Fenxy

”Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind”　is so amazing more than Movie. Of course, Hayao Miyazaki wrote thin comics, probably he took more than 5 years to complete it. The ending is so diffrent from Anime. The stroy is so original and content is also high quality.

Others:
Maizon Ikkok
Inu Yasha
Parasyte
Dragon Ball
and more...

The Planetes Manga is an incredible piece of work. I love the art and am infinitely impressed with the author's knowledge of space trivia.

I never got into traditional comics. I have a couple friends who are Marvel fans but that age is slowly coming to a close. If D.C. and Marvel don't do something fast, they're going to loose an entire generation to Manga.

Michael,
I have to disagree with you. Although Marvel and DC (and Image) aren't quite as popular as manga comics in some circles I wouldn't say that the age of traditional comics (by which I believe you mean Western comics) is coming to a close. I believe Western comics in their traditional form could eventual take new shape by being released in graphic novels rather than single issue right from the start, but I'm not entirely convinced that will happen either.

Marvel is definitely in need of a boost, however Civil War seems to be helping them out thus far. Runaways is a really great comic too, which is interesting because it's done in "fusion" style (Western / Eastern art). It's released as an individual comic but Marvel releases the graphic novels in traditional manga size and length. That could be the answer to boosting their sales.

DC just wrapped up the Infinite Crisis series and I for one thought it was a great series. DC is really doing a great job on most of their comics right now actually and I'm very impressed by their writers and artists.

As far as Image goes: creator owned comics are the best. Walking Dead and Fear Agent (like I said above) are absolutely the best comics that the Western world has to offer.

Joe

Comic books in Japan are slightly different than the comic books of America. Marvel and D.C. both publish a line of superhero/adventure comics while manga companies like Tokyo Pop focus on various manga genre's: action, fantasy, romantic comedies, slice of life and cooking shows.

Traditional western comics, with the exception of daily comics like Garfield, are typically about superheros no matter how you slice it. Comic books can't possibly hope to compete if they don't start treating themselves as a medium rather than a genre.

Hung, one of our Anime Community members/leaders, has a post on two new anime's coming out of Japan this season. Hataraki Man is an anime (keep in mind that all anime comes from manga) about a woman journalist who is also a workaholic and Bartender is well about a bartender but I really want to see it.

I hear that it sometimes takes six months for D.C. to release a new book. Storywise, I think they're writing themselves into a corner.

From a business perspective I see companies like Dark Horse and Blank Label Comics taking business away from D.C. and Marvel.

I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Michael,
I see where you're coming from now and I agree. I like the comment about DC and Marvel treating comics as a medium rather than a genre. While I do enjoy the super hero genre, there are certainly other forms out there.

The problem with DC and Marvel is that they ARE super hero comics. The DC and Marvel universe is vast and each comic within that Universe ties in with the other comics in one way or another... thus the overload of super heroes.

I totally agree that this is not the best route to go. I really like the fact that Image keeps their comics independent of one another (which makes sense since they're creator owned, not Image owned and are not all considered part of the same Universe). Not to beat a dead horse, but Walking Dead is about Zombies, and Fear Agent is about aliens. Neither are about super heroes and that's part of what makes them great.

All that being said, DC does attempt to break out of their shell with Wildstorm and Vertigo comics. These subsidiaries are independent of the DC universe and thus you see more obscure genres represented.

I could definitely see Image and Dark Horse taking over, and I think it would be a welcome change. While I really enjoy certain super hero titles, it is certainly an overdone subject and not all that creative.

Joe

Thanks and I'm glad you liked my comment. And that's not to say that all anime is original and or good. In fact I think you could argue that the worst anime is ten times worse than the ugliest super hero comic.

I love anime but I love it because there are so many choices and believe me I know when I see a stinker.

I sometimes feel bad because the younger anime fans can get really annoying. They'll say that comic books are dumb and "oh my god I only watch anime because it's free and there are no commercials". It's something that I really hope we can pull away from in this community.

The only problem that I have with anime is the unoriginal looks of the characters. Characters in so many anime series look alike just with different hair colors or what not... so annoying! that being said, I'm a fan of several anime series.

Ha I forgot about the hair thing. And you're right about anime having a problem with original characters.

If you want to know the cultural reason behind this, I think it's because all Japanese people secretly wish that their hair color was super cool. I'm almost certain of it.

For sure. I went to Japan once and all the cool kids and really poorly done dye jobs. The weird part was: all the cool people hung out in arcades, quite unlike America.

There's definitely an American lifestyle worship thing going on there... at least there was. The strange thing was that it seemed to be based around the 80's.

I've moved this discussion, of whether or not traditional comics are on their way out, to my website at freakcomics.com.

That link was meant to go here: traditional comics on their way out?