Comic or Manga, What is Different?

Comic or Manga, What is Different

a new ghost in the shell remix

by jacob malewitz, Ghost and Page



Everyone likes to call cool with manga, then fold when the series gets too long. Manga are the crossovers between the far east and the far west. Manga is hard because the writers are expected to actually write and draw every page. The best manga is always being called out by Akira fans, as is the best anime, but you might be able to trick something even better. Akira is 80s. Akira is 90s. Akira is old, but Akira is strong.



Comics can win. Marvel will lose to the Omnibus one day, and DC will lose to the the drug of focusing on too many Batman and Superman. Marvel will win with science fiction, as they did in Messiah Complex and War of Kings. DC will win with crime, as they have with Vertigo crime, Constantine, and Gotham Knights (a fave of mine).



Independents can beat anything, but they dream of movies too much. There are some creative types going on. A fave publisher of mine is Archaia,who publish "The Killer" and "Okko," perhaps the best independent titles of the past years, outside of Japan, that is. The Killer focuses on an assassin for hire making moves on guns and vacations in paradise. The boss, like always, turns. Okko is more mythical, more chinese oriented, with cut outs majestic to the eye. This is where comics are beating the speedy manga. Comics evolve in different ways.



Manga can definitely win. Two big titles of current fame, outside of adaptations, would be Vagabond and Biomega, each a classic waiting to happen. Vagabond speaks of an ancient samurai, similar in some ways to the "Lone Wolf and Cub" phenomenon. Biomega goes more with Akira and Ghost in the Shell. These are very strong comic wins. The adaptations to watch for would be Starcraft and Warcraft, each classic Blizzard games which became crack for people in Asia.



Comics may actually win in collections, especially hardcovers, as manga are printed by the thousands and always go used. On the other hand, manga can easily go anime, while comics have some time before they can go movie (consider Deadpool or Green Lantern).



Manga can win, comics can lose. Comics can win, manga can lose. It's a war for money and a war for art.