American Manga... Generation Huh?

[doronjosama]

Over at AnimeNewsNetwork, there's an article about a new book coming out called Mangaka America. Basically, a who's who kind of book, featuring the new generation of American manga artists. Seems like a good idea, right? Well, yes, and while I am delighted that my friend Adam Warren is writing the foreword and that veterans like shutterbox and rikkisimons are finally getting some good press (despite their last name being misspelled, again, sheesh), I have issues with the comments on the article. In particular, one comment where someone says, and I quote directly, (all original spelling, punctuation and grammar preserved):

"i glad american manga-ka are getting more in the spotlight.

the first generation of manga ka!"

Whoa, whoa, whoa, back up there, Tex... FIRST generation? Oh, I don't think so. To be quite technical, the first generation of American manga artists (or "manga-ka", as they are so trendily being called now, though the word "manga-ka" just means "comic artist" if you talk to a Japanese person, so even Greg Land would be called that if he went to Japan- he would just be an amecomi manga-ka...) hit these shores in the 1980's. Artists like Ben Dunn, Lea Hernandez, Adam Warren, Ted Nomura, Tim Eldred, Stan Sakai, Rikki & Tavisha, Colleen Doran, Reggie Byers, Barry Blair, Greg Espinoza and even Frank Miller all worked with a manga influence back in the 1980's. They are the First Generation of American Manga-ka (and honestly, I only use this term because the book does... some of these artists I list would never refer to themselves as such). The 1990's brought the Second Generation of American Manga-ka, with Fred Perry, Joe Wight, Pat Duke, Robert DeJesus, Tyrone Ford, Dave Wilson (and the rest of the Antarctic Press crew of the 90's...), Bruce Lewis, Joe Madureira, Humberto Ramos, Chynna Clugston, Will Allison, and Dean Hsieh. I'd say the Third Generation would include people like Josh Lesnick, Diana Sprinkle, Michael Vega, Locke, Eddie Perkins, Ferdinand Poblete, PMBQ, David Hutchison, Rod Espinosa, Susan Meyer, ET and Elizabeth Bryan, Jo Chen, Skottie Young and John Barrett. The current TokyoPop/Webcomic Generation is at least the Fourth Generation of American Manga-ka. It's hard to divide everyone up into strictly defined decade-based generations also, since so many of the people from the First Generation continued to work in a manga-influenced style from the time they started until now- it's just now they're perceived as "bandwagon jumpers", instead of "people who worked really hard for a long time in a style that was incredibly uncommercial in this country until just recently". I remember when you could not get arrested if you drew in a manga-influenced style- now, it's all the rage.

Anyway, there's my curmudgeonly two cents. I wish the current generation of American manga artists and their fanatical supporters would stop acting like they just invented the wheel. People have been doing manga-influenced comics storytelling in this country since the 1980's. Or the late 1970's, if you want to throw Wendy Pini into the mix. I just wish the people who came before would get their "propers" every once in a while.

ETA: Added links to as many people as I could find.

Comments

[jeepersjournal.livejournal.com]

Oh dear...... I hope they clear that up. It's quite the bit of false advertising to be using your names like that for so long. And I wanted nice Tavi art. Though yeah, the artists in it should make it worth a purchase.

What's so bad about being a cartoonist, anime fandom 0_0? I don't even use mangaka when referring to japanese artists....

[shutterbox.livejournal.com]

=D Exactly, there is nothing bad about being called a cartoonist or illustrator~ I'm born and raised in the US of A. I only use the term "mangaka" when addressing Japanese artists who were born and published in Japan. But, an even more respectful title for these professional Japanese artists is "sensei". This term seems to be completely disregarded by this new generation~ and I guess some might think of it as too formal or old-fashion, but I still see it as a form of respect, and use it when addressing a particular Japanese pro artist~ such as, I'm a fan of MonkeyPunch- sensei. Especially if I meet an elder Japanese pro in person, I wouldn't address them by their name, I would simply call them "sensei" out of high respect. It was Osamu Tezuka-sensei who coined this term for artists, as he was a doctor before he became a professional mangaka.