I've been reading Dragonball Z again recently, and I have to say...Premier wrote:I have to say the original post comes across something like this:
"All Eastern manga is inherently and categorically superiour to all Western comic strips, no exceptions. Yes, even the DragonBallZ level of dreck is superiour, since we're going for sweeping overgeneralizations. No, there are no good Western comics, at all. No, the idea that some (possibly Western) artists might be just plain simply telling better stories than others (possibly Eastern ones) has not occured to me. It's all about publishing and printing. Yay, chibi chibi baka otaku boy pika-pika!"
It is NOT dreck!
Honestly, if *That's* what you're calling dreck, I have to wonder what you'd consider "good."
Dragonball Z is, in fact, the perfect example of good comic storytelling:
1. The panels are clear and communicative--you can look at them and see what's happening without the need for a third person to narrate it to you. Not to mention the art's attractive too.
2. The stories themselves are clear, not weighted down with tacked-on angst or bogus moral conflicts.
3. The entire saga has an epic myth-ness about it, gleefully revelling in a tale of humans who can do the impossible.
4. It welcomes itself perfectly to juvenile fantasy--who could read this and NOT wish they could fly around at supersonic speeds or destroy mountains with a punch?--by making the source of the characters' powers something that anyone could have: a large amount of Life Energy which the characters attained through training.
If I had more time, I'd use Dragonball Z as an example of how manga, not just from business but also from an art and storytelling standpoint, perfectly triumphs over the American superhero comic. But as it is, I'm waiting for a phonecall. So, I'll be back.
