manga - MSU Dept of History

INTERNATIONAL COMICSbritain, canada, mexico, france, india, japan (and beyond)1

MANGAirresponsible pictures2

manga - irresponsible pictures/whimsical picturesnowhere else in the world (Japan) do comics appeal to a wider audience or achieve greaterfinancial successManga widely targeted at extremely diverse audiences:Shōnen manga - targeted at young male audience (10-18 yrs)Shōjo manga - targeted at young female audience (10-18 yrs)Seinen manga - targeted at an adult male audienceJosei manga - targeted at an adult female audienceKodomo manga - targeted at children3

MANGA vs. COMICSThere exists some noteworthy differences between manga and western comics:Lower Production Values - manga is almost always published in black & white on muchlower quality paperScope - Manga is usually published as anthologies of several hundred pages. Eachpublication may contain several serialized features.Style - manga is intended to be read very quickly7

HISTORICAL ROOTS OF MANGAirresponsible pictures?8

HOKUSAI MANGA1812 - Hokusai published the first volume of his manga - QuickLessons in Simplified Drawingetehon (art manuals) - a convenient way to make money andattract more studentsdrawings of animals, religious figures, and everyday people -often with humorous overtones15 volumes published (12 during his lifetime & 3 posthumously)10

STORYTELLING MANGAlittle red books14

The manga magazine publishing boom started with the Russo-JapaneseWar (1905)The manga industry (as a storytelling medium) really took hold in Japanuntil after World War II - escapist litteraturePost World War II - Japanese pay libraries.Cheap “red books” (so-called because of the gaudy red ink used on thecovers) became staples of these vendors15

OSAMU TEZUKAOsamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - defined the modernmedium (language, storytelling techniques, form, etc.)Took inspiration from animated films of Fleischer Studiosand Walt DisneyTezuka’s success made is acceptable for serious artiststo work as professional manga creators - mangaka16

MANGA IN THE WESTChallenges to bringing manga to the west:Design differences - Japanese read from right to left instead of left to right.Production problems - switching to a left/right flow results in printing and compositionissuesCultural conventions - cultural idiots represented certain barriers to easy interpretation22

Lone Wolf & Cub (1987) - reprinted by First ComicsKazuo Koike & Goseki Kojima - 7000 page epicbeginning 1970series about a ronin who brings his baby son, the onlysurviving member of his murdered family, on a quest forvengeance upon those who framed himFrank Miller contributed covers (and an introduction in thefirst issue)23

Akira - Katsuhiro OtomoStarted in 1982 (published in Young Magazine)Ran for 8 years and reached more than 2000pagesStory of young psychics and bikers living in apost-apocalyptic TokyoOtomo directed an anime version in 1988 -attracted attention because of its high productionvalues.25

FRANCO-BELGIANbande dessinée26

The French and Belgians have always embraced the comics medium as artClaude Beylie (French film scholar) argued that comics deserved to be held as the “ninth art”putting it on even footing with television and seven other arts by Italian film critic RicciottoCanudoIn the Franco-Belgian tradition, comics are bande dessinée (“drawn strips”) - also referred toas BDStripverhalen (“strip stories”) in Dutch27

HERGÉGeorges Prosper Rémi (1907 - 1983) - used the pen name HergéDebuted on January 10th, 1929 in the Belgian newspaper LeVingtième Siècle as part of the youth supplement (Le Petit Vingtième)Catholic and conservative newspaper from Brussels, led by abbotNorbert WallezPublished a series of other (less popular strips) in the pages of LePetit Vingtième29

Tintin in the Land of the Soviets (originally knownas Les Aventures de Tintin, reporter du Petit"Vingtième", au pays des Soviets)Published in 1930Political satire - expressing Hergé's distrust of theSoviet Union and poking fun at its claim to have athriving economyBolsheviks are represented as the villains (atheists)Hergé used Moscou Sans Voiles (MoscowUnveiled) written by Joseph Douillet, a formerBelgian consul in Soviet Russia32

ASTERIX & OBELIXwild and crazy gauls35

RENÉ GOSCINNYRené Goscinny (1926 –1977)Served in the French army, and eventually became theillustrator for the 141st Alpine Infantry BattalionCollaborated with Albert Uderzo on a series ofprojects including Oumpah-pahLaunched The Adventures of Asterix as a strip in Pilot(French comics periodical) in 195936

BANDE DESSINÉE ALBUMThe successful reception of strips like Tintin and Asterix led to an important development inthe solicitations of bande dessinée - the albumhardbound collections of strips - encouraged the idea that the bande dessinée werekeepsakes worth reading instead of disposable ephemeraalso helped nurture the professional standing of creators nd fostered a favorable repute for theburgeoning industry38

The album system of bande dessinée publication prospered because:1. Creators were paid both for their serialized work appearing in periodicals as well asroyalties from the album reprints - it became possible to make a living being a creator2. Copyright laws protected a creator’s ownership of a character or a strip, so theagreement to have a publisher print (or reprint) a strip was not tantamount tosurrendering ownership of the IP3. Because a creator could make their living at their profession and they were always linkedto their creation, fame and notoriety began to emerge around the most talented creators39

COMICS REVIEW BOARD1949 law establishing a review board for the censoring of French comics (reacting to the floodof imported comics flowing into france after WWII)The law resulted in an unlikely alliance between Catholic educators and the Communist PartyBoard set limits on the amount of material that could be imported for publication - forcedpublishers to rely on native talentBoard was undermined in the 1960s as the French counterculture movement turned theirattentions outside of France - especially underground American comix (R. Crumb)40

MOEBIUSthe next generation of french comics41

Jean Giraud - Meobius (Gir)Came to prominence as the artists of theLieutenant Blueberry - published in Pilote(starting in 1963)co-founded Métal Hurlant - a horror and sciencefiction comics anthology magazine - laterfranchised in the U.S. as Heavy MetalLater work rejected traditional realistic depictionsin favor of Nouveau Réalisme1988 - collaborated with Stan Lee on SilverSurfer Epic Comics project42

CANADIAN COMICSstories from the great white north48

The Canadian comics industry is wrapped up in the country’s attempt to maintain a distinctnational identity (in the shadow of the United States)Distinct difference between the comic industry in French speaking Canada and Englishspeaking CanadaImport of U.S. comics into Canada started in the 1930sWar Exchange Conservation Act (1940) stopped the import of non-essential materials(including comic books)49

Maple Leaf Publishing - Better Comics #1 (1941)Other publishers soon followed and began offering avariety of books: sports, humor, westerns, war,adventure, detective, and superheroSome publishers side stepped the War ExchangeConservation Act and publishedAnglo American - purchased Captain Marvel scriptsfrom Fawcett Comics and had Canadian artistsredraw them before publishing and distributing themin Canada50

Triumph-Adventure Comics #1 (Aug. 1941)Created by Adrian Dingle and published byHillborough StudioDemi goddess who protected the Inuit peopleFirst Canadian national superhero - one of the firstfemals superheroes (predates Wonder Woman byseveral months)52

CANADIAN COMICS IN THE WAKE OF THESECOND WORLD WARwartime protectionism could only keep American comics at bay for so longAs soon as the second world war ended, American comics flooded the country againBy 1947, the American publishing industry had reasserted itselfCanadian publishers might reprint American material, but no original Canadian material wascreated.56

THE CANADIAN COMICS RESURGENCEThe Canadian comics publishing industry saw a resurgence in the late 1960s and early 1970sThe result of:rise of fandom/cycle of domestic nationalismEmergence of the small press modelEmergence of the underground/alternative/comix scene57

Orb Nos. 2-5 (July 1974 – 1975); PowerComics No. 4 (Nov. 1977)Science fiction story - adventures on Mars, etc.Originally the creation of the writer T. CaseyBrennan and the artist John AllisonCharacter was later revamped by Orb publisherJames Waley and the artist James Craig.59

Captain Canuck - Originally developed by RonLeishman (later with Richard Comely)Self published by Richard Comely (under theComely Comix banner)First issue was published in July of 1975 -attracted much media attention (domestically andinternationally)Took place in the future (1990s) when Canada wasa superpower because of its natural resourcesCharacter worked for CISO (Canadian InternationalSecurity Agency)62

Cerebus the Aardvark - created by Dave SimSelf published by Aardvark-Vanaheim Press1977 - 2004; 300 issuesThroughout its run, book shifted from a sword andsorcery parody to a platform for socio-politicalcommentaryNegotiations regarding DC buying Cerebus took placefrom 1985 - 1988; DC offered $100,000 and 10% ofall licensing and merchandising, which Sim rejected.64

Sim became an outspoken advocate of creators'rights in comics, and used the editorial pages ofCerebus to promote self-publishing and greater artistactivismThe biggest individual supporter of the Comic BookLegal Defense FundEventually began to alienate many of his readers aswell as fellow creatorsLengthy prose sections (#186/#265) that areincredibly misogynistic & sexist - Sim identified a"feminist/homosexualist axis" that opposedtraditional and rational societal values65

THE MODERN CANADIAN CONTRIBUTIONcreatorspublishers66

HISTORIETASmexican comics67

Mexico has sustained a vibrant comics industry of its own despite the threat of AmericancompetitionHistorietas - little storiesThe success of historietas has to do with several factors:language barriersocial acceptance of graphic storytellingeconomic factorsstorytelling structurefan community68

ECONOMIC & LANGUAGE FACTORSGetting comics to Mexican publishers was a low priority for American publishers in the earlydays of comics1921 - editor of one Mexican newspaper (El Heraldo) commissioned a strip by a local artist(Salvador Pruneda) - story of a cowboy named Don Catarino.By 1934 newspaper publishers began collecting and reprinting stripsAmong the most popular were Paquin and Pepin69

STORYTELLING STRUCTURE & FAN COMMUNITYMexican audiences preferred ongoing episodic storytelling - which didn’t catch on in the U.S.market until the Silver Agecontinuing stories would encourage readers to return - developed “brand loyalty”Encouraged a sense of fan community: published reader letters, introduced creator profiles(developing a “star” system of cartoonists and writers), sponsored contests to engage readersTechniques later employed by Stan Lee at Marvel during the Silver Age70

MEXICAN COMICS CONTROVERSYDepictions of violence, sex, and non-traditional content (gender roles) raised the concern ofmore conservative segments of Mexican society - Catholic Legion of DecencyComision Calificadora de Publicaciones y Revistas Ilustradas (the Qualifying Committee forPublications and Illustrated Magazines) - 1944Review all comic titles and related publications once they were issuesWithin the omissions power to levy fines, revoke publishing licenses, and recommentprosecution for violation of decency laws71

LA FAMILIA BURRONGabriel Vargas - first published in 1948Drawn by Vargas from 1948 - 1971Follows a middle class family in Mexico CityMuch of the humor in La Familia Burron comes from classdistinctionsBurola (the wife of the family) attempts scheme after scheme toraise her middle class family up from the modest livingprovided by her husband’s barber salary72

KALIMANKalimam: El Hombre IncreibleBegan as a radio play in 1963First comic (created by Rafael Cutberto Navarro and ModestoVázquez González) was published in December 4, 19651200 issues were published (until 1991) - reprints have beenpublished since 1998.74