Barbiecouture
New member
I think a lot of times people just mean "black and white comic in digest size books" when thinking about manga.
OEL Manga: Good or bad idea?
- Thread starter Cherise
- Start date
a_man_could_stand
New member
Really? So, nothing about the art & story?
Just saying, not trying to be mean.
Just saying, not trying to be mean.
Willy Peter
New member
I mean, I've heard people call something "manga" just because it was in that format. The style could have been "American."
crazycabbie16
New member
Oh, ok then. Sorry.
I also been reading a lot of OEL Manga haters just hate OEL because it doesn't have nothing about the Japanese culture. (I doubt every manga that comes out in japan have japanese culture.) But once an OEL Manga trys to add some Japanese culture in, many OEL heters just saying "They are want-a-be's". (Which I find that funny because a good 50% of the OEL haters are also trying to be "Japanese" want-a-be's too. There's a word for these types of fans, what is it? )
I also been reading a lot of OEL Manga haters just hate OEL because it doesn't have nothing about the Japanese culture. (I doubt every manga that comes out in japan have japanese culture.) But once an OEL Manga trys to add some Japanese culture in, many OEL heters just saying "They are want-a-be's". (Which I find that funny because a good 50% of the OEL haters are also trying to be "Japanese" want-a-be's too. There's a word for these types of fans, what is it? )
chickennugget128
New member
Manga and OEL manga are way so different in pretty much everything EXCEPT the art, in my opinion. If their trying to recreate manga for western audiences then i dont think their doing a very good job.
Ok, so maybe itd be pretty hard, i mean the way comics are published in Japan is completely different then the way things are done in the west, and i think that may also be why they feel so different (to me) when i read them.
(you know, im not even sure what im trying to say, writing this is confusing me).
Ok, so maybe itd be pretty hard, i mean the way comics are published in Japan is completely different then the way things are done in the west, and i think that may also be why they feel so different (to me) when i read them.
(you know, im not even sure what im trying to say, writing this is confusing me).
Same here. It's the colors - the 80's colors really killed it for me. I've seen some of the black and white pages and they're much easier on the eyes. XD
Graphic novel is a term coined by people who generally consider comics to be low-brow. So, comics like say, The Tick will always be comics, but "high brow" comics - comics considered worthy of the literature community at large - such as The Watchmen, or 300, or Bone, are granted the glorious title of "graphic novel". We had a very long discussion on this in my creative graphic novel class. XD
There's no difference between a comic and a graphic novel.
On top of that most manga is in the "graphic novel" section of a bookstore - which, by those definitions, means ALL hard core manga fans read "graphic novels". XD
Er, it's read right to left.
I think the key differences have little to do with art style - that will always come down to opinion. It's the mechanics that really set the two apart. Panel layout, pacing and design are oftentimes miles apart from your standard American fare. Japanese comics are usually (but not always) less wordy, with more emphasis on facial expressions and action. This ultimately effects the pacing; manga is meant to be read quickly, so there will be less to read in the same ammount of pages as an American comic, but about the same ammount of visual information - if not more.
Take the Watchmen for example - had it been drawn with Japanese pacing it probably would have been two - possibly even three times as long simply because the "wall of text" speech bubbles would be broken up and distributed over several panels - if not several pages. Plus, there would have been fewer repeditive pannels - IE the pages and pages of identical rectangular panels. There would have been diagonals, more longshots, more close ups and - what I prayed for while I was reading it - more silent panels.
Graphic novel is a term coined by people who generally consider comics to be low-brow. So, comics like say, The Tick will always be comics, but "high brow" comics - comics considered worthy of the literature community at large - such as The Watchmen, or 300, or Bone, are granted the glorious title of "graphic novel". We had a very long discussion on this in my creative graphic novel class. XD
There's no difference between a comic and a graphic novel.
On top of that most manga is in the "graphic novel" section of a bookstore - which, by those definitions, means ALL hard core manga fans read "graphic novels". XD
Er, it's read right to left.
I think the key differences have little to do with art style - that will always come down to opinion. It's the mechanics that really set the two apart. Panel layout, pacing and design are oftentimes miles apart from your standard American fare. Japanese comics are usually (but not always) less wordy, with more emphasis on facial expressions and action. This ultimately effects the pacing; manga is meant to be read quickly, so there will be less to read in the same ammount of pages as an American comic, but about the same ammount of visual information - if not more.
Take the Watchmen for example - had it been drawn with Japanese pacing it probably would have been two - possibly even three times as long simply because the "wall of text" speech bubbles would be broken up and distributed over several panels - if not several pages. Plus, there would have been fewer repeditive pannels - IE the pages and pages of identical rectangular panels. There would have been diagonals, more longshots, more close ups and - what I prayed for while I was reading it - more silent panels.
Well, I was trun-off by the art work, it's to strict for me. Even though the story is good, it could have gotten decent level of art work.
Putting that aside.
Are OEL Manga good idea? Like I said before I'm planning to do some OEL Manga series for the time being. Should I go to that path, or just go do and make “Graphic Novel”? (Like there's a difference)
And what are you guys hoping for OEL Manga's to improve?
I just find it hard to see why ppl from both sides (Comic & Manga ) hating on OEL?
Putting that aside.
Are OEL Manga good idea? Like I said before I'm planning to do some OEL Manga series for the time being. Should I go to that path, or just go do and make “Graphic Novel”? (Like there's a difference)
And what are you guys hoping for OEL Manga's to improve?
I just find it hard to see why ppl from both sides (Comic & Manga ) hating on OEL?
Lucky Lefty
New member
I would like to see something that's really individualistic and creative; Something that does it's own thing.
Yeah, I thought the characters were too stiff. The environments were great, but the characters coulda used some life. 
Good idea? I think it depenRAB on the story. If the author of a story isn't an artist, they need to find an artist who's style best suits the story. Sometimes a sleek, Japanese style will fit, and sometimes it won't. *shrugs*
I realized the problem with OEL - it's really mediocre. Generic character designs, generic story, and generic art. If the only thing that stanRAB out about it is that it's American artists drawing in a generic manga style (and usually not doing it very well), it gets a lot of hate from all directions. We don't need any more celebration of mediocrity.
If you want to get a good idea of what kinda stuff is out there that's been inspired by manga, check out the Flight anthology. It's gorgeous and no two artists look the same - but you can clearly see the Japanese influence.
Good idea? I think it depenRAB on the story. If the author of a story isn't an artist, they need to find an artist who's style best suits the story. Sometimes a sleek, Japanese style will fit, and sometimes it won't. *shrugs*
I realized the problem with OEL - it's really mediocre. Generic character designs, generic story, and generic art. If the only thing that stanRAB out about it is that it's American artists drawing in a generic manga style (and usually not doing it very well), it gets a lot of hate from all directions. We don't need any more celebration of mediocrity.
If you want to get a good idea of what kinda stuff is out there that's been inspired by manga, check out the Flight anthology. It's gorgeous and no two artists look the same - but you can clearly see the Japanese influence.
It's time for another good idea, bad idea.
Good Idea: Adapting some of the strengths of the Japanese manga industry (keeping costs low by printing in black and white and using smaller teams, keeping creative control in the hanRAB of creators more so than editors, telling stories that have a beginning, middle, and end) to the U.S. comics industry.
Bad Idea: Mindlessly aping the conventions of manga because it's what's "in" right now, whether or not they're appropriate for a given project.
How good any given OEL project is will depend greatly on where it falls on the spectrum between those two ideas.
Good Idea: Adapting some of the strengths of the Japanese manga industry (keeping costs low by printing in black and white and using smaller teams, keeping creative control in the hanRAB of creators more so than editors, telling stories that have a beginning, middle, and end) to the U.S. comics industry.
Bad Idea: Mindlessly aping the conventions of manga because it's what's "in" right now, whether or not they're appropriate for a given project.
How good any given OEL project is will depend greatly on where it falls on the spectrum between those two ideas.
Amber is bored
New member
True, true.
So, have any of you guys ever picked up, read or seen an OEL? If so, what's was your first reaction?
To be honest, I was please america was doing this. This save me a lot of money going to japan doing one thing. But, after reading some of these OEL Manga, I wasn't all please by them. Well, that was before I read “rabQ”.
So, have any of you guys ever picked up, read or seen an OEL? If so, what's was your first reaction?
To be honest, I was please america was doing this. This save me a lot of money going to japan doing one thing. But, after reading some of these OEL Manga, I wasn't all please by them. Well, that was before I read “rabQ”.
Rev. wing wang woo woo
New member
Or graphic novels.
But, why not calling the comic “OEL”?
I know a good chunk of Comic Book lovers hate manga, and if they see a comic that have a japanese style, they might just see it as a plan manga.
But, why not calling the comic “OEL”?
I know a good chunk of Comic Book lovers hate manga, and if they see a comic that have a japanese style, they might just see it as a plan manga.