Manga! Manga!

by Frederik L. Schodt

Manga in Japanese means "comics," and comics in Japan are simply the most marvelous multifaceted misunderstood mass-market monster publishing phenomenon ever, anywhere. A multibillion dollar industry ... tens of millions of devoted fans ... thousands of ceaselessly toiling artists, a few of whom grow fabulously wealthy. There's something for everyone, too, from historical romances set in the French revolution and bloody duels between medieval samurai, to tales of wrestlers, enlightened Buddhist sages, spacemen, anthropomorphic cats, gangsters, girls in and out of love, warrior robots, sushi-makers, and even the tireless Mr. Nobody at the office, the esteemed soldier in Japan's economic-miracle army. Until now, this world has been hardly remarked upon by Western observers, except for mention of the fact that on trains, in restaurants, and indeed at every leisure moment the Japanese seem to have their heads buried in comics. But with this book Japanese comics emerge in all their spectacu