Description
This article is from the Manga
Glossary, by Steve Pearl starbuck@cybercomm.net with numerous
contributions by others.
02 Manga: amecomi ^[$@%"%a%3%_^[(B
Contraction of "American comics". The term variously describes any comic
originating in the West; the short 20-40 page booklet or "comic book"
format of Western comics; and the styles and graphic devices popularly
ascribed to them. The word "manga" is never used to describe any of these.
Some amecomi are known to the Japanese public, mainly classic titles such
as Superman, Spiderman and Peanuts - the Japanese editions of the latter
exceed 100 volumes. Parts of X-Men and Ghost Rider have been translated
into Japanese by Shougakukan Productions and Take Shobou, and manga using
X-Men characters has been published. Original English editions of some
lesser-known amecomi, such as Marshal Law, also enjoy a very small cult
following.
However, despite the limited awareness of some titles, it should be
understood that amecomi are regarded as a very minor cultural curiosity,
at most. The world of manga and American comics has been totally dysjunct
for several decades. Japanese audiences regard amecomi as ugly, cliched
and difficult to follow (with manga, the reader is not supposed to take
more than about 15-20 seconds per page). The proportion of manga
personalities who know anything about amecomi, or who want to, is
negligible.
One of a handful of exceptions is Ono Kosei, a well-known Japanese critic
and amecomi authority. As a child, Ono read American comics left behind by
the post-WWII US Occupation forces. (Most amecomi fans in Japan were also
exposed to amecomi in this way, and few have appeared since this era.) He
has contributed English-language articles to digests such as Raw and
translated many amecomi titles, including Fritz the Cat, The Fantastic
Four, Mighty Thor, Incredible Hulk, Spider-man, Doonesbury, and Maus. (Ono
regarded Yiddish-accented English as a translation challenge.) Such
translations have found only miniscule readerships in Japan; Ono believes
this is because Japanese readers, who are used to the fluid storytelling
of manga, regard amecomi as unreadable.
See also: Comics 'n' Stuff
<http://www.phlab.missouri.edu/HOMES/c617145_www/comix.html>
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