Unqualified Comics Debate

Western comicers, publishing houses and artists writers and everyone involved can breath a sigh of relief. Japanese comics I'm fairly certain are a passing dominant thing. Sure it may take another 20 years, but I'm fairly certain that the fall will be more spectacular than the rise.

Here's why, I was having lunch with my Japanese friend Yoshi and I forget how it came up but we were talking about comics and he made the comment 'I think Japanese Comics are the best in the world!' A view often expressed by Japanese and Non-Japanese, sometimes in Japanese comics themselves.

To say Japanese comics don't have their merits would be unjust, but are they the best in the world? Pointless, nations don't produce comics, individuals (and creative teams) do. Certainly there are schools and traditions and institutional factors that can flavor vast swathes of comics produced, but by no means does this allow sweeping generalisations.

But I think we can put it like this - If you had to choose between Western or Japanese Comics being erased from history, which one do you choose? I would choose to keep Western and lose Japanese. Sure it would hurt even me to lose the offerings of Tezuka and Inoue from the world, but it just doesn't compare to losing the efforts of Moore, Millar, Lee, Kirby, Bob Kane, the Superman crew, Tintin, Diablo, Punch Magazine and everything else the west has offered.

But I don't think this is the popular view. The way the dollars are talking these days indicates that many wouldn't even blink to lose western comics so long as they have Naruto, Bleach and One Piece.

Demographic #1: Japanese fans of Japanese Comics.

When Japanese people (and to a lesser extent those from a Chinese, Korean or South East Asian background with long exposure to Japanese comic exports) say 'I think Japanese comics are the best in the world!' proudly they are saying the exact same meaningless sentence as I say when I boldly proclaim 'My mama makes the best lasagne in the world!'. Perhaps it has even less meaning. Perhaps a little more.

Firstly, I can probably only find one other person to back my claim. Any Japanese person can probably find a few thousand (western) fanboys to back them up on an internet forum.

But where it has less meaning, is that I've probably tasted other Lasagne's in my life. My experience with Japanese people who are 'experts' on manga or comics, and my eternal frustration having this debate with them is that they often haven't read any western comics.

Case in point, my friend Yoshi didn't even understand how Spiderman can be an ongoing series for 50 years. This would smash any records in Japan, because 'ongoing' series just means an epic storyline, Japanese comics traditionally have the artist and writer be the same person, these people die, retire, get sick of their own series or need to work on something else. Hence 20 years is a long time for a Japanese series to run, and usually the fan base has drastically declined from the heyday (similar to 'Lost' TV series, where the majority that made it the no.1 show in it's first series no longer give a fuck what's up with the island).

Most Japanese have simply heard of western comics, in a very limited capacity. They have heard of Batman, Superman and Spiderman. Their major exposure to western comics are actually the (generally crappy) movie adaptations of these flagship titles which dominate the Japanese box-office.

Put simply, it's worth verifying when a Japanese person claims 'Japanese comics are the best' but generally (a generalisation) it is safe to say this claim is unqualified. They are simply mouthing another hollow piece of 'nihonjinron' the study of 'Japanese-ness' from the same experts that claimed foreign skiis wouldn't work on special Japanese snow, and that Japanese people's digestive systems were so special they couldn't eat American beef. That is self-serving nationalistic (racist) quaks, that are sadly a loud, persuasive and pervasive voice in Japanese media and more tragically - education.

Out of interest when thinking about this, I remembered being criticised by hating on soccer and my friend said 'You sound very parochial when you say that.' and it struck me as a great and valid criticism. Since then I've tried to be more objective in holding aloft AFL and NBA as superior sports to soccer (my athleticism, finesse, speed + brute strength argument, of which NBA and AFL satisfy all four, soccer only satisfies 3, in my opinion)
Anyway, I became curios, do Japanese people have a word for 'parochial' with its negative connotations? Well according to the online translator (not exhaustive by any means) they don't. If this holds true, it could explain a lot about Japan.

Demographic #2: Western Fans of Japanese Comics.

Western fans of Japanese comics are harder to deal with, a larger proportion of them have actually read western comics and thus as far as their own opinion is concerned can actually make a qualified judgement.

Here is my counter-argument: these western fans are either A) young, or B) fanboys/nerds. Keep in mind that I define nerds' central character trait as lacking imagination. Often this is protested 'but nerds are way into fantasy and sci-fi.' I would argue that they are way into fantasy for the same reasons that really stupid people think magnets are 'magic'.

So, when I was a kid, Image was happening, the number one comic in the world was a title called Spawn, and Greg Cappullo was the shit:


Greg has mad skills, and the OTT anatomy and details where totally in. But as I grew older my tastes changed, Greg is now often imitated and his 'look' now seems plain and ordinary. Much more stylistic these days is Tim Sale:


But in the same way that Octupus goes Tough-Tender-Tough when you cook it, I enjoy Greg's art still because it is exactly what one part of comics should be. Fun and explosive. Ultimately though, Spawn probably hasn't stood the test of time largely because the stories (as distinct from the art) never offered much and the moods were too monochromatic.

A kid hates parmesan, an adult relishes it. Show a kid two movies 'The Pianist' and 'Shrek 3' guess which one they will choose as their favorite?

That is my central argument, western fans of Japanese comics tend to be young and/or inexperienced. They haven't read Watchmen, Batman Year One, Maus, Tintin, Asterix, Sin City, Jimmy Corrigan, Palookaville, Bone, Cerebus. They don't know that western comics offer far more than they appear to, they are not as Japanese peeps will expect 'Superman, Batman & Spiderman'.

Whilst Japanese comics are better known for having more than just the 'Superhero' genre (which dominates western comics). The western comic world actually still offers all kinds. Furthermore, even if you just take the Superhero genre, it gets short shrift largely thanks to -

Sturgeon's Law which says '90% of everything is shit'.

90% of Batman stories ever published are pure shite. Not worth reading, except that 10% of the time that story you pick up expecting shit, is actually great. Furthermore 9 out of those ten great comics are just great, only 1% is a true work of art.

Thus in the whole history of Batman (must be over 60 years now), the issues worth reading/regarded as classics represent barely the tip of the iceburg of what was produced. Same goes with Superman, Spiderman etc. Just a tip though, those rare editions have the names 'Moore, Miller, Sale, Loeb...' attached.

But Sturgeon's law is no less applicable to Japanese comics. Infact if anything it is charitable. There is A LOT of Japanese comics to choose from, but the advent of one that is worth reading is rare indeed. Why? Because the Japanese tradition is that the artist writes the stories. The advent of a good artist is rare. The advent of a good writer is rare (perhaps extremely rare as good writers tend to favor writing books, plays and screenplays). The advent of a good writer & artist being the same person is extremely rare.

So rare in fact I can think of only two in Japanese comics - Takehiko Inoue and Osamu Tezuka.

In western comics there's Tim Sale (though he probably wouldn't agree with me) Frank Miller (even then, he's not as good a writer as he is artist). To be honest most of the good writers & artists are in the independant comic scene in the tradition of Will Eisner.

But it doesn't matter in western comics, because a truly great writer like Moore, can work with any great artist and the product can be truly greater than the sum.

Western fans of Japanese comics that would rather keep Japanese comics I feel may not be 'unqualified' as in they have compared the two and thus far found western comics wanting, but I don't think they are right in the long run.

In the long run I expect they will notice that once you've read one manga of each major genre (sports, school, fantasy epic, romance, comedy, horror) you have read them all. Their appetite will probably lead them quickly to the best examples of each genre, and inevitably they will discover Tezuka and worship at his alter like many have before.

Then they will get bored, they will grow up and get tired of the parochial stylisation of manga, everything is a tribute to the genius of Tezuka (with very, very, very few exceptions). They will get sick of the poorly researched suedo science and the tired character archetypes. They will meet somebody at college who puts them (back) onto western comics.

They will notice that western comics evolve, adapt, change and grow. People strive to make their mark as individuals within the industry and to lift the comics to a higher level. They will notice that there is a huge difference between the statements 'Then Frank Miller came along in the 80's and changed everything...' and 'Then Akira Toriyama came along in the 80's and changed everything...' (I would argue that Akira Toriyama creator of Dragon Ball franchise changed almost nothing at all.)

Western Comics evolve.

That's why those in the western comics industry should breath a deep sigh of relief. Premature? maybe, they could still lose it from here. Many would point out that 'here' is where the scoreboard reads 100-36 (western comics down).

It's not the first time though that a Japanese industry has risen up to dominate the world, for a period as long as 2-3 decades. I argue that Japanese comics will fall off the map in the same way that Sony has in consumer electronics.

Why? It comes back to demographic number 1, and why their claims of superiority are so meaningless. Westerners are reading Japanese comics, paying attention and Japanese comics are influencing the writing and artwork of western comics. The reverse is totally or mostly untrue. Western comics have had almost no impact on Japanese comics.

Japanese comics are not learning from the west. They are parochially impervious to the idea that western comics have anything to offer. They haven't even read enough to understand the fundamental differences between Batman and Superman (Bruce Wayne puts on his Batman mask, Superman takes off his Clark Kent Mask as Bill pointed out in Kill Bill part 2. Batman is a traumatised child waging an unwinable war against crime, Superman is a boy scout raised in a rockwellian America.) The stylistic deviations between artists are negligible. There is also a negligable population of writer, artist teams. Many super talented artists (Oh Great comes to mind) waste their talents drawing for the garbage THEY WRITE THEMSELVES. They have sloppy storylines, unbelievable characters and incomprehensible motivations. Even the celebrated sensation 'Death Note' suffers from this.

My Prophecy:

Some day, sooner than most Japanese comic fans expect a westerner will write an 'Original English Language Manga' or 'Global Manga' that will have incorporated innovations from the western comic tradition that Japanese comics sorely lack. Somehow, it will become a hit, putting Japanese comics to shame. Within 2-3 years these hybrids will have engulfed Japanese comics foreign markets, it's the sad old tale of Japanese exports.
Just with iPods and Sony MP3 player (I don't even know what they called theirs) so too will 'Mr McGonagen's Fantabulous Contraption' or whatever wipe Shonen Jump off the map. The Japanese industrial complex won't even be able to figure out what happened, because there is no word for 'parochial' in Japanese and then slowly but surely, the domestic market will falter as kids want to read the cool western take on their home comic.
Within ten years Japanese children will be shocked to learn that 'Weekly Zip' the dominant comic book compendium isn't even Japanese, just as they are currently shocked to learn that 'McDonalds' was founded in Atlanta, USA.

Lastly:

I anticipate a few counterarguments (actually with the history of comments on this blog, I more accurately anticipate no counter-arguments) but when they inevitably come up in conversation here's how I will deal with them.

1. But Japanese comics are more mature, they have more mature readership!

It is true, Japanese comics feature rape, sexual abuse, murder... just generally hardcore violence. Again I say, to a 10 year old this seems mature. If you come across it in an actual manga, lets just say it is often handled indelicately, they are not real explorations of complex and mature issues but merely inserted as shock value. A desperate cry for attention, hence the alarming rate with which female characters shake off rape for the next episode.
They aren't included to set up a storyline where the human condition is explored through the psychological aftermath of such decisions. This is more common in western comics where you are far more likely to see Matt Murdoch AKA Daredevil descend into a depressive funk for several issues grieving than you would if it was written for the Japanese market.
Most westerners having a limited knowledge of modern day Japan would be unfamiliar with the body of literature produced by Japanese and foreign commentators about Japan's 'immaturity complex' the perplexing study of why grown Japanese men scream 'Kawaii' and buy cute stuffed pandas, or why you can regularly see 60 year old men reading comics intended for a children's audiance on trains, in convenience stores... everywhere.
Many Japanese men have a refined dignity in my personal experience, but a distressingly large number don't, clapping and laughing when Doreamon dons a dress tears streaming down their eyes.
I said earlier that western comics mature with their readers. (Black Hole, may be a fine example of this, Harry Potter the literary equivalent). The advent of grown men in Japan reading Shonen Jump is not the same - a large proportion of Japanese males simply don't mature and thus, keep reading comics. There is perhaps too much social stigma against grown men (and women) reading comics in the west, there is perhaps not enough social stigma in Japan.
P.S. The seminal work on Japans arrested infancy is called 'Amae' and is a fascinating insight into much perplexing behaviour in Japan.

2. But you just trudge up the worst examples!

Which wa one of the major reasons that Sturgeon's law was created. Sci-fi kept getting criticised for being shit, it is easy to find collaborating evidence there was/is a vast body of Sci-fi that simply isn't worth reading.
So I'll just reiterate that it cuts both ways, If you couldn't walk into a comic book store and find an example of shitty comic writing and art within the first 3 comics you pick up you would be extremely lucky indeed.
But what are we arguing about? Two industries really. The Japanese comic book industry, dominated by a distributor (Shonen Jump) and characterised by A) Black & White, B) A weekly publication Schedule. C) Multiple genres (robot, sci-fi, horror, super hero, epic, romance, sports...) D) Single creator titles. It's that system versus the western which is Multiple distribution channels (with two dominant players Marvel and DC) publishing titles seperately (the apocryphal 'comic book') on a typically monthly or 'one-off' schedule characterised by A) Mainly Colour, B) On going titles (titles can continue for 50 years with multiple creative teams) C) Dominated by superhero genre. D) Variable creative teams. E) Multiple styles.

There is more stylistic difference between artists like Frank Miller, Greg Cappullo, Jack Kirby, Humberto Ramos, Tim Sale, Will Eisner, Chris Ware and Ben Templesmith than there is between Osamu Tezuka, Akira Toriyama, Eichiro Oda, Watsuki Nobuhiro, Masashi Kishimoto, Oh Great! and Urasawa Naoki.

So I'm basically saying that A) the double coincidence of wants: getting a great writer and a great artist is rare, this is the outcome Japanese comics rely on, Western Comics are generally better at mixing and matching great writers with great artists AND if you take the view that the art serves the story (not the other way round) western comics allow great writers that couldn't create comics in Japan (because of their lack of drawing ability) to write great stories, even if the artwork is average.

B)Variety is the spice of life, and even in the dominant superhero genre (which is by no means all western comics have to offer) there is more variety in artwork and narrative than the entire brief history of Japanese comics. For that reason I would rather have western comics and lose the brilliance of Tezuka (and his numerous imitators).

3. 'Coz Bon Jovi Rules!

By this I mean, if you go pick out a Japanese comic that I would call terrible, and submit it as evidence of Japanese comics superiority I can't argue against that. All I can do is privately judge you.
In Yoshi and my 'debate' where I maintain he is unqualified to opine through lack of exposure to any alternative - I charitably pointed out 20th Century Boys as an example of a good (not great) Japanese comic. He said he didn't like it. He then picked out another comic that had terrible artwork (the traditional 'dash' for a nose, big glassy eyes and well cheap animation values) and submitted it as an example of an excellent comic.
Furthermore the only objective measure is sales, and Japanese comics are clearly outselling western ones, and that when they are overpriced too. But just because Bon Jovi sells a lot of albums doesn't make him a great musician. Or in other words, just because it is popular doesn't make it good. Smoking is popular. Eating hamburgers is popular. I can't argue against popularity, but neither is it strictly speaking a logical argument in and of itself. Lest we forget that the Jonas Brothers probably outsell Classical Music currently, should we throw out classical music and keep the Jonas brothers?