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Reviewed by Michael Aronson Mangaka America is a beautiful and unique beast in the comic industry, one that seeks to celebrate as much as educate about a new breed to the medium: western comic creators who’ve adopted distinctly eastern styles of art. Twelve up-and-coming artists show off their dazzling display of diversity as well as their own views on the art process and appreciation of Japanese culture, while commenting about the worldwide comic book industry. As an art book first and foremost, MA succeeds with its huge spreads of vivid, vibrant splashes by creators who all have something worth showing off. The diversity of styles will keep casual customers flipping through every page in the bookstore, thanks largely to the unique styles of Ms,Shatia Hamilton, Jesse Philips and Corey Lewis, and the exploration and dissection of each artist’s technique may convince people this is a collection best given time to appreciate at home. At the same time, being an art book first and foremost, the segments given over to art tutorial read more like lengthy ads for Adobe Photoshop. Since computers have become so integrated in the comic-crafting process in the last decade, almost every contributor to the book explains in detail the computer enhancements they rely on for their finished products, from digital inking to digital screen-toning to digital painting, which all left me digital snoozing. An aspiring comic artist may find a wealth of knowledge in these tutorials, but I should hope they aren’t the main audience this book is trying to reach. I found the segments on general craft and storytelling to be the stronger entries, such as Felipe Smith on expressions and Christy Lijewski on character design. More than Photoshop, Mangaka America often reads like an ad for Tokyopop, the comic company currently publishing the most material by western manga creators. I’m not sure what that unfortunate coincidence says about the western comic industry, but if anything, it seems to be echoing the call for diversity voiced in the main text. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t throw my own two cents into the discussion pot, so for the sake of self-indulgence, here’s what I scraped off the top of my head: There are clear differences between styles of the East and West when it comes to graphic literature. Eastern style has largely derived from Japanese creators like Osamu Tezuka, who in turn were inspired by Disney. Western style found much of its influence from Jack Kirby and Will Eisner, among many others. But the differences extend far past the difference in eye size of the characters into separate approaches to pacing, framing, dialogue, and overall panel and page composition. Therefore, if an artist’s sensibilities have more in common with one style than the other, it’s perfectly acceptable to label them as either western-influenced or manga-influenced, with manga equating to the general eastern style that found its main influence in Japan. However, the biggest problem with manga produced by English-speaking creators from English-speaking countries is the fanlike preoccupation the material tends to have with Japanese culture. The difference is that Japanese manga stories that are set in Japan simply regard Japanese culture as everyday life. The tendency of western manga to fawn over Japanese culture and attempt to emulate it comes across as silly as when a Japanese rock song throws in random and poorly articulated English lyrics for no apparent reason (go search Youtube and then Wikipedia for South Park’s “Let’s Fighting Love”). English uses Japanese words like “karaoke” because there isn’t an easy English term for it in existence, but when an English manga prints the word “kawaii” when “cute” would suffice, I’m taken out of the story. However, if an English manga prints the word “kawaii” for the sake of making fun of a western Japanophile, that’s okay in my book! Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line! Charles Webb Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com |
1 September 2010
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