Manga-Making Manga!

 

You may or may not already know, but in between my manga reading I dabble in the world drawing, comic making, and otherwise wannabe artist-type person.  It’s a time-consuming but satisfying way to apply yourself but yes, I’ve not been tending very well to this blog because of it.  Sorry about that!  In recognition that there are many people who also enjoy drawing and such, I thought it’d be fun to have a super-quick rundown of manga about drawing manga!

There’s no real order of preference here, but the general trend is to start with the most positive titles and work my way down to the more bitter levels of creativity.

Bakuman  – Probably the most famous title on this list.  It tells the tale of two boys who decide to become manga artists in Shonen Jump, and succeed pretty damn quickly.  Rapid success of any sort is basically the only reason I need to put it first on this list.  The creative discussions between the various creatives are interesting and valid to anyone who’s thought about their plotting, whereas the internal politics of Jump’s editorial system should be taken more with a pinch of salt.  Needless to say it’s spawned a generation of ‘experts’ on the Internet who can now make insightful opinions on why certain manga do or don’t succeed.  That may sound cynical, so perhaps it’s better to think that encouraging people to think about comics more critically is a good thing.  I’ll leave it at that…

Comic Party (Tokyopop) – Moving away from professional manga making and into the world of doujinshi (self-published fan comics).  Comic Party is about a failed artist who becomes involved in making his own comics.  He works hard, sell a couple comics, and makes some friends along the way.  It’s the idealised model of starting out as an amateur artist, and a cute read.

Comic Party (CPM Manga) – An interesting spin-off series of books that contain actual doujinshi based on the original Comic Party series.  Some of the comics aren’t so great, but that’s not the point. It’s quite a rare to be given a chance to own translated doujin in this manner, and I feel gives a more accurate representation of the kinds of things you’re likely to find at your average Comiket rather than the back-to-back porn that otherwise seems to filter its way over here.

Pretty Maniacs – The chronicles of a school Manga Club that works together to build its membership and sell its own comics at Comiket.  Less time is dedicated to the drawing part of comic-making, but more to the production side of things.  I now know how to compile, trim and bind my own perfect bound book which, to my knowledge, is a rather unique aspect of this manga.  Not exactly deep, but it’s high on humour and enthusiasm.

Dojin Work – Changing the romanised spelling of a Japanese word at the mid-point of an article, I’ve already written about Dojin Work elsewhere on this blog.  If Comic Party were a cute little puppy, Dojin Work would be the runt who’s humping your leg.  Scraping through an event where selling a single copy of your comic is considered a victory, and then making your next comic a porno in a desperate attempt to get more sales.  This is comic-making for the cynics, and frankly not totally unjustified in its approach.   A personal favourite and I always have a couple volumes to hand when I’m trying to hit a deadline.

Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga – Two guys in a room decide they will conquer the world with manga.  To do this, they need to make manga that will appeal to every audience in every style, and so mercilessly tear through every cliché and archetype that can be found in manga.  Pointing out weak storytelling is normally a criticism, but here it is something to use, celebrate and then exploit.  It’s funny, almost to the point at which you’d think the creators hold manga with contempt.  But there’s a special kind of love there, and I share it with them.

I’ll Give it My All… Tomorrow – This series is about a deadbeat guy who’s hit middle age and so decides to become a manga artist in between his shifts at a fast-food joint.  His comics suck, his father tells him he’s wasting his time, but he maintains a self-belief throughout which frankly without would make him the most miserable man alive.  It’s a comic that encourages the reader to judge the protagonist in the early stages, but as time goes on you gradually fall in line with his near-delusions of success.  You may not succeed as an artist, but so long as you’re trying and enjoying life, it is a life worth living.  There’s always a chance you’ll succeed… right?

I’m sure there’s a bunch more manga I forgot about, as well as those that feature creating, but are not a central part of the story (School Rumble is one example).  For those inspired to draw forget about those ‘How to Draw Manga…’ books.  The best way to learn how to draw is to draw, and the best way to understand comics is to read them.  Have fun!

Dojin Work

The dojin (self-published comics) scene is Japan is huge. With some artists selling multiple thousands of copies of their work it’s virtually a self-sustaining business within the world of manga. The lure of fame and fortune can be strong, particularly for protagonist Najimi who think it an way to sell out and make an easy living. Failing to take into account that drawing a comic is hard, let alone trying to actually sell your stuff, especially if your artwork stinks, we follow Najimi into a world populated with geeks and freaks.

A quick flick through a volume of this series won’t reveal a thing about this manga. The unglossy artwork does well to keep its hilariously jaded and mean sense of humour well under wraps from the passing eye, making the joy of reading this manga stronger as anyone seeing you read won’t have a clue to the filth being discussed within it. It’s no big secret that some dojin comics are porn, of which Dojin Work shows nothing. However the psychological impact on a creator making their first porn comic is hilarious (‘it’s like masturbating in public’ we’re told).

As time goes on Najimi’s sales steadily rise from single figures to double digits, against her friends who all regularly sell in the thousands. She gains a rival who issuitably awful and the two battle it out to get the best sales. Best character of all Tsuyuri who is comfortable with her status as a pervert and subtly manipulates her friends into making the worst and most embarrassing decisions on their creative journey. The whole thing is totally understated, but out of all the yon-koma available in English this is probably my favourite.

Of the six volumes, Anime Works only published up to the 4^th one and exists as one of my biggest wants of unfinished manga. They did also release the 12 episode anime series which is worth checking out as an emergency backup. If you’re familiar with the Comiket scenes from the likes of Genshiken and Lucky Star, you might be tempted to take a cynical glimpse at this anti-Bakuman series.

How to Draw Manga - Getting Started

I’ve not uploaded a review for while, the main reason being that I’ve been busy working drawing some comics. So as someone who’s gone through the comic-making process unearthing this book was a pretty interesting experience. If this post turns into half review and half tutorial, then I apologise in advance now.

There are virtually hundreds of ‘How to…’ books on the market (and let’s be honest, a good deal of them are cynical cash-ins), so it’s good to check ahead to make sure you’ll get one that will be of genuine use. The first thing to consider is what you actually want to draw. A lot of books will be advertised as being about drawing manga, but inside is a sole focus on making pin-up work in full colour, ignoring generally universal standards of manga being in black and white and maintaining some form of story. It’s totally fine if that’s the kind of work you want to make, but as these books mainly focus on faces, bodies and proportions it’s essentially a regular life drawing book aimed at the otaku market. Again there’s nothing bad with that, it’s just good to be aware.

If you’re wanting to draw a comic containing proper sequential art you might need to be a bit more picky about what to buy. The book for this post isn’t a totally perfect example, but it’s most definitely one of the better ones out there. Originally published in Japan, the ‘How to Draw Manga’ line has been popular enough to run into multiple volumes. ‘Getting Started’ gives a general overview of many aspects which makes it a good starter for first timers. There’s a lot covered, so a list of pros and cons is probably for the best way around this one:

Pros:
- Emphasis on black and white artwork, including information on ink and pen types, as well as drawing techniques.
- Speedlines, tones, speech bubbles - advice on skills that are specific to comic making.
- Considers double-page layouts, bleeds and lots of tips on how to position your artwork without it running off the edge of the page when reproduced (a genuine hazard not to be underestimated!).
- Creating thumbnails and ideas on how to create a page layout. Simple stuff but it’s remarkable that most manga creation books do not include this.
- There’s a chapter on backgrounds…. seriously. Manga. Backgrounds. Madness!

Cons:
- Originally released in 1997 it’s a bit of an old book now. Consequently there’s no content relating to drawing digitally and other areas such as manual toning are essentially redundant.
- Stationary references are obscure and potentially hard to find in western territories.
- For my money the bit where it encourages ‘referencing’ in your artwork is morally, and potentially legally, dubious.

A mix of good and bad then, but as an all-in-one starter guide this is very good for anyone wanting to clarify a few of the more technical areas before diving in. More typical areas regarding human figures, proportion etc. are still all present and correct as with any other drawing guide, but here are suitably brief which gives you enough of an idea on issues to be aware of, without enforcing any one particular style on the reader. Comics, and in my opinion this especially applies to manga, are very much about an individual expression. Replicating someone else’s style will only get you so far. Get the book, understand what you need to do, and then get drawing!