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I was fortunate enough to go to the San Diego Comic Con this past summer and unlike my first trip there in 2006, I decided to do this more as a “working” vacation than a “fanboy” one. I spent more time waiting to talk to vendors and distributors than I did waiting for sketches and signatures. In turn I had quite a different experience (natch).
Out of the several things I did was to make sure I attended more panels that discussed the craft of making comics; writing classes, discussions on theory and religion and so forth. At one very unique panel discussing religion, featuring Christian, Jewish and Witch followers, I came across a sample of a comic book on the chairs in the room. It was a flip book featuring “Serenity” on one side and “Goofyfoot Gurl” on the other.
“Serenity” I had encountered before as a sample copy had been sent to the store in 2006. Shawna and I reviewed the book and decided that the quality just wasn’t there in the writing or art that we could justify purchasing copies. I won’t get into detail but we know our customers and we judge ALL books against the fancies of our clientele.
“Goofyfoot Gurl” intrigued me more as the art style, while unpolished, was neat and I liked it. But as I read the story I quickly realized that it was pretty typical North American, decompressed storytelling and I was less impressed. However, the thing that really turned me off was the fact that “Gurl” and “Serenity” were both billed as Manga.
Now I am not an expert on Manga but I’ve learned quite a bit recently as it’s an essential part of my business and one of the first things I’ve learned about Manga is that it comes from Japan. Realbuzz Studios, the company home to both comics and a few others, as near as I can tell is American based. There’s no information about the writer or artist but I suspect they are American also.
Bucking the Manga trend further, these comics are in colour and read left to right. Seeing all these things countering my knowledge of what Manga is supposed to be, I went to Realbuzz’s booth and decided to talk to the company why they thought their books could be considered Manga. Sadly none of the talent was there but the woman working the booth was kind enough to engage me in the conversation which lead to her asking me, “What do you think Manga is?”
“Well, at a basic level it’s black & white, read right to left and it’s usually made in Japan.” I went on to say that the art in “Goofyfoot Gurl” was far more NA than Asian except for one page that had a chibi character on it. The people at the booth couldn’t wholly grasp what I was saying and said I would be better to contact the company and discuss it with them.
Now, why does this bother me? I mean, it’s not the first time a company, ANY company, has branded a product as something not quite what it was. Marketing is an ugly, tricky, corrupting being that often makes good people say misleading things and I fall into that category as well. Kid Drew has on more than one occasion challenged my wording of certain events that I put on the sandwich board outside the store. “That’s not entirely correct,” he would say. “We’ll educate them once they get upstairs,” I would reply. I need to bring people in or pique their curiosity and sometimes I use selective wording that may seem misleading with the hope that people will want to know more. Sneaky? Maybe. Effective? Usually.
In my mind, Realbuzz Studios is clearly making “comics” and labeling them as “Manga from Heaven”. Oh yeah, they’re a Christian publisher. That’s kinda making it a bigger issue for me.
So, what makes Manga? Is it colour vs b&w? The storytelling? Speedlines and big eyes? Direction for reading? What do you think? According to Wikipedia, Manga refers to comics published in East Asian countries with certain other criteria that none of Realbuzz’s books seem to follow.
Do you think that this Christian publishing company is out to lunch, unknowingly crediting their product as Manga or did they sink to the capitalist level in naming their product something it isn’t just to help sell books? Or, is it actually Manga and I just missed it?
The Shepherd
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