At the same time, manga artwork is not afraid of straying from the real world. "There tends to be a more stylized look to most manga, more of an exaggerated, almost cartoony feel, whereas most North American comic art tends to lean to the realistic," says Dark Horse's Lee Dawson. "I think anime and manga are both very strong influences on each other, both in look and content. In fact, many manga titles start as anime and visa versa."

"Manga is very successful at conveying emotions," says TOKYOPOP editor Mark Paniccia. "Depending on the tone of the book, you may see "chibi" or "super-deformed" style, a tool used for humor."

Look of the Book
Reading manga in its original format can be a cultural education for North Americans. Japanese manga is read right to left (back to front), and many U.S. publishers still follow that traditional format. In addition, manga books tend to be smaller than U.S. comics magazines.

A look inside TOKYOPOP's Fruits Basket and Princess Ai titles. © TOKYOPOP Inc.

"The manga are smaller and more portable, with stylistically larger panels and fewer panels per page. The visual shorthand is different," says Diamond's Barry Lyga. "The size also means it's easier to position beside, say, a John Grisham novel in a bookstore."

"Size and format are very important not only to the fans but also to the retailers," affirms Dark Horse's Lee Dawson. "There are expectations when it comes to manga, and all the elements that make up a title we try to keep consistent. Size, usually smaller than U.S. trades, is consistent with the original Japanese release and has become known to bookstores and retailers as `manga size.' Now that these standards have become known, it is important to keep them consistent as they are key identifiers for the medium."

"We publish exactly the same size as a DVD package," says TOKYOPOP vp Steve Kleckner, who is thinking of merchandising opportunities at such outlets as Towers, Sam Goody's and HMV.

TOKYOPOP vp Steve Kleckner knows the big move for manga was into retail stores.

Publishers of mainstream U.S. comics have also been incorporating manga size and style. "Some publishers have repurposed material very well, like Marvel Comics' Marvel Age books," notes Diamond's Barry Lyga. "DC has done it with Batman Adventures. I think it's getting easier to reprint the comics as digests. And DC's Teen Titans comicbook based on the new animated TV series has a distinctive manga feel."

Future of Manga
The Del Rey Internet Newsletter #127 (August 2003) reports that the graphic novel market has doubled each year in bookstores for the past two years, leading to an estimated $100 million market today. With the vast majority of the growth in the market being credited to manga, the future of this medium looks bright.

Barry Lyga of Diamond notes that a lot of what fans are reading in North America is the very best manga. "At this point, we're doing a lot of catching up and we're seeing a lot of cherry-picking."

In addition, manga is being actively cross-fertilized by anime, toys, movies and TV shows, and the creators are often idolized. Dark Horse's Lee Dawson observes, "Many manga creators are are rock star popular in their own countries and have ravenous fan bases over here."

Dawson adds, "It's great to see a culture as vast as ours be open to works created outside of it, and to see a greater cultural awareness for the medium to grow as a result."

Janet Hetherington is an award-winning writer and cartoonist based in Ottawa, Canada, where she shares a studio with artist Ronn Sutton. Janet has a degree in Journalism and has extensively covered the animation and comicbook industries. She is also editor of the Toy Report for the Canadian Toy Testing Council.