The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Over on SF Site Rick Klaw has the second part of his feature on the emergence of comics and graphic novels to a more prominent cultural position in the Anglophone world on the regular Nexus Graphica column, with part two (part one can be seen here) reaching the late 90s and early 2000s with the rise of Manga and the seemingly endless Hollywood appetite for adapting all things comics:

“In the late 90s, manga, Japanese comic books, finally exploded into the American consciousness. Unlike its animated cousin, anime (popular since the early 60s following the introduction of Astro Boy to the US), manga didn’t make a significant impact in the United States until the 1980 release of Barefoot Gen. Keiji Nakazawa’s autobiographical tale of the Hiroshima bombing demonstrated the potential of the medium and attracted fans, and caught the attention of educators. Japanese titles such as Golgo 13, Akira, Lone Wolf and Cub alongside successful manga-influenced American titles like Frank Miller’s Ronin, Stan Saki’s Usagi Yojimbo, and Ben Dunn’s Ninja High School furthered acceptance of the imports. By the mid-90s, manga was common place in comic book specialty shops but, much like their American brethren, had difficulty selling in general bookstores. Then Mixx Entertainment (later TokyoPop) introduced the worldwide phenomenon Sailor Moon to the United States in 1997.” (via SF Signal)