Comics vs. Manga
Not gonna lie, I tried to start reading the Spider-Man comics, literally starting at the first issue from 1962. It was a short-lived affair. I quickly found myself getting caught up with My Hero Academia, and never looked back.
Honestly, I have nothing but respect for comic book fans (and their patience). But it’s not a world I will ever be able to live in as far as a reader. One reason comics may translate to movies so well, at least in the last 25 or so years, is because you can restart an origin story from so many different angles and finish with a full narrative by the end. There’s a ton of history there too, right? Although much of that can be said about manga as well. There are epic and amazing origin stories that lead to conflict with a final destined boss. That said, since manga tends to not restart, the journey to the final adventure is often much longer than a comic series.
That’s another reason why manga and anime fans don’t usually get a live-action movie that matches the enjoyment of the original product. A 2-hour movie where Naruto grows to an adult, defeats the “ultimate evil,” and becomes hokage, would be so rushed you’d think it was a YouTube parody. Some might argue that’s what the Dragon Ball Evolution movie actually felt like…
But obviously the difference has less to do with movies and more about how one likes to consume content. I personally love to dive into a long manga series vs. a comic book. I’m probably like many readers who are guilty of barreling through a chapter without taking enough time to enjoy the art. The stories grab me and before I know it I want to see what happens next. Many times I try to catch myself flipping past pages too fast and tell myself to slow down. Hey, a team of people took the time to draw all of this–the least you could do is glance at it for more than half a second. That said, comics have often transitioned to graphic novels that share some of the longer, deeper single book stories.
Either way, outside of gentle ribbing, I hope you avoid making fun of comic readers too much. They’ve found a way to be patient enough to stick with reboot after reboot of some of their iconic favorites. I mean, try to convince a casual comic reader to read through all of One Piece.
