To me who started this whole thing of cheap half-finished adaptation and marketed it as “better”, “more true to the original” is a marketing genius. It’s perhaps one of the best examples of taking a flaw and turning it into a “feature”. At the same time it reduces the costs, and makes perhaps harder to people who are accustomed to the wrong reading order to read western comics, somewhat like an hermetic sealing to the competition. And many manga fans will readily approve it and boo anyone who attempts to do a better work of adaptation. It’s like a mixture of the work of a con man with the self-perpetuating mechanisms of a urban myth/meme. The con victims become themselves “infectious” and spread the con voluntarily and happily.

[...] Do we see with our eyes or our brains? Also, you can find some interesting discussions on Getting Women to Read Comics and Men T Read Manga. ♦ Tell it like it is, Rocket Bomber. Tell ‘em how it used to be before printing and how [...]

“Your going to tell me that manga is less objectifying then spiderman/X-men?…”

In other words, “…that comics originally written in Japanese are less objectifying than two series of superhero-genre comics originally written in English?…”

That’s not like comparing apples and oranges, it’s like comparing an entire apple orchard and one crate of apples.

“…For every silly wonderwomen outfit we got a Tokyo Mew Mew transformation that is just as silly…”

For every silly Wonder Woman outfit we got a whole bunch of manga things, including yes a Tokyo Mew Mew transformation that is just as silly but also several other things from silly to serious.

Johanna Says:

“I’m saying that manga is more diverse than superhero comics…”

Exactly! It’s the same way novels originally written in Korean are more diverse than mystery novels originally written in Swedish.

Johanna Says:

“Ralf, I think Eagle is out of print, unfortunately (since I never got a chance to read it)…”

Ralf, get thee to a library, and don’t forget interlibrary loan! :D

Anon, comics is a lot more than just superheroes. I think those other choices are much better suited to female readers, as well as being easier to find (in bookstores instead of comic shops).

“I don’t know why you’d want to try and get people to read more superhero comics. Seems like something of a futile effort, when there are so many other great comic choices, in both series and graphic novels.”
Sorry I thought the goal was getting women to read comics or something.

I think Fullmetal Alchemist is a good general purpose action-y recommendation. It got a dash of fantasy, a pinch of scifi, and enough meat to keep you interested before you realize the stories are superb. It’s one of my absolute favorite series, manga or not.

This is why I was hooked on Naoki Urasawa’s work (Monster, 20th Century Boys, Pluto). It fits perfectly with the mix of titles that most male fans of American comics read now. As Daryl noted we are an older bunch now and prefer more mature writing.

Most of my male friends have had the same problem as me. We would like to read manga but have no clue where to start since we are turned off by things like Naruto. Thankfully most of us are learning of Urasawa now but going beyond his work among manga is proving to be a real challenge.

I don’t know why you’d want to try and get people to read more superhero comics. Seems like something of a futile effort, when there are so many other great comic choices, in both series and graphic novels.

“Superhero comics (which are only a subset of Western comics, by the way) face more barriers in acceptance.”
Bingo! we got another factor!

“While (let’s say) 90% of superhero books are sexist”
God if they are so sexist why are we even trying to get people to read them?

[...] Another take on getting women to read comics: getting men to read manga [...]

My “leaving aside sexism” in superhero comics wasn’t denying it. I was saying that there were also other reasons that women wouldn’t be interested in that genre. Superhero comics (which are only a subset of Western comics, by the way) face more barriers in acceptance.

“As for why women don’t read superhero comics, leaving aside the sexism:”
No lets not, lets lay it on the table. Do you think western comics are more sexist story wise and image wise then popular manga?
If yes then I challenge that perception. If no then it falls to the type of story’s being told… or that other idea.

“it’s off-putting to anyone who isn’t already indoctrinated, not just females.”
Right that effects everyone… so it would mot effect women any more then men so whats it got to do with why women don’t read superhero comics when InuYasha was popular with the girls?

As for why women don’t read superhero comics, leaving aside the sexism: Even with its long run, something like Naruto is easier to start than something like X-Men. With Naruto, there’s a clear starting point, a clear next volume, and a single series to follow. X-Men has multiple titles, different creators doing different stories, stories that do nothing but refer to storylines that happened years ago… it’s off-putting to anyone who isn’t already indoctrinated, not just females.

The fact is that girls are told constantly that “REAL GIRLS DON’T DO THAT” and it is constantly reinforced by the fans.

“Sometimes girls are told that they can’t or shouldn’t play RPGs or video games. But more often, I think, they are told that they don’t. The cultural message is sometimes wrapped in hand-wringing and good intentions, but the underlying assumption beneath “Why don’t girls play video games?” is still “Girls don’t play video games.”"
~E. Cabell Hankinson Gathman

Makes me think it is the reputation that women should not read western comics that is the real culprit.

Seriously, if you like superheroes the leap to samurai is not such a huge one, and not to be all ‘men can only read manly comics’ but this is an extremely manly comic. In a good way. With beautiful art, loads of character development, and kickass fight scenes like you would not believe.