Feb 19, 2010

Among certain parts of manga fandom, global manga (or OEL manga) is viewed as the comic-book equivalent of New Coke: the packaging might be similar, but the taste is different and, as these fans would have it, not as good as the original. It’s a shame this attitude persists, because there’s a growing community of artists in Europe and the United States whose work isn’t just a slavish imitation of popular Japanese models, but a unique synthesis of Eastern and Western styles. Below, I’ve highlighted ten global manga that best embody this fusion, and throw in a few honorable mentions for good measure.

A few caveats about this list. First, I’ve focused primarily on American artists, as my readership is based in the United States. If there are Canadian, European, Australian, or South American artists who I’ve neglected, please feel free to educate me below. Second, my list does not include manhua or manhwa, as those traditions are more established, and draw on some of the same artistic and cultural traditions as manga. And third, my list does not include such YA franchises as Maximum Ride, Odd Thomas, or Warriors, as I wanted to focus on original works. Got some additional recommendations? Please share them in the comments!

10. THE DREAMING

Queenie Chan • Tokyopop • 3 volumes (also available as a single omnibus edition)

Not long after identical twins Jeanie and Amber Malkin enroll at a boarding school in the Australian outback, one of their classmates disappears, triggering a series of eerie, unexplained events. Queenie Chan creates the perfect atmosphere for this Picnic at Hanging Rock meets The Orphanage ghost story; with its Gothic architecture and period furnishings, the school looks like something from a Hammer Studio film, filled with walled-off chambers, mysterious paintings, and apparitions in Victorian dress. The first two volumes are solid and smartly paced, but the third suffers from a bad case of compression; one wishes that Tokyopop had given Chan four volumes instead of three so that Chan could show more and tell less. Still, it’s impossible to deny this emerging artist’s considerable talent, and easy to see why Del Rey hired her to adapt Odd Thomas from novel to manga. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 12/6/06.)

9. OFF*BEAT

Jen Lee Quick • Tokyopop • 2 volumes, suspended

Off*Beat, an ambitious mixture of science fiction, realism, and romance, focuses on Tory, a smart, lonely teen who lives with his mother in Queens. When a boy his own age moves in across the street, Tory becomes infatuated with Colin, observing and recording Colin’s behavior in a journal, and angling to become Colin’s math tutor. Midway through the story, Jen Lee Quick introduces a subplot that hints at Colin’s involvement with something called the Gaia Project — an organization that may be responsible for Colin’s mysterious blackouts. Unfortunately, Tokyopop pulled the plug on the third and final volume; we’ll never know if the Gaia conspiracy is real or a product of Tory’s vivid imagination. Either way, Off*Beat is an engrossing read that vividly evokes urban life and thoughtfully explores the boundaries between same-sex friendship and romance.

8. BLUE MONDAY

Chynna Clugston • Oni Press • 4 volumes

Though Chynna Clugston’s artwork suggests a strong manga influence, her take-no-guff female characters are a welcome departure from the plain Janes and trembling wallflowers found throughout shojo mangadom. Blue Monday charts the ups and downs of Bleu Finnegan, a California teen whose enthusiasms are all over the map: Adam Ant albums, Buster Keaton flicks, vintage mod fashions. Bleu spends most of her time hanging out with a small posse of friends that include Clover, an Irish ex-pat; Alan, a sex-addled player; Victor, a reformed Goth; Erin, a scheming frenemy; and Monkeyboy, an underclassman who hides behind a curtain of hair. At times, the stories feel a little frenetic, but Clugston does a fine job of capturing this co-ed group’s dynamic, from the endless your-mama jokes to the earnest pop culture analysis. Too bad no one from Minx thought to commission a book from Clugston, as Blue Monday‘s frank, free-wheeling humor and girl-positive message would have been a welcome addition to their line.

7. JAPAN AI: A TALL GIRL’S ADVENTURES IN JAPAN

Aimee Major Steinberger • Go! Comi • 1 volume

In ten charmingly illustrated chapters, animator and avid cosplayer Aimee Major Steinberger documents her 2007 trip to Japan, where she visited otaku hotspots from the manga shops of Akihabara to the back door of the Takarazuka Revue. Steinberger’s simple but evocative art does a beautiful job conveying both the essential strangeness of being a tall American woman in Japan and the sheer joy of being a fangirl in the otaku motherland. The only drawback to Japan-Ai is the packaging: the sparkling pink cover and bubbly font — presumably derived from Steinberger’s handwriting — may deter male readers from purchasing a book that looks suspiciously like a SnoBall. That’s a pity, because Steinberger’s narrative is funny and informative, filled with the kind of interesting digressions on kogal fashions, Takarazuka fan culture, and onsen etiquette that any budding Japanophile would find enlightening. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 12/19/07.)

6. EMPOWERED

Adam Warren • Dark Horse • 6 volumes, ongoing

Empowered is a unique crossover, a manga-influenced comic that parodies tights-and-capes conventions with raunchy gusto. Its heroine, Elissa Megan Powers, a.k.a. Empowered, is a superhero who struggles with self-esteem issues and social anxiety — two problems compounded by her utterly unreliable super-suit, which is prone to ripping and exposing her at inopportune moments. In less skillful hands, Empowered would be pure cheesecake, but Adam Warren manages the difficult trick of drawing a heroine whose costume failures do more than just titillate (if you’ll pardon the expression), they shed light on the objectification of female superheroes in mainstream American comics. Warren also has a ball satirizing manga, as Empowered’s best friend is a reformed villainess imaginatively named Ninjette. Rude, silly fun.

5. 12 DAYS

June Kim • Tokyopop • 1 volume

When Jackie’s ex-girlfriend Noah dies in a car accident, Jackie decides that the best strategy for coping with her grief is to consume Noah’s ashes in the form of a daily smoothie. Over the course of twelve days, Jackie punishes herself with this gruesome ritual while confronting painful memories of Noah and sparring with Noah’s brother Nick. Though the smoothie conceit is self-consciously literary — Jackie’s ash-drinking ritual has an analog in classical antiquity — June Kim’s book remains true to life, filled with lovely, quiet observations about the way we grieve, define family, express desire, and remember moments of hurt and betrayal. Kim dares to fill up pages with nothing more than realistically drawn close-ups of faces and hands, allowing us to experience the characters’ emptiness for ourselves. Some poor design choices on Tokyopop’s part — namely, a hideous font — mar, but don’t ruin, Kim’s carefully composed layouts. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 12/6/06.)

4. KING CITY

Brandon Graham • Image Comics/Tokyopop • 1 volume, ongoing (first volume was reissued by Image Comics in shorter installments)

King City was one of several titles stuck in limbo when Tokyopop restructured its global manga initiative, eventually finding a new home and a new (floppy) format at Image Comics. The larger trim size suits the material, giving Brandon Graham’s detailed cityscapes and characters a little more room to breathe. The story is an agreeable mess, chronicling the adventures of Joe, a twenty-something dude with a talent for picking locks and getting mixed up in dangerous (read: illegal) activities. Aiding him is Earthling J. J. Catterworth the Third, a cat capable of transforming into whatever tool Joe needs — a weapon, a periscope — and Joe’s geeky sidekick Pete. Though the story sometimes has a forced zaniness to it, Graham is an imaginative cartoonist capable of drawing anything from super-sexy Gothic girls to dinosaurs. His affection for manga is evident throughout the series, most notably in his use of evocative but silly sound effects, and in his fondness for extreme camera angles… just because.

3. YOKAIDEN

Nina Matsumoto • Del Rey • 2 volumes, ongoing

Nina Matsumoto made a splash back in 2007 with a manga-fied rendition of the entire Simpsons cast. What could have been a passing moment of Internet notoriety helped open doors for her, however, leading to an offer from Del Rey to pitch an original story. The result is Yokaiden, a supernatural adventure about a young boy whose knowledge of and trust in yokai is put to the test when a vengeful kappa steals his grandmother’s soul. Among the many pleasures of Matsumoto’s smartly paced series are the yokai themselves; her demons would be right at home in the Hokusai Manga or an eighteenth-century scroll painting. The script is a little tin-eared at times, but the humor and stylish artwork more than compensate for a few clunky passages.

2. NIGHTSCHOOL: THE WEIRN BOOKS

Svetlana Chmakova • Yen Press • 4 volumes

At first glance, Nightschool looks the product of a teen focus group, a mash-up of Twilight, Harry Potter, and a dozen other fantasy series starring vampires and wizards. A closer look, however, reveals that Svetlana Chmakova has fashioned an engrossing supernatural mystery from elements of domestic drama, horror, and humor: an eye-of-newt solution comes with a “may contain peanuts” warning, a beleaguered headmaster finds an ingenious solution for including vampires in the high school yearbook. (They don’t show up on film.) Chmakova doesn’t skimp on the action, either, staging scenes of nocturnal combat with great aplomb. Perhaps most exciting thing about Nightschool is seeing the degree to which her storytelling has evolved since she burst on the scene in 2005; though Chmakova’s trademark style is immediately recognizable, the layouts are looser and more dynamic than Dramacon‘s, playing a more integral role in advancing the plot.

1. SCOTT PILGRIM

Bryan Lee O’Malley • Oni Press • 6 volumes

In case you’ve been living under a rock, here’s the deal with Scott Pilgrim: this goofy series documents the romantic misadventures of a twenty-three-year-old slacker while poking fun at hipster culture in such a way that everyone has something to knowingly laugh at, from classic video games to indie rock. The best part of Scott Pilgrim is its central conceit: our hero must defeat The League of Evil Ex-Boyfriends, a loose consortium of his girlfriend’s previous lovers, before the couple can enjoy true relationship bliss. Scott’s travails are an apt metaphor for the way most of us feel when we embark on a new relationship: we’d like to leave our baggage behind and make a fresh start of things, but it usually takes a whole lot of effort — and maybe some Mortal Kombat — to get there. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 11/14/07.)

HONORABLE MENTIONS

GOTHIC SPORTS (By Anike Hage • Tokyopop • 3 volumes, ongoing): This German import focuses on Anya, a transfer student desperate to join one of her new school’s top-ranked sports teams. Her efforts are frustrated both by her lack of skill and the school’s limited opportunities for female athletes. Anya refuses to be sidelined, however, and forms a co-ed soccer team notable for its inclusiveness and its stylin’ uniforms. The pacing is a little slow, and the backgrounds aren’t nearly as well rendered as the characters — or their elaborate outfits, for that matter — but Gothic Sports serves up a good mix of drama, humor, and game play. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 9/26/07.)

HOLLOW FIELDS (By Madeline Rosca • Seven Seas • 3 volumes): Nine-year-old Lucy Snow is bound for the genteel halls of Saint Galbat’s Academy for Young Ladies, but bad directions from a stranger lead her instead to Hollow Fields, a.k.a. Miss Weaver’s Academy for the Scientifically Gifted and Ethically Unfettered. Though Lucy’s gut instinct is to flee, she enrolls at Miss Weaver’s school—after all, the tuition is free and her private room has its own bath. What Lucy discovers is that Miss Weaver has been culling the student body, sending the slackers to a detention center from which no one has returned. Looking at Madeline Rosca’s crisp character designs and steampunk setting, it’s easy to see why Hollow Fields nabbed an International Manga Award in 2007: her art is the real deal. The story’s brisk pace and macabre sense of humor are pluses, too. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock, 7/12/07).

MANGA SHAKESPEARE: OTHELLO (By Ryuta Osada • Self-Made Hero • 1 volume): I’ll be honest: I’ve been unimpressed with many of Self-Made Hero’s Manga Shakespeare volumes, both for the unpolished artwork and for the editorial handling of the Bard’s best-known speeches. Ryuta Osada’s adaptation of Othello is a notable exception, with strong, arresting visuals, and an anthropomorphic approach to character design that puts a fresh spin on the material. Enjoyable whether you’re tackling Othello for sophomore English or revisiting it for the fifth time.

RE:PLAY (By C. Lijewski • Tokyopop • 3 volumes): Drawing on a variety of musical and manga influences — Linkin Park, Naked Ape, and Tite Kubo among them — Christy Lijewski tells the story of a struggling band whose fortunes change when they meet a stranger busking on the streets. The catch: mystery man Iszak may not be human. The supernatural element sometimes feels as if it’s been grafted onto a more conventional rock-n-roll drama, but the crisp dialogue and unique artwork more than offset a few moments of dramatic weakness. (Click here for my review of volume three at Good Comics for Kids; click here for my 2008 interview with Lijewski at PopCultureShock.)

SORCERERS & SECRETARIES (By Amy Kim Ganter • Tokyopop • 2 volumes) This two-volume romance explores the relationship between mousy Nicole Hayes, an aspiring fantasy writer, and flirtatious Josh Kim, an aspiring ladies’ man. Like many series in Tokyopop’s OEL line, Sorcerers & Secretaries feels pat, as the obstacles in the couple’s way — she wants to write, he wants to take her on a date — are really nothing more than speed bumps. Ganter pulls off the difficult balancing act between respecting her characters’ motivations and recognizing the youthful naivete of their beliefs, however, preventing this sweet, sincere story from becoming sappy. (Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 6/7/07.)

TALKING TO STRANGERS (Stories by Fehed Said, Art by Chloe Citrine, Sonia Leong, Nana Li, Win Yun Man, and Faye Yong • Sweatdrop Studios • 1 volume): This six-story collection runs the gamut, subject- and style-wise, from horror to comedy, making it a good introduction to the writers and artists of British manga publisher Sweatdrop Studios. (Click here for my review at The Manga Critic.)

25 Comments

uberVU - social comments February 20, 2010 at 9:12 AM

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Kris February 20, 2010 at 11:38 AM

This is great.
I know a lot of people who like RE: Play, including plenty of Japanese manga fans. I’ve never seen it, but even with its fans, Tokyopop’s treatment of the title doesn’t help it succeed…. It always seems to be in limbo, or in danger of being canceled.

Actually…I haven’t read any of those on your list. I’ve read Dramacon, which was cute. I looked at, I think it was called, My Cat Loki, and I thought it was atrocious. Looked at Vampire Kisses, which I thought was a cheap knockoff of Twilight, and didn’t think much of it. I’m reading Return to Labyrinth, which I don’t actually think much of; if I wasn’t a fan of the film, I wouldn’t touch it.

I don’t know if MegaTokyo fits with the others on your list, as it’s a webcomic, but it has been published, and it does have kind of a manga format. More so these days than its early days. It’s fantastic.
Tacto February 20, 2010 at 11:54 AM

Nice overview, Kate. I think “Hollow Fields” of Madeleine Rosca deserves a mention as well.
Katherine Dacey February 20, 2010 at 12:00 PM

@Kris: I agree that those Jim Henson projects are really best for folks with good memories of the original films. I saw both The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth when they originally ran in movie house (back in the Stone Ages, before the Internet, cell phones, and indoor plumbing) and neither made a big impression on me, so I haven’t been following those projects with keen interest. As for the rest of Tokyopop’s line-up, I agree — it’s pretty hit-or-miss. I liked RE:Play, and think the series fits better with the three-volume framework than many of the other titles in the Tokyopop OEL line.

@Tacto: Good to hear from you, and yikes — how did I forget Hollow Fields? I think I may need to do an addendum to this post! Thanks for pointing out the oversight. (Goes and lashes herself with a wet noodle…)
Katherine Dacey February 20, 2010 at 12:31 PM

Hollow Fields has been added to the list. Thanks for the suggestion, Tacto! Any other recommendations from readers?
Jade February 20, 2010 at 6:05 PM

‘Picnic at Hanging Rock meets The Orphanage,’ geh, that’s horrifying. I’m going to be creeped out all night because of that.

I have to admit a couple of skeptical reactions to your list, but there are only so many of these books floating around and overall, it introduces some really interesting books more than a couple mehs.

Some of the negative reactions to global manga are justified to particular books, but a lot of the general negativity is border-line racist or places so much importance on cultural specifics that it’s hard to imagine those particular detractors can even understand Japanese manga in the first place. To so many fans, ‘manga’ has real personal cultural meaning since super heroes have never welcomed women or minorities or generally anyone who just didn’t subscribe to their personal adolescent power fantasies. I just wish more fans realised that that’s the same reason many of these creators are making ‘OEL Manga’ or ‘Global Manga.’ The terms mean just as much to them.
Rob McMonigal February 20, 2010 at 10:14 PM

Blue Monday and Scott Pilgrim were my first thoughts, not surprised to see them here.

I think I am the only person I know who didn’t care for Empowered. I tried, but I just didn’t think it was that funny.
Birthday book: Lost at Sea « The Manga Curmudgeon February 21, 2010 at 6:24 AM

[...] Scott Pilgrim books, which Kate (The Manga Critic) Dacey puts in the number one slot of her list of ten great global manga. (That’s a great list, by the way. I can’t think of a thing I’d add.) But chances [...]
Katherine Dacey February 21, 2010 at 10:16 AM

@Jade: I tried to cover a range of genres and approaches with the list — some of these books are more problematic than others, but I thought all of them demonstrated an intelligent (if not always 100% successful) effort to assimilate manga storytelling techniques into the artists’ own style. I’ve read my share of really dreadful stuff, but I reserve my ire for titles where the word “manga” has been applied to something for marketing purposes only, e.g. The Manga Bible. (For folks who like their Old Testament with a few high-speed camel chases, I guess.)

Your points about identity are well-taken. The fact that there’s so much manga for girls and women was one of the things that rencouraged me to be a comic reader in the first place — I wouldn’t have touched Superman with a ten-foot pole, but X/1999? More my speed. Small wonder female artists would want to create material for that same audience!

@Rob: Glad to see Blue Monday has some other fans out there! Makes me nostalgic for my high school days.

As for not liking Empowered… I’m sure there’s a great post to be done about “books I hated but everyone else seemed to love.” I’d probably be ridden out of town on the rails if I composed my list, as it includes some sacred manga cows!
Jade February 21, 2010 at 6:54 PM

@Kate: Right, I thought it was put together well and there aren’t any complete jobbers on the list. It’s just tough to draw those lines between critically awesome and audience acclaimed and genre representation. The topic of global manga in any form is a balancing act right out of the gate, so I bow to your superior writing abilities rather than crying about what wasn’t filed under what number, heehee.

Wah, my comments on identity came out so goofy, I’m glad you understood. I was worried about who might be offended by this or that and it turned into more of a mess the more I tried to make it clearer. I don’t even understand how I ended up saying ‘minority,’ I really hate that word.
Katherine Dacey February 21, 2010 at 7:34 PM

I didn’t take your comments as a criticism, Jade — I was just clarifying where I was coming from, and acknowledging your comment about quality. There’s a lot of dreck out there, and I’ve read more than my fair share. I don’t know if I’ll ever purge the memory of I Luv Halloween from my brain, but I surely hope I do!
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[...] Readers like myself, appreciate lists. Here is the Manga Critic’s Ten Great Global Manga, focusing on American artists or OEL (wiki) (Original English Language-manga). Among [...]
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David February 22, 2010 at 11:42 AM

You obviously don’t read “Nana.” It’s better than all of those books.
Katherine Dacey February 22, 2010 at 12:50 PM

David, you obviously didn’t read the introduction to my essay, as you’re completely missing the point of this list. These are recommendations for folks who are interested in exploring what kind of global manga is out there, not an assertion that these books are better than series licensed by Viz, Tokyopop, Dark Horse, CMX, et al. And yes, I’ve read (and reviewed) NANA, though I have to say I’m more partial to the work of Mitsukazu Mihara, Moyocco Anno, and Mari Okazaki.
Tim Beedle February 22, 2010 at 3:35 PM

Hi Kate! Reading this list was like a welcome visit from some old friends. Really nice to see Scott Pilgrim, Offbeat, King City and Re:Play on the list, as well as so many other titles I love. And you piqued my interest in reading Yokaiden and Hollow Fields, and reminded me that I really need to pick up Nightschool. There’s only one title that I feel truly deserves to be on this list, but isn’t: MBQ, by Felipe Smith. Did you ever read/review it? I think it’s a brilliant observation on urban life and satire of manga culture. And as you know, Felipe’s now drawing for Kodansha, so he’s definitely an artist that the Japanese manga community has embraced!
Katherine Dacey February 22, 2010 at 3:48 PM

Good to hear from you, Tim! I never read MBQ (I seem to remember opinion was split between haterz and lovers), but now seems like a great time to give it a shot. Thanks for the suggestion!
Tim Beedle February 22, 2010 at 5:20 PM

Hopefully you can find it. I believe it’s out of print. But if you can hunt down the series or borrow copies from someone who has them, I think you’ll find them well worth a read. It’s definitely an adult series, but it’s one I think you’ll appreciate and enjoy.

Personally, I can’t wait till Felipe’s new series gets released in the United States. It’ll be interesting to see what sort of reviews that one gets from the manga sites.
Ken Haley February 22, 2010 at 5:42 PM

Ooo, a nice list. It’s always nice to see books from non-manga publishers getting some love from the manga community.

Just wondering, but have you ever read anything by Andi Watson? Everytime people put a list of manga influences western comics his name never turns up, but his work always struck me as the kind that would slot in nicely alongside things like Scott Pilgrim and the rest.
Katherine Dacey February 22, 2010 at 8:20 PM

@Tim: Thanks for the tip! It sounds like my best bet would be to trawl for used copies online or visit the library.

@Ken: Interesting suggestion! I have read a few things by Andi Watson — Glister, Paris and Geisha among them — but didn’t think to include him in this list. In retrospect, however, that omission seems like a pretty glaring oversight! Do you have a favorite Watson title, or one that you think best exemplifies a synthesis of Eastern and Western practices?
Ken Haley February 23, 2010 at 12:16 AM

Personally I’d probably go with Geisha. After I mentioned it I flipped through a few of his TPB’s and kind of slapped myself on the head. I forgot about the big shift in his visual style, that might be why he gets overlooked so much. Oops!
david brothers February 23, 2010 at 3:26 PM

Adam Warren’s Empowered is a personal favorite of mine for sure. I love that when he got down to doing a story about internet fandom, he got Jo Chen to draw a yaoi dojinshi about a couple characters within the book itself. I think it’s such a good book because the satire goes both ways– he’s not afraid to take his own concept and go “Look at this. Isn’t this ridiculous?”

Adam Warren’s history as doing global manga is pretty fascinating, too. I have several of his Dirty Pair and Bubblegum Crisis books from the early ’90s and it’s kind of a trip seeing official American versions of (then-)popular anime, particularly when you consider that manga wasn’t even close to being the marketplace juggernaut that it is today.

Having that history in mind also makes Empowered even more interesting. He was good before, and he did a killer Kenichi Sonoda impression, but he’s amazing now.

Chyna Clugston is pretty great, too.

I wonder where Stan Sakai would be categorized in terms of global manga? Usagi Yojimbo is a treat.
Katherine Dacey February 23, 2010 at 5:19 PM

Hi, David! Great points about Adam Warren, and about Empowered. If you’re going to write a series about a superhero plagued by wardrobe malfunctions, that’s the way to go!

As for Stan Sakai, I debated whether to include him on the list. I’ve read some but not all of Usagi Yojimbo, and though many of the plots seem like affectionate parodies of Koike et al., I wasn’t sure if Sakai sees himself as a manga-influenced artist. A lot of his early work seemed pretty well grounded in American comic/cartooning traditions.
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[...] Nine-year-old Lucy Snow is bound for the genteel halls of Saint Galbat’s Academy for Young Ladies, but bad directions from a stranger lead her instead to Hollow Fields, a.k.a. Miss Weaver’s Academy for the Scientifically Gifted and Ethically Unfettered. Though Lucy’s gut instinct is to flee, she enrolls at Miss Weaver’s school—after all, the tuition is free and her private room has its own bath. What Lucy discovers is that Miss Weaver has been culling the student body, sending the slackers to a detention center from which no one has returned. Looking at Madeline Rosca’s crisp character designs and steampunk setting, it’s easy to see why Hollow Fields nabbed an International Manga Award in 2007: her art is the real deal. The story’s brisk pace and macabre sense of humor are pluses, too. –Originally reviewed at PopCultureShock on 7/12/07; updated at The Manga Critic on 2/19/10 [...]