Making Comics friend Sarah Weaver had a wonderful question that demanded a response: “How can a manga writer transition into writing western style graphic novels?”
Michael Yakutis, Private Comic Eye, led the investigation into the answering of Sarah’s question:
Writing a westernized graphic novel (like those found in North America or Europe) differs from that of a manga in various ways. Obviously the visual look of manga is greatly different from western comics, and manga comics can get away with using symbols to help convey emotion, such as popping veins and sweat drops on the forehead. Manga comics tend to place more emphasis on character emotions and reactions whereas western comics typically avoid overly-exaggerated character expressions unless they’re going for a more “cartoony” look.
[Tweet “Manga comics tend to place more emphasis on character emotions and reactions… @MichaelYakutis”]
Western comics tend place more importance on the surrounding environments to help tell the story. The best example of this is Batman’s relationship with Gotham City – it’s so strong that the city itself virtually becomes a character within the story.
Perhaps the biggest difference between the two styles is the use of decompression in manga comics versus compression in western comics. Decompression is “characterized by a high panel count with each individual panel being relatively ‘light’ on information.” Conversely, western comics are compressed and use fewer panels, each containing more information be it through the use of dialogue, body language, action, or setting.
[Tweet “Do your research and read some of the classics. – @MichaelYakutis”]
Before delving into writing western graphic novels, do your research and read some of the classics. Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns, Maus, Bone – just to name a few. Get a feel for how the stories are told and the style will start to show in your own writing.
Nice post! Had me thinking into what I do.
I write Ameri-manga. I know, it is a loose term, but I might as well co-opt it: My comic art design is Manga by choice, and the super hero story I write is full of Western tropes. Having said that, I have been walking a very difficult line between using manga resources, like the little icons for dialogue and the frequent blushing, and trying to tell a fast-moving sequential story, i.e. a compresses story. Decompression is a big issue. My first drafts used a lot of decompressed stuff, reflecting on subtle details on characters emotions, and I got negative feed about it so that, in later chapters, I’m piling more info on panels and moving faster towards the action shots.
I believe that creating panels with more info is the key for transitioning into the Western style, and that means backgrounds (yes, we have to draw detailed backgrounds), back scenes with info, full dialogs and secondary storytelling…
I m an iranian cartoon style illustrator
Cant talking English
But I think there are a simplistic series throw in cartoony art s readers Identificat
With cartoonist no with supper heroes