When we mention reading books a person would typically think of written fiction (or possibly even non-fiction), particularly in the form of novels. What if these written novels became graphic novels? Even then, when people think of pictures within books they think of graphic storybooks for young children to encourage them to learn how to read. Prior popular choice, there are several pros to reading books with visual elements to it no matter your age or genre preferences. And this is why you should read comics, graphic novels and manga:
What Makes it a Comic?
Comics is a medium illustrating the stories throughout the book, displayed in panels of the scenes. This is mostly with dialogue, sound effects and/or contextual directions of the story (narrations) and where it is lead. Like literary devices in written fiction, comics can also use textual devices to present these things, such as onomatopoeia, speech bubbles, captions and more. Comics can include either cartoon-like illustrations (which it is most popularly known for) or even photographic images (fumetti). With the rise of digital art in the 21st century, webcomics have blown up in popularity, consisting of countless different unique art styles.
How is Manga Different from Comics?
Often separated from comics, manga is not severely different. It is simply comics based in Japan, with the most notable difference being the Japanese art style. But if we’re being more critical, more key differences between the two would be that unlike comics, manga tends to be only in black and white due to the often heavy emphasis on the detail of the high quality art. And they are usually much longer in length of series while simultaneously only having one author. And it can be targetted towards many age groups from youngsters to adults with mature themes. Meanwhile comics tend to mainly be targetted towards young boys. So – no, just because it’s in drawings does not means manga is always family friendly. But this can occasionally be the same for western comics too.
Then What is a Graphic Novel?
As for graphic novels, it is often used as an umbrella term over illustrated stories, including comics and manga. However, some may choose to describe graphic novels as a stand-alone format separated from comic books. The difference is that they would be more single books with complex plots rather than a series (such as the popularly-long Marvel comics).
Graphic novels apply to a broad format of stories and illustrations with endless possibilities. Need a taste of some examples? Dizishore is the perfect place to immediately begin exploring.
