raul grau
Jul 11, 2005, 05:21 pm
<img src="http://www.comixfan.com/xfan/images/columns/mangamerica.jpg" hspace=10 align=left border=0 alt="Mangamerica logo">By Marcina Riley, fantasyfiv@yahoo.com
The Runaways Connection
Tsunami was the name of a line of comics that Marvel created specifically to appeal to manga readers. The idea was to attract those readers and get them hooked on western comics. Marvel took the titles out of regular continuity and used mostly familiar characters, probably in hopes of keeping some of their current readership. It was a big project; however, of the initial offerings, only one title remains. The Runaways. The little title that could almost faced the same fate as many of its brethren, but it found its way to the crowd that it was always meant to be in, the graphic novel readers. Looking back, it really makes sense that comics that were supposed to be non-manga would fail in regular comic issue format. Yet, I don't think it was just format that spelled the demise of much of the Tsunami line. It's more than that; there is another reason why Runaways survived when the others didn't.
First off, the story isn't like anything else on the shelves. Brian K. Vaughan took a very simple idea and weaved it into a series. Every child has moments when they come to distrust their parents, but what if that child had a very good reason to distrust their parents, to feel betrayed by them? Runaways answers that.
At this point, I really haven't talked about how this is related to anime, or how it might correlate. It doesn't, at least not completely, but I don't think it has to. When looking the other titles on the list, there were series like Namor. Namor was a drama complete with teenage angst. Unfortunately, it pigeonholed the audience. Manga is a diverse medium, and although comics are slowly getting there, the primary fans are still mainstream fans. Diversity might not seem very important, but it is. By not putting his audience into a little group, by not bottling them, by just writing his story, Vaughan reached beyond the typical comic book box and did what the others could not. He reached a wider group, and yet a very specific group.
Another element of Vaughan's work is that it's told in a saga format. These days it's hard to find writers that can write a story that works both as single issues and as a whole arc, when collected as a graphic novel. Most stories today are broken and disjointed, they are divided poorly, but they read fine together. Vaughan doesn't have that problem. Each issue tells a complete and compelling story that when collected is only enhanced, but not dependant on the graphic novel form. Most manga writers have to do this. Manga comes out in short individual chapters that are later collected into smaller books. The writers must tell stories that are interesting in both forms. It's doesn't seem like it should be so hard, but considering most western comics either don't collect well, or don't spread over several issues well, it must be difficult. However, I have yet to read an issue of Runaways that wasn't good both ways.
Vaughan also uses a very classic group-based setup. Although western comics do this also, many times the characters themselves are important. The characters are made into a group, not a group made into characters. The characters, in western comics, can easily be taken out of their group and fly solo, but often times in manga, taking the character out of the group diminishes that character's strength and power. The characters are merely components of group. Would Sailor Moon work nearly as well if it was just that character? No, it's prequel series Codename: Sailor V proved that the characters work better together. Likewise, the characters in Runaways, although powerful, work as a team. They function not as individuals coming together as a group, but as a group who happen to be individuals. Each character plays a pivotal role, from Gert's brainy female, to Molly's cute innocent girl, to Nico's Goth chick, to Chase's dumb oaf, and finally to Karoline's pretty passionate woman.
Of course the art plays a big part in the series as well. Adrian Alphona's work is far more inspired by manga than the writing, and it's what really amazed me. The first time I looked at the characters, I was surprised at how unique they all look. Gert is pudgy, but not overly so, Karoline is slender, Nico somewhere in-between, and Molly still has baby fat in her checks. I find that in most mainstream books the women look mostly the same. It's not an unappealing look, but mostly they all have the same sized breasts, the same body type, and the same face. It was truly refreshing to read a book and see characters that look the way they are supposed to look, and that reminds me a lot of what I like in manga. Clamp has no trouble rendering characters to look their age; young children look like kids, and teenagers look like teenagers. There's also a distinctive look about them; noses just aren't the same on two different people. Granted, in manga noses sometimes are nothing more than lines, but it's the attention to detail that stands out; it gives the characters a more human quality.
Alphona also has a way with facial features; they aren't quite as outlandish as the anime ones, but the characters' faces change. They wear their emotions on their faces. When Gert is shocked, one eye goes up, similar to how in manga one large eye is drawn to portray shock. Of course, total shock is two large eyes with tiny pupils; Alphona has his own way of rendering that as well. The mouths also move and squirm into all sorts of positions. They mimic anger, sadness, and uncertainty. Surely, it's easy to see when Molly is upset because Alphona gives her a very large frown. Nico bites her lip when she's nervous, and Chase makes a big face with his yelling. Again, this is another element of the characters' humanity. It pulls the characters from the pages and gives them a sense of reality.
I'm not going to say the Runaways was inspired by manga, because that denotes a strong level of spillover. However, I will say that, like many things these days, it is influenced by it. There isn't anything that I could completely point out and talk about, but the details are where the real comparison is. The saga feeling of the story as Brian K. Vaughan slowly works to some specific point that a reader can witness. The characters aren't just growing as they would in a typical comic book setting, but they are moving; there's a direction he's going, and it can be felt. The series may be broken into individual pieces, but they work both in issue format and collected. The art follows and flows. Each character is a distinct human. They have nervous ticks, they have habits, and they have individual styles.
Perhaps, I'm overly romanticizing manga, but I can't help but think that the very realistic quality of manga is what makes it different from its western counterpart. I have yet to open the cover of a manga and not feel, even just a little bit, that this might just be possible, that what's occurring might actually happen. When a character cries, I cry with them; I feel their pain. I get those same sort of emotional reactions, those same passionate grips with Runaways. It might be my imagination, but when I look at the series from its parts and really examine them. I don't think so. The fact that the series did reach its target audience and became popular makes me think that I can't be the only one who feels that way. Runaways is comic that definitely bridges the gap between the two different mediums, and does it well.
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Marcina Riley blames the above on sugar, lack of sleep, an evil approaching due date, and perhaps a bias to all things new and inventive.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.
The Runaways Connection
Tsunami was the name of a line of comics that Marvel created specifically to appeal to manga readers. The idea was to attract those readers and get them hooked on western comics. Marvel took the titles out of regular continuity and used mostly familiar characters, probably in hopes of keeping some of their current readership. It was a big project; however, of the initial offerings, only one title remains. The Runaways. The little title that could almost faced the same fate as many of its brethren, but it found its way to the crowd that it was always meant to be in, the graphic novel readers. Looking back, it really makes sense that comics that were supposed to be non-manga would fail in regular comic issue format. Yet, I don't think it was just format that spelled the demise of much of the Tsunami line. It's more than that; there is another reason why Runaways survived when the others didn't.
First off, the story isn't like anything else on the shelves. Brian K. Vaughan took a very simple idea and weaved it into a series. Every child has moments when they come to distrust their parents, but what if that child had a very good reason to distrust their parents, to feel betrayed by them? Runaways answers that.
At this point, I really haven't talked about how this is related to anime, or how it might correlate. It doesn't, at least not completely, but I don't think it has to. When looking the other titles on the list, there were series like Namor. Namor was a drama complete with teenage angst. Unfortunately, it pigeonholed the audience. Manga is a diverse medium, and although comics are slowly getting there, the primary fans are still mainstream fans. Diversity might not seem very important, but it is. By not putting his audience into a little group, by not bottling them, by just writing his story, Vaughan reached beyond the typical comic book box and did what the others could not. He reached a wider group, and yet a very specific group.
Another element of Vaughan's work is that it's told in a saga format. These days it's hard to find writers that can write a story that works both as single issues and as a whole arc, when collected as a graphic novel. Most stories today are broken and disjointed, they are divided poorly, but they read fine together. Vaughan doesn't have that problem. Each issue tells a complete and compelling story that when collected is only enhanced, but not dependant on the graphic novel form. Most manga writers have to do this. Manga comes out in short individual chapters that are later collected into smaller books. The writers must tell stories that are interesting in both forms. It's doesn't seem like it should be so hard, but considering most western comics either don't collect well, or don't spread over several issues well, it must be difficult. However, I have yet to read an issue of Runaways that wasn't good both ways.
Vaughan also uses a very classic group-based setup. Although western comics do this also, many times the characters themselves are important. The characters are made into a group, not a group made into characters. The characters, in western comics, can easily be taken out of their group and fly solo, but often times in manga, taking the character out of the group diminishes that character's strength and power. The characters are merely components of group. Would Sailor Moon work nearly as well if it was just that character? No, it's prequel series Codename: Sailor V proved that the characters work better together. Likewise, the characters in Runaways, although powerful, work as a team. They function not as individuals coming together as a group, but as a group who happen to be individuals. Each character plays a pivotal role, from Gert's brainy female, to Molly's cute innocent girl, to Nico's Goth chick, to Chase's dumb oaf, and finally to Karoline's pretty passionate woman.
Of course the art plays a big part in the series as well. Adrian Alphona's work is far more inspired by manga than the writing, and it's what really amazed me. The first time I looked at the characters, I was surprised at how unique they all look. Gert is pudgy, but not overly so, Karoline is slender, Nico somewhere in-between, and Molly still has baby fat in her checks. I find that in most mainstream books the women look mostly the same. It's not an unappealing look, but mostly they all have the same sized breasts, the same body type, and the same face. It was truly refreshing to read a book and see characters that look the way they are supposed to look, and that reminds me a lot of what I like in manga. Clamp has no trouble rendering characters to look their age; young children look like kids, and teenagers look like teenagers. There's also a distinctive look about them; noses just aren't the same on two different people. Granted, in manga noses sometimes are nothing more than lines, but it's the attention to detail that stands out; it gives the characters a more human quality.
Alphona also has a way with facial features; they aren't quite as outlandish as the anime ones, but the characters' faces change. They wear their emotions on their faces. When Gert is shocked, one eye goes up, similar to how in manga one large eye is drawn to portray shock. Of course, total shock is two large eyes with tiny pupils; Alphona has his own way of rendering that as well. The mouths also move and squirm into all sorts of positions. They mimic anger, sadness, and uncertainty. Surely, it's easy to see when Molly is upset because Alphona gives her a very large frown. Nico bites her lip when she's nervous, and Chase makes a big face with his yelling. Again, this is another element of the characters' humanity. It pulls the characters from the pages and gives them a sense of reality.
I'm not going to say the Runaways was inspired by manga, because that denotes a strong level of spillover. However, I will say that, like many things these days, it is influenced by it. There isn't anything that I could completely point out and talk about, but the details are where the real comparison is. The saga feeling of the story as Brian K. Vaughan slowly works to some specific point that a reader can witness. The characters aren't just growing as they would in a typical comic book setting, but they are moving; there's a direction he's going, and it can be felt. The series may be broken into individual pieces, but they work both in issue format and collected. The art follows and flows. Each character is a distinct human. They have nervous ticks, they have habits, and they have individual styles.
Perhaps, I'm overly romanticizing manga, but I can't help but think that the very realistic quality of manga is what makes it different from its western counterpart. I have yet to open the cover of a manga and not feel, even just a little bit, that this might just be possible, that what's occurring might actually happen. When a character cries, I cry with them; I feel their pain. I get those same sort of emotional reactions, those same passionate grips with Runaways. It might be my imagination, but when I look at the series from its parts and really examine them. I don't think so. The fact that the series did reach its target audience and became popular makes me think that I can't be the only one who feels that way. Runaways is comic that definitely bridges the gap between the two different mediums, and does it well.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
Marcina Riley blames the above on sugar, lack of sleep, an evil approaching due date, and perhaps a bias to all things new and inventive.
<center><hr width=75%></center>
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and are not reflective of Comixfan or its other staff in general.