History of Manga Comic Books

Japanese comic books are far more successful than their American counterparts. As comics and print cartoons have been popular in Japan for nearly a century, their individualistic style has been categorized into a term known as manga.

The modern form of manga developed in Japan shortly after World War II. Most historians believe the styles stem from early forms of visual art from the Meiji period. In addition, some of the first works were influenced by comic books brought to Japan during the U.S. occupation. The burst of Japanese artistic creativity in manga stemmed heavily from the evolution of Japan from a militaristic nation to a country attempting to discover its new place within the world. This created stories that dealt with more fantastic ideas out of the norm for Japanese culture.

Astro Boy, by Osamu Tezuka, became the standard-bearer for manga and many manga-influenced comic books for years to come. Beginning in 1951, Astro Boy became a manga and television success that gave the genre the boost it needed with Japanese media.

Unlike American comic books, manga does not emphasize costumed superheroes. Characters like Superman and Spider-Man failed to generate much interest with the Japanese public. Instead stories that focused on space travel, robots and sports became the most popular.

The influence of women on manga has also developed over the years. At first, the role of women was limited to situations where a hero rescues a girl. However, as years progressed, female warriors and sorcerers became more prevalent until women became just as popular within the medium as men.

Manga became popular in the U.S. only after the success of many anime series and films. By the late 1980s, various manga publications were released to great success. Unlike, in Japan, where manga is released in book format, the U.S. manga was serialized in single issues. Akira, Oh My Goddess!, and Appleseed became hugely successful, sparking major interest from comic book fans and publishers alike. The U.S. market finally exploded in the 1990s with the release of the anime and manga of Ghost in the Shell. With a theatrical release and major comic book advertising, Ghost in the Shell became one of the most popular manga in U.S. history.

Today, manga is published worldwide and has developed into a $4 billion industry, with $200 million of that accounting for U.S. sales alone.

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