From my stint as Content Manager of WirePop (www.wirepop.com), I can personally attest to a growing trend in webmanga. Publishers are actively looking through online comics for potential to publish. TokyoPop alone has contacted nearly every person on the WirePop roster at one time or another. Seven Seas has also contacted numerous webmanga authors (one, too, from WirePop). What's interesting is the vastly different approach the companies are making.
Hello, everyone! My name is Clay Gardner and I'll be a guest-blogger for you this week. My comic interests (if xerexes apt introduction has not made it obvious) concern mainly manga-style comics, and as such, that will probably be the topic of this and future blogs.
It cannot be denied that Japanese manga is taking the world of comics as we know it by storm. A quick look at the local bookstore will reveal that the superhero and indie comics that have shaped and cultivated the American graphic novel have been shoved aside in favor of countless shelves of manga, manwha, and OEL — that's original english language manga — titles. Characters with huge, expressive eyes and technicolor hair have dominated all matters of pop culture. It is not hard to understand why young comic authors have taken to mimicking the style of manga in their attempt at emulating the Japanese stories they've grown to love. Even bigwigs like Marvel have made stints in emulating the Japanese. The problem: the style of manga is not the real reason manga has become so popular.
WirePop is now almost a year old! The first and only subscription site to offer nothing but great Manga-styled comics is opening its doors to new talent once again. Continue Reading
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