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Post by YourAverageJoe on Mar 5, 2007 20:21:16 GMT -5
This may come off as a shock to some, but Fullmetal Alchemist is still running.
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Post by MRSKELETON on Mar 5, 2007 22:36:28 GMT -5
That's understandable because they totally messed up the ending with the anime.
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Post by vysethebold on Mar 5, 2007 22:43:28 GMT -5
Yeah, I wish they would only make an anime adaptation if the manga is done. I know it isn't capitalizing on the popularity of the manga as quickly, but at least they know how to pace the anime and see how many seasons they should shoot for. Now, we'll never get another season of Berserk or another season of Fullmetal Alchemist because they jumped the gun.
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Post by rorshacma on Mar 6, 2007 0:42:10 GMT -5
Anyway, I do agree somewhat with an earlier statement, about American comics not exactly being as varied as Japanese manga, but I guess it's just what each region of the world is accustomed to. America likes heroes with powers, spandex, and often secret identities that don't seem so secretive to the reader, but to everyone in the world of the comic. Ya know, there are, now and in the past, plenty of American comics that don't fall within the super hero genre. And, you can't even say that all "mainstream" comics are, either. For example, both Fables and Y: The Last Man are ongoing non-superhero books that consistantly enjoy brisk sales. And then you have ones in the past, such as The Sandman, that are considered classics of the genre. I can understand how someone who is completely unfamiliar/uninterested in US comics may think the same. But to those of us who have more than just a passing interest in comics, hearing statements like that would be like a Manga fan hearing people state that all manga are just shonen action books. |
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Post by vysethebold on Mar 6, 2007 0:57:08 GMT -5
Many Vertigo comics are amazing. The Sandman is my favorite comic book series ever, American or otherwise. The stories on that imprint just seem to have an edge that a lot of other comics seem to lack. I was into Fables and Y for a while but I just dropped out of most comics when I went to college. I still read some comics here and there. I have V for Vendetta, Cerebus (a great indie comic) book II, Little Nemo Complete (old newspaper comics from the early 1900's that has amazing art), Monster's current book, and Berserk's current book all on my reading pile.
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Post by ninjarygar on Mar 6, 2007 1:25:48 GMT -5
I heard about the Sandman... but I wasn't given any details. Just that it was an American superhero comic that is very unique.
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Post by rorshacma on Mar 6, 2007 1:37:40 GMT -5
Many Vertigo comics are amazing. The Sandman is my favorite comic book series ever, American or otherwise. The stories on that imprint just seem to have an edge that a lot of other comics seem to lack. I was into Fables and Y for a while but I just dropped out of most comics when I went to college. I still read some comics here and there. I have V for Vendetta, Cerebus (a great indie comic) book II, Little Nemo Complete (old newspaper comics from the early 1900's that has amazing art), Monster's current book, and Berserk's current book all on my reading pile. Yeah, the Vertigo imprint is definitely my favorite publisher right now. And, I've always been interested in "Little Nemo", but I never actually read any of it yet. I think the closest I've come is playing the NES game based on the movie adaption, years ago. I heard about the Sandman... but I wasn't given any details. Just that it was an American superhero comic that is very unique. Well, its certainly very unique, but its not really a superhero comic. While it was originally intended to take place in the mainstream DC Universe, and thus a couple heroes of said universe appear near the begining of the run, the main characters are certainly not what you would consider to be superheroes. The actual star of the series is the Lord of Dreams, and most of the series is focused on him and his siblings, which personify different concepts like "Death" or "Desire". It also has a lot of ties to various foklore and mythology from around the world, which is one of the main things that drew me to it at first. |
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Post by vysethebold on Mar 6, 2007 1:43:14 GMT -5
He's not a superhero. He is part of a group of 7 beings whose names start with the letter "D," though they also have many other names, called the Endless. They are kind of like gods but different in the sense that they do not exist because of beliefs but because they are concepts. In the context of the series, gods die when no one believes in them anymore while the Endless, ironically, do die only when existence ends. The Sandman is obviously Dream and he has 3 sisters: Death, Despair, Delirium (who used to be Delight), 2 brothers: Destruction and Destiny, and one sibling whose gender changes constantly (or doesn't have one or is a combination): Desire. They all have duties and realms which they can choose to uphold or ignore. In Dream's case, he runs the dream realm and is in charge of making dreams, nightmares, and all stories told in any form including novels, poetry, etc. The comic, when it includes the character as many times it is about people and their dreams, is about how Dream interacts with humanity and how he deals with his duties. This is the short version. You should really read the books because they are amazing and they can paint the picture much better than I can. Each trade in the series is really satisfying and can be read in any order though I think they should be read in order so you can see the progression of the way that the characters are portrayed.
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Post by vysetd on Mar 6, 2007 4:56:15 GMT -5
Of course there are, and I wouldn't state otherwise. The keyword is "not as varied", not "that's all they do". You don't see a lot of U.S. comics with a weird kid who likes an alien woman who can pull guitars out of his head is what I'm saying. Of course there are good non-superhero comics. I'd scoff at comics if they didn't attempt to show a little diversity. While not all "mainstream" heroes are super, there are more whom have powers of some kind than those that don't, that much I do know. It's not so much an argument as to quality or sales as it is diversity, which is why I said what I did. Sorry if it threw you for a loop.
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Mar 6, 2007 5:05:51 GMT -5
I'd also like to point out that this world needs more psychotic supervillains who practice playing the electric guitar while they send their good-looking, scantily clad female underlings to do something completely unrelated to taking over the world, in an effort to take over the world.
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Post by kal on Mar 6, 2007 6:02:19 GMT -5
Hail Ilpalazzo!
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Post by necromaniac on Mar 6, 2007 8:12:21 GMT -5
Of course there are, and I wouldn't state otherwise. The keyword is "not as varied", not "that's all they do". You don't see a lot of U.S. comics with a weird kid who likes an alien woman who can pull guitars out of his head is what I'm saying. Of course there are good non-superhero comics. I'd scoff at comics if they didn't attempt to show a little diversity. While not all "mainstream" heroes are super, there are more whom have powers of some kind than those that don't, that much I do know. It's not so much an argument as to quality or sales as it is diversity, which is why I said what I did. Sorry if it threw you for a loop. That's just it. I'd say that the comics industry is allot more varied than the Manga one, simply because were talking Europe too. And it's not just Marvel and DC/Vertigo in the US, there's Dark Horse, Wild Storm, America's Best, Slave Labor graphics and tons of other less known publishers and indie companies. Just because Manga is more popular at the moment and a little bit fresher to us westerners doesn't mean it's more varied. You can find tons of surreal and playful comics if you search a bit, try The Goon and the Dungeon series after that, and perhaps Creature Tech. (By creator of Earthworm Jim) for example. And about Sandman; Everybody's right. Sandman began as a batman-like vigilante wearing a gas-mask that liked putting criminals to sleep with his gas-gun in the 1930's, but fell into obscurity in the comic book crash in the 1950's. Then Joe Simon and Jack Kirby re-invented the character in the 1970's as a dreamscape hero who chased away nightmares. Then Niel Gaiman reworked that model a bit in 1988, and we get our favorite morbid antihero. Then, ofcourse, there's this Marvel Spidey-villain that's coming to us in cinemas soon. |
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Post by vysetd on Mar 6, 2007 8:58:11 GMT -5
That's just it. I'm aware of things like Dark Horse (Just so you don't think I'm just talking DC Comics here), but I'm also aware of Masamune Shirow, etc.  I wouldn't even say manga is exactly fresh (In the U.S., definitely), but I truly do believe the Japanese are willing to experiment more than the U.S. when it comes to things of this nature. Again, that's not to say U.S. comics don't mix things up at all, but it's a lot like Japanese games to U.S. ones. Take the Xbox 360. It's home to a lot of Adventure games, Shooters, etc., but not much else right now. It's not going to be easy finding a game like Disgaea for that system, and "Bemani" games weren't even really a genre in the U.S. until games like Pa Rappa the Rapper hit our shores, and I for one don't regret it. At the same time, Japanese games have more kinds of games (though as said elsewhere, things like First-person shooters that the U.S. love are somewhat lacking in the Japanese market). And scantily clad women and evil psychos...lol. Anyway, I think I'll look up some of those books online, particularly that one by the creator of Earthworm Jim. |
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Post by YourAverageJoe on Mar 6, 2007 13:10:18 GMT -5
Said scantily clad minions to said evil psycho is to be found in Koshi Rikudo's Excel Saga, that thing's freaking hilarious. Also, check out the anime, which is almost completely unrelated to the manga.
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Post by necromaniac on Mar 6, 2007 14:23:09 GMT -5
VISUAL! Oh Visualu, oh visualu oh yeah!!!!!
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