Navigating the Manga/Comics Divide

Ever since manga invaded comic book shops and bookstores across the country in the early 00’s, fans have drawn battle lines. Manga has been looked down upon as childish and annoying; every series has a similar premise led by a cast of characters with abnormally large eyes and dangerously spiky hair. In turn, Western comics are stereotyped into the superhero genre, which is viewed as bland and repetitive. In reality, some individual manga series are in fact better than a few Western comic books, and vice versa. Whatever you call them, manga, manwha, or graphic novels, comics are comics, and no matter the style or direction that they’re read in, the stories tend to be universal. Nerds need to band together and embrace other’s cultures and ideas, because whether or not anyone wants to admit it, Goku is very similar to Superman.