Comics Are Just as Good As Manga

Look Beyond Marvel And DC

Photo by Keren Fedida on Unsplash

I did not grow up reading comics or manga, but I have come to love both. Comics was looked at as a niche for hardcore nerds, and manga even more so. If you were a real reader you read novels, not picture books. It took me a while to get away from this mentality. I started reading the manga after an Anime I was watching got canceled. I wanted to know what happens next, so I turned to the manga. That first manga led me down a rabbit hole of reading manga after the manga. Eventually, that lead me to Comics. I started with the injustice series after completing the two video games. This led me down another rabbit hole, and I binged a lot of comics in a short amount of time. Recently there has been a push to make it clear that manga is better than comics. The criticisms have include not focusing on the story, pushing an agenda, and not being able to find complete stories. I think these criticisms couldn’t be further from the truth.

Story

The perception around comics is that it’s just superheroes. If you were to look at comics outside of DC and marvel you will find a lot of diversity. Comics tackle a wide range of subjects, including action, adventure, drama, romance, comedy, and more. This means that regardless of your interests, there is bound to be a comic or manga that speaks to you. Image Comics is my favorite publisher, and they have a wide range of amazing comics. These comics don’t require years of collecting and understanding back story. They mostly consist of one complete story and are done by a single team for the entire run.

Art

This is where I think comics exceed manga. Color can be used to create mood and atmosphere, and to evoke emotions such as joy, sadness, fear, or anger. Color can also be used to highlight key elements of a scene, such as a character’s clothing or background detail, which can help to reinforce the story’s themes and messages. Don’t get me wrong there is a lot of gorgeous manga out there, but the color adds another layer of depth. Color can also help to clarify the story and make it easier to follow. Action scenes pop up in comics and are a lot easier to follow.

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