Post 9: Comics and Manga: The Difference

Have you ever wondered what is the difference between a standard American Comic and the Japanese Manga Comics? Well, aside from their given countries of origin that is, but aside from this fact, do you know the exact contrast of the reading materials you are holding in your hands?

Michael Russell's article Comic Books - Japanese Manga vs American Comics and Sarah Gettinger's Manga vs American Comic Books: What's the difference? say that there are a few obvious and not so noticeable characteristics of Manga and Comics.

First and foremost is that Manga is read from right to left -as it is the basic reading orientation of the Japanese- while Comic books are read in the official left to right reading scheme.




Second, there is a big difference in art styles. Manga is more centered on style or exaggerated drawing aspects such as the expressive big-eyes, colorful and gravity defying hair, a display of overly exaggerated emotions, and more. While Comic books on the other hand, are more realistic and dense; Mangas are more light and subtle. But as different artists come and go, they make their own styles, some Comic artists adapting to the Manga-style of creation and Manga artists adapting to Comic-style drawings.

Next is the creation and presentation of Comics and Manga. Manga covers are printed in color but the inside is printed in black and white format (unless the issue is a color special) while Comics books are in majority in full color. Also, you may notice that there is a difference in sizes. Manga are frequently smaller than Comic books, usually in digest-size and roughly half to one-third of the tradition Comic size. But as Comic are generally thin running about 32 pages long, Mangas are thick and can be hundreds of pages in length. In page count, Manga is quite reminiscent of American graphic novels, which are a collection of ongoing Comic series in a single unified story, Mangas are often part of an even bigger story and a complete storyline that can run to tens to hundreds of volumes.

Shugo Chara Volume 12: Cover

Shugo Chara Volume 12: Inside

Russell says:

Another difference between traditional American comics is that mainstream American comics are often created in a sort of assembly-line fashion. They have a writer (story), a penciler (initial sketch), inker (uses a pen to ink over the sketch), letterer (adds dialog) and a colorist (colors the inked sketch). Most Manga books are done by a single creator, who combines all those chores (except coloring).
 
 Manga story lines have a much quicker pace than comics, this is due to the high page count, one reads a manga novel at a faster pace. Manga has fewer panels and less dialogue per page than Comics. The price also costs more than your average comic and a bit more than your standard paperback novel, the size and color lack is made up when you consider the story development that it'll have with the amount of pages it provides.

 Last but not least is that Manga is geared towards a larger audience and wide range of genres. There is Manga for literally everyone as oppose to Comics where in American stereotype, it is considered childish and geeky to own a comic book at an adult's age.

In my opinion, Comics and Manga can be read by all ages, there is a difference between the two in terms of art, creation and presentation but there is no difference that they both give entertainment to those who read them.  Readers find it as their gateway to their dreams and as such shouldn't be judged by others. Well as those facts are given, it is now clear what the difference between Comic and Manga really is, I won't hinder any further. Enjoy Reading!