t agree with that. They’re making good superhero movies now, but I can’t imagine any Captain America film coming close to Ed Brubaker’s run, for example.

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I think you were reading the wrong Best of lists. I saw titles like Pluto, Monster, 20th Century Boys and Yotsuba& all over the place…

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Okay, superhero comics are as stale as a ten day old bagel. It makes me melancholy, but I can’t argue with that point. However, all the alternative titles bandied about are not the equivalent of a freshly made bagel hot from the oven. These alternative titles are the equivalent of a freshly made bagel baked with fish eyes and glazed in pine tree resin. When a person (probably me) dares to say “This tastes like crap”, the forces of pretension and pomposity hurl lofty insults and sneer mightily.

Once I felt great rages and frustrations or deep despair for comics. Now, I mostly shrug in mild melancholic debate.

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mygif

Freud for Beginners and Crumb’s Kafka for Beginners were brilliant, and both did interesting things with the interactions between text and image. But yes, nonfiction comics generally made another huge leap forward starting with Safe Area Gorazde in 2000.

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