jonerik writes to tell us The Associated press is running an article stating that several American newspapers are going to start carrying manga with their normal arsenal of comics. The papers feel that this will help boost their readership amongst a younger audience. The two strips that made the cut are Van Von Hunter, and Peach Fuzz which are both created by American writer/illustrators and are being distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. American Newspapers to Begin Carrying Manga Log in/Create an Account | Top | 235 comments | Search Discussion Display Options Threshold: -1: 235 comments 0: 226 comments 1: 165 comments 2: 100 comments 3: 29 comments 4: 18 comments 5: 8 comments Flat Nested No Comments Threaded Oldest First Newest First Highest Scores First Oldest First (Ignore Threads) Newest First (Ignore Threads) The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. Not news (Score:5, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 09, @05:49PM (#13993185) Now, it if was hentai... [ Reply to ThisRe:Not news by Golias (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @05:59PMRe:Not news by vertinox (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:54PMRe:Not news by Basehart (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:28PMRe:Not news by Proz512 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:59PMRe:Not news by Stephen Williams (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @07:06PMRe:Not news by Liam Slider (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @07:11PMRe:Not news by macshit (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:39PMRe:Not news by Liam Slider (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @10:55PMRe:Not news by Guuge (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @07:18PMLike it or not Manga now refers by geekoid (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:49PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Not news by failedlogic (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:46PMThey DO make hentai! by cybermint (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @10:46PM How do we know this is manga? (Score:5, Interesting) by Ithika (703697) on Wednesday November 09, @05:49PM (#13993188) (http://www.livejournal.com/users/brokenhut/) Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin? [ Reply to This Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:5, Funny) by Average_Joe_Sixpack (534373) on Wednesday November 09, @05:55PM (#13993234) The pane progression will be right to left [ Reply to This | ParentRe:How do we know this is manga? by TheLoneIguana (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @05:55PM Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:5, Insightful) by Jeff DeMaagd (2015) on Wednesday November 09, @05:58PM (#13993266) (http://www.demaagd.com/ | Last Journal: Sunday October 27, @06:53PM) The problem is that the style of American "manga" is generally a stereotypical view of manga drawing styles. Sure, a lot of manga do follow the stereotype, alot don't. Besides, my understanding of the meaning of manga as a loan word in English always coincided with the origin, it doesn't make much sense to me to use a foreign loan word to describe a domestic product which there already exists a perfectly fine word - comic. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:How do we know this is manga? by Cygnus78 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:44PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Stalyn (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @07:51PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:5, Funny) by RobotRunAmok (595286) on Wednesday November 09, @05:56PM (#13993248) Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin?It's obviously more than just the big eyes. If that were the only qualification, we'd have seen Dragonball Orphan Annie Z! a long time ago. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:How do we know this is manga? by pcgabe (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:37PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Rahga (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:20PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:How do we know this is manga? by Fallingcow (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @05:57PM Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:4, Insightful) by Golias (176380) on Wednesday November 09, @06:03PM (#13993318) But what is the "Japanese style" of comics???The "big eyes" look that people seem to associate with Manga (even though it's not always used) is something that Osamu Tezuka stole from Disney's "Snow White."When I see must American attempts to make things "look Japanese" (such as the Teen Titan series currently on cable), it looks more like a parody of the oddest quirks of japanese anime than anything else. [ Reply to This | ParentRight here by Valiss (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:27PMRe:Right here by timeOday (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:54PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:41PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by StikyPad (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @11:27PM3 replies beneath your current threshold.Re:How do we know this is manga? by Golias (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:21PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by SeventyBang (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:32PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by shinma (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:43PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:4, Insightful) by badasscat (563442) <basscadet75@yaho ... m minus language> on Wednesday November 09, @06:01PM (#13993292) (http://www.jwnyc.com/) Where does the line between manga and comic art exist then, if not by country of origin?I was thinking the same thing when I read that last sentence in the submission. "Manga" is not a style, it specifically refers to Japanese graphic storytelling. Otherwise there'd be no reason to even use that word. We use that word to refer to their comics/graphic novels because they use that word to refer to the same material. (It is the same with "anime".)Anything that is created outside of Japan is not manga, at least not if you're using that word to differentiate something from a standard comic (i.e. you are speaking English and not Japanese). It may be "manga-inspired", but it is not manga.People do get into arguments about this sort of thing, and yes, there can be questions of degree... a lot of anime, for example, is written and designed in Japan but drawn in Korea. Is it really anime? Probably. Same is true of some manga. But if you're talking about comics written by Americans, drawn by Americans, in America, that's just a comic. That's got nothing to do with manga, however its visual style may look. [ Reply to This | Parent Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:5, Interesting) by Ungrounded Lightning (62228) on Wednesday November 09, @06:11PM (#13993386) (Last Journal: Sunday January 18, @06:45AM) Not to get into a "is" "isn't" flap...But I was under the impression that one large distinction was the set of graphic conventions used. (For instance: lightbulb-over-head versus laserbeam into head for idea, smoking head versus bulging veins for anger, etc.)I suspect when an american comic syndicate executive says "manga" he undersands it to mean a comic that uses the stylistic and graphic-linguistic convention set of manga, rather than whatever the "real" definition is. [ Reply to This | Parent Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:4, Interesting) by Ithika (703697) on Wednesday November 09, @06:14PM (#13993416) (http://www.livejournal.com/users/brokenhut/) Despite the fact that this is the most sensible reasoning I've seen so far for using "manga" instead of "comic", it seems a bit daft to make a product full of cultural references and market it exclusively to people outside that culture. [ Reply to This | ParentRe:How do we know this is manga? by JanneM (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:31PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Ithika (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:58PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Helios1182 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:49PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by JanneM (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:56PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by rufty_tufty (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:55PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by vertinox (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:06PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Ungrounded Lightning (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @10:35PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Bingo Foo (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:39PMNot really by geekoid (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:47PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Re:How do we know this is manga? (Score:4, Insightful) by MosesJones (55544) on Wednesday November 09, @07:14PM (#13993849) (http://service-architecture.blogspot.com/) And yet if Japan was to release films claiming to be "Hollywood Films", music that was "New Orleans Jazz" or selling "Texas BBQ Steak Mix" there would be little question of them cynically ripping off an American idea just to make a quick buck...Manga is Japanese, in the same was as Champagne is French, you can make it the same way, it might even taste the same... but no matter what you do its not the real thing.Pepsi ain't Coke folks... [ Reply to This | ParentRe:How do we know this is manga? by Martin Blank (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @08:14PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by weav (Score:1) Thursday November 10, @12:38AMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Guuge (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:51PMTell that to TOKYOPOP by RPGuy_AD (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:35PMManga = Comics by Jabrams007 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:55PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:How do we know this is manga? by Dragoonmac (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:13PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by MightyMartian (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:30PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by Thunderstruck (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:59PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by burrows (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:31PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by michaelnz (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:44PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by luder (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:30PMRe:How do we know this is manga? by CastrTroy (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @09:58PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. pfffft .... (Score:4, Funny) by Average_Joe_Sixpack (534373) on Wednesday November 09, @05:50PM (#13993196) Manga has nothing on Ziggy [ Reply to ThisRe:pfffft .... by geomon (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @05:59PMRe:pfffft .... by commodoresloat (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:19PMRe:pfffft .... by suitepotato (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:22PMRe:pfffft .... by susano_otter (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @09:17PM Blasphemy (Score:5, Interesting) by cryptochrome (303529) on Wednesday November 09, @05:52PM (#13993218) (http://slashdot.org/~cryptochrome/journal/ | Last Journal: Friday April 08, @04:16PM) If it ain't Japanese it ain't manga. They should have picked up Azumanga Daioh [amazon.com]. [ Reply to ThisRe:Blasphemy by Wingie (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:08PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:14PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @06:12PMRe:Blasphemy by BushCheney08 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:30PMRe:Blasphemy by Mahou (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:34PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:55PMRe:Blasphemy by Mahou (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:13PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @08:23PMRe:Blasphemy by Random832 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @09:24PMRe:Blasphemy by Mahou (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @11:16PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @09:27PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:2) Thursday November 10, @12:10AMRe:Blasphemy by Jeff DeMaagd (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:00PMRe:Blasphemy by Guppy06 (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @08:00PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Blasphemy by Shelled (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @10:03PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Blasphemy by darrylo (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:23PMRe:Blasphemy by zerofret (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:28PMRe: Uh... by Cryptnotic (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @09:40PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. How about accurate reporting? (Score:4, Insightful) by teutonic_leech (596265) on Wednesday November 09, @05:52PM (#13993220) Aaaah - manga to the rescue! If nothing else this shows how corrupt and clueless the American media landscape has become. After the obvious abandonment of objective reporting we experienced in the last three years, mixed with fabricated reports, a myopic coverage of world affairs, etc. it is manga that will get me to buy the paper now? Give me a break! If I want manga I either buy a printed copy dedicated to that genre, or buy a DVD, or if I'm really broke resort to eMule and co. I frankly wonder what PR company issued that one - must be the one that constantly claims that 'suits are back!' - LOL [ Reply to ThisRe:How about accurate reporting? by vermox (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:10PMRe:How about accurate reporting? by teutonic_leech (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:38PMRe:How about accurate reporting? by Sethus (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @11:29PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. about damn time (Score:2) by Brigadier (12956) on Wednesday November 09, @05:54PM (#13993233) commic strips haven't changed much in genre since I was a kid (i'm 30). With the exception of boon docks every comic is double digit years old. Only being retired when the artists have passed on. [ Reply to ThisRe:about damn time by Sabaki (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @05:59PMRe:about damn time by amliebsch (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @06:05PMRe:about damn time by Jules Mercuri (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:07PM To Boost Readership? (Score:2) by TheFlyingGoat (161967) on Wednesday November 09, @05:56PM (#13993243) (http://members.surfeu.fi/kklaine/primebear.html | Last Journal: Tuesday March 15, @01:16PM) Seriously, how many people subscribe to a newspaper for the cartoons. How many of those people would still subscribe if there were NO cartoons in the paper? Finally, how many people would subscribe or unsubscribe from a newspaper based on the availability of 2 comics. I would guess no more than 1 out of every 1000 for that last one, with 1 out of 10000 being more likely.While this is a cool thing, since I'll take a look at any new comic in the paper, I don't see it making any noticable impact on readership. Most papers would do better by coming up with a decent tech section and an Entertainment section with some interesting content. The Onion has a huge following just for their AV section, since they're well written and targeted at the teen-30 crowd. It's a good example to follow, newspapers. [ Reply to ThisA lot of people subscribe for the features by davidwr (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:05PMRe:To Boost Readership? by Golias (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:09PMRe:To Boost Readership? by InsideTheAsylum (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:13PMComics are important to newspapers by LunaticTippy (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:24PMRe:To Boost Readership? by LurkerXXX (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:34PMI disagree... by sp00n32 (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:35PMRe:To Boost Readership? by J-Rod_Brown (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:59PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:To Boost Readership? by oboreruhito (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:20PMRe:To Boost Readership? by phorm (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @09:23PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Will it work? (Score:1) by icuc22too (928307) on Wednesday November 09, @05:58PM (#13993259) I wonder if adding manga would really encourage children to read the newspaper more. [ Reply to ThisRe:Will it work? by Spy der Mann (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @06:29PMRe:Will it work? by dillee1 (Score:1) Thursday November 10, @12:16AM Hmm (Score:5, Interesting) by pHatidic (163975) on Wednesday November 09, @05:59PM (#13993270) (http://www.alexkrupp.com/) How about filling their newspapers with informative and well written articles that don't contain glaring factual errors? It seems like almost every article on a subject I know something about has blatant factual errors in it.How about publishing the news as it happens? It seems like most of the articles in the New York Times cover things I knew about a week earlier.How about not using anonymous sources, or at the very least outing the sources if they are proved to have been lying?How about not pretending there is such a thing as unbiased reporting? Saying "one is lead to believe" instead of "I believe" is just another form of lying. [ Reply to ThisRe:Hmm by drewxhawaii (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:14PMRe:Hmm by InvalidError (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:36PMRe:Hmm by Ungrounded Lightning (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:23PMRe:Hmm by Anonymous Coward (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:46PMRe:Hmm by Ungrounded Lightning (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @10:46PM1 reply beneath your current threshold.Re:Hmm by Kphrak (Score:3) Wednesday November 09, @06:43PMRe:Hmm by pHatidic (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:51PM2 replies beneath your current threshold. What's a "Newspaper"? (Score:2, Funny) by istartedi (132515) on Wednesday November 09, @06:00PM (#13993280) (Last Journal: Thursday April 18, @07:50PM) Where can I download it? 'nuff said. [ Reply to ThisYou need to check it out by geekoid (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:36PM Trendsetter (Score:4, Interesting) by czarangelus (805501) <iapetus@gmaiBALDWINl.com minus author> on Wednesday November 09, @06:00PM (#13993282) (http://chomped.org/) You know, this might be one of the smartest things anyone in the media has done recently. Even if it turns out to be an enormous flop (and I think it might have a chance of succeeding,) at least it's a new direction. They are at least trying to get out of their rut. [ Reply to ThisRe:Trendsetter by Mr. Slippery (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:14PM FR/BE (Score:1) by trollable (928694) on Wednesday November 09, @06:00PM (#13993284) (http://www.milliondollarscreenshot.com/) Guess they weren't ready for serious drawing (aka bande dessinee franco-belge but not only). I don't like too much mangas, at least those I read. But I probably didn't read the good ones. [ Reply to This What a shame. (Score:1) by jasongetsdown (890117) on Wednesday November 09, @06:06PM (#13993344) There are so many great comic artists who have been ignored for so long for the likes of Garfield (yawn) and Family Circus (shoot me). What a shame that they're going for the only genre that produces more cheap overdramatic and entirely unsubtle crap than Fox.There is some irony in the growing embrace of manga by americans though. The style was inspired by american cartoons after all. The only difference is that here we continue to treat comic art as kid stuff while in asia manga grew out of control like worms at chernoble. [ Reply to ThisRe:What a shame. by MS-06FZ (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @07:43PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Nobody's said it yet... (Score:2) by Hosiah (849792) on Wednesday November 09, @06:07PM (#13993346) (http://wallpaperfree.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Sunday November 06, @11:32AM) Are they going to post instructions to read it right to left? [ Reply to This I've read Van Von Hunter... (Score:2) by Spy der Mann (805235) <spydermann.slashdot@NOspaM.gmail.com> on Wednesday November 09, @06:15PM (#13993424) (Last Journal: Wednesday October 12, @01:42PM) and I've become a fan of it. It has very good jokes, and tries to imitate the japanese narrative style (altho not completely, but that's not a defect). It reminds me a bit of the Slayers series, and also has (very funny) references to anime videogames.In comparison with american anime-like cartoons like Martin Mystery or Totally Spies (ack! Choke! Cough), VVH is much more anime-like, relatively speaking. And having seen garbage like digimon (eew) or DBZ (ugh), I say VVH has much more quality than them.So no, VVH is NOT a heresy against the concept of Manga / Anime.Regarding the inclusion of VVH in newspapers, I can say that it fits the format very well. It's done weekly, and altho it has a story, each strip doesn't need the reading of previous strips to get the joke. I personally recommend it to anyone. [ Reply to ThisRe:I've read Van Von Hunter... by IntergalacticWalrus (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @06:25PMRe:I've read Van Von Hunter... by Spy der Mann (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @06:32PMRe:I've read Van Von Hunter... by tahuti (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @08:46PMRe:I've read Van Von Hunter... by Spy der Mann (Score:1) Wednesday November 09, @09:51PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Van von Hunter? (Score:2) by DarkSarin (651985) on Wednesday November 09, @06:15PM (#13993427) (http://www.bmo-web.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday August 18, @08:37PM) Okay, seriously, that comic (call it what it is) is rarely, if ever, updated. Beyond that, it isn't the best of the online comics. I won't say what the best comic out there is (I read about 10 on a daily basis), because someone will certainly disagree with me--and I don't have my asbestos suit with me today.Instead, let me critique Van Von Hunter on what I know of the comic, having read all the past strips up to some point in the middle of this summer. The story is interesting enough, but rather, politely put, scattered in its approach. Frequent tangents and odd, rather sudden, inclusions from what started out to be a fairly cohesive storyline all combine for a feeling that the author doesn't care that much about the story or characters. Instead, it feels very much like a part time hobby that he does because he can. [ Reply to ThisRe:Van von Hunter? by Blakey Rat (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @07:57PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. Manga (Score:1) by spect3r (909619) on Wednesday November 09, @06:15PM (#13993431) (http://www.kevin-foster.net/) Is manga like Final Fantasy?No.. really? [ Reply to This Wtf? It will be americanized lame nothingness (Score:2, Interesting) by Werrismys (764601) on Wednesday November 09, @06:18PM (#13993460) Americans take what is brilliant, run it through a lamifying filter and end up with Fitz US style, Nikita US style. End result: lame, politically correct bullshit. [ Reply to ThisRe:Wtf? It will be americanized lame nothingness by RexRhino (Score:2) Wednesday November 09, @08:55PM1 reply beneath your current threshold. The new name of slashdot? (Score:1, Funny) by PopeOptimusPrime (875888) on Wednesday November 09, @06:25PM (#13993510) News for Losers. Stuff that noone cares about. [ Reply to This1 reply beneath your current threshold.