Questions about Manga published in U.S.
10-24-21, 05:51 PM
#1
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Questions about Manga published in U.S.
I'm trying to recall when manga publishers in the U.S. (Viz, Tokyopop, et al) first began publishing English-language manga flipped so they can be read right to left, Japanese-style. I have a bunch of traditional comic book-format manga from the 1990s and the only issues that are flipped are Dragon Ball Z. #1 is dated September 1999. Were any manga releases flipped earlier than that?
Also, the earliest manga releases I have in English are Barefoot Gen (published 1989 by Penguin Books) and Nausicaa (published 1990 by Viz), each of which was reprinted in different editions later in the 1990s. Anything else from that far back? This is not counting the four manga stories featured in Frederik L. Schodt's "Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics" (Kodansha, 1983).
Thanks.
Also, the earliest manga releases I have in English are Barefoot Gen (published 1989 by Penguin Books) and Nausicaa (published 1990 by Viz), each of which was reprinted in different editions later in the 1990s. Anything else from that far back? This is not counting the four manga stories featured in Frederik L. Schodt's "Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics" (Kodansha, 1983).
Thanks.
10-24-21, 07:08 PM
#2
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
I'm trying to recall when manga publishers in the U.S. (Viz, Tokyopop, et al) first began publishing English-language manga flipped so they can be read right to left, Japanese-style. I have a bunch of traditional comic book-format manga from the 1990s and the only issues that are flipped are Dragon Ball Z. #1 is dated September 1999. Were any manga releases flipped earlier than that?
Also, the earliest manga releases I have in English are Barefoot Gen (published 1989 by Penguin Books) and Nausicaa (published 1990 by Viz), each of which was reprinted in different editions later in the 1990s. Anything else from that far back? This is not counting the four manga stories featured in Frederik L. Schodt's "Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics" (Kodansha, 1983).
Thanks.
Also, the earliest manga releases I have in English are Barefoot Gen (published 1989 by Penguin Books) and Nausicaa (published 1990 by Viz), each of which was reprinted in different editions later in the 1990s. Anything else from that far back? This is not counting the four manga stories featured in Frederik L. Schodt's "Manga! Manga! The World of Japanese Comics" (Kodansha, 1983).
Thanks.
The first release of Manga in English that I can remember is Marvel's Epic imprint releasing Akira way back when (1989?). But looking it up Barefoot Gen was translated at least initially as far back as 1979. I think First comics published some Lone Wolf and Cub (with covers by Frank Miller because of course we needed American cover art) around 1987 with Viz doing Kamui around the same time. Dark Horse published a bunch of Masamune Shirow works like Appleseed in the early 90s (with Art Adams on the cover... it fooled me because I was a huge Art Adams fan but the art inside was a lot better than I expected)
Before that there were, of course, Japanese designs used for American comics, just not the actual manga adapted: like Shogun Warriors, Micronauts (you can debate whether Karza is truly a Japanese design or not), the Carl Macek Robotech series, some secondary Robotech series that Marvel published using designs from Dougram, Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and stuff that was very heavily influenced like Ben Dunn's Ninja Highschool (and his Antarctic imprint as a whole starting with the anthology series Mangazine) and First Comic's Dynamo Joe
The other early series I remember seeing was someone publishing Locke the Superman, but I don't remember who that was. Viz again?
edited to add: I guess Viz started out not just with Kamui but Mai the Psychic Girl and Area 88 in 1987, Lone Wolf and Cub followed in later 1987, and Akira was 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_...#United_States
Last edited by fujishig; 10-24-21 at 07:18 PM.
10-24-21, 08:44 PM
#3
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
Blade of the Immortal is a weird one because Dark Horse is releasing these giant deluxe hardcovers for Berserk, Hellsing, and Blade of the Immortal and the first 2 are R-L (Japanese style) and Blade of the Immortal is L-R with a note in the front of the book saying this is the way the author has requested us to release these.
10-25-21, 08:30 AM
#4
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
Blade of the Immortal is a weird one because Dark Horse is releasing these giant deluxe hardcovers for Berserk, Hellsing, and Blade of the Immortal and the first 2 are R-L (Japanese style) and Blade of the Immortal is L-R with a note in the front of the book saying this is the way the author has requested us to release these.
10-25-21, 08:35 AM
#5
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
I'll have to look it up but I distinctly remember when they stopped flipping the books, and it was around when Tokyopop entered and started doing Tankouban-style releases themselves. Before that most were split up into comic-sized stories and flipped, with the odd one like Blade of the Immortal having a special format (with the author's blessing they actually cut out the panels and rearranged them instead of flipping the whole page. I want to say that Tokyopop did it as a cost saving move so they didn't have to do extra work bringing out the volumes (they were also the ones that pioneered the much cheaper collection prices). They may not have been the first... I remember there being like different releases (similar to the sub/dub tapes) of Viz products, but Tokyopop definitely started the trend.
The first release of Manga in English that I can remember is Marvel's Epic imprint releasing Akira way back when (1989?). But looking it up Barefoot Gen was translated at least initially as far back as 1979. I think First comics published some Lone Wolf and Cub (with covers by Frank Miller because of course we needed American cover art) around 1987 with Viz doing Kamui around the same time. Dark Horse published a bunch of Masamune Shirow works like Appleseed in the early 90s (with Art Adams on the cover... it fooled me because I was a huge Art Adams fan but the art inside was a lot better than I expected)
Before that there were, of course, Japanese designs used for American comics, just not the actual manga adapted: like Shogun Warriors, Micronauts (you can debate whether Karza is truly a Japanese design or not), the Carl Macek Robotech series, some secondary Robotech series that Marvel published using designs from Dougram, Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and stuff that was very heavily influenced like Ben Dunn's Ninja Highschool (and his Antarctic imprint as a whole starting with the anthology series Mangazine) and First Comic's Dynamo Joe
The other early series I remember seeing was someone publishing Locke the Superman, but I don't remember who that was. Viz again?
edited to add: I guess Viz started out not just with Kamui but Mai the Psychic Girl and Area 88 in 1987, Lone Wolf and Cub followed in later 1987, and Akira was 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_...#United_States
The first release of Manga in English that I can remember is Marvel's Epic imprint releasing Akira way back when (1989?). But looking it up Barefoot Gen was translated at least initially as far back as 1979. I think First comics published some Lone Wolf and Cub (with covers by Frank Miller because of course we needed American cover art) around 1987 with Viz doing Kamui around the same time. Dark Horse published a bunch of Masamune Shirow works like Appleseed in the early 90s (with Art Adams on the cover... it fooled me because I was a huge Art Adams fan but the art inside was a lot better than I expected)
Before that there were, of course, Japanese designs used for American comics, just not the actual manga adapted: like Shogun Warriors, Micronauts (you can debate whether Karza is truly a Japanese design or not), the Carl Macek Robotech series, some secondary Robotech series that Marvel published using designs from Dougram, Astro Boy, Speed Racer, and stuff that was very heavily influenced like Ben Dunn's Ninja Highschool (and his Antarctic imprint as a whole starting with the anthology series Mangazine) and First Comic's Dynamo Joe
The other early series I remember seeing was someone publishing Locke the Superman, but I don't remember who that was. Viz again?
edited to add: I guess Viz started out not just with Kamui but Mai the Psychic Girl and Area 88 in 1987, Lone Wolf and Cub followed in later 1987, and Akira was 1989.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_...#United_States
10-25-21, 09:23 AM
#6
DVD Talk Hero
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
Looking it up, I must be crazy thinking that Locke was released domestically. Maybe I'm confusing it with Viz's release of Justy in 1988.
10-29-21, 10:21 AM
#7
DVD Talk Legend
Thread Starter
Re: Questions about Manga published in U.S.
I finished the piece I was doing this research for. It covers how my interest in manga developed in the 1990s, as anime rose in popularity and more manga became available in comic book stores:
https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/...90s/#more-9334
https://briandanacamp.wordpress.com/...90s/#more-9334
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fujishig (10-29-21)
