what? why? how?...how to read a manga page unlike traditional books, manga is read “backwards”...

Made possible in part

by a family literacy

grant from the New

York State Library,

New York State

Education Department

What?

Why?

How?

• Same format as comic books

• Text & illustrations present information

• Book-length, usually contain one story

• Medium, not genre

Thought

Balloon

Sound Effect

Panel

Gutter

Dialog Balloon

Caption

Major Types

Humor

Non-Fiction

Fantasies

Adaptations

Spin-offs

or

Realistic Fiction

Personal

Stories

Toon Books

• For emerging readers age 4+

• Can be read to or by children

• Vetted by educators

A little history

• Comic Strip=grandfather of Graphic Novel

• Around since end of 1800s

• Originally used to draw people to Sunday paper

First comic strip

• Appeared in New York World: 1895

• R. F. Outcault

• Increased sales

• Eventually endorsed soap-whiskey

Katzenjammer Kids

• 1897

• Used word balloons

• Used multiple panels to tell story

The Comic Book

• 1933-reprints

• Initially free

• 1935-new comics & original characters

• 10 cents each

Popular comics • Superman

– First superhero

– On newsstands: 1938

• Superheroes big during World War II

• After WWII: crime, science fiction and horror comics

1950’s: comics in crisis!

• Frederic Wertham

• Comics examined by US Senate

• Comics banned and burned

A New Beginning

• Late 1950’s: Justice League of America born

• 1961: Fantastic Four, Incredible Hulk, & Spiderman

• 1960’s: Self-published underground comics

• 1978-Will Eisner coins term

• 1986- Batman: the Dark Knight Returns

• 1987- The Watchmen

Milestones in the

Graphic Novel World

• 1992- Maus: A Survivor’s Tale wins Pulitzer

• 2005-”Graphix” imprint launched

• 2006- American Born Chinese named NBA finalist for Young People’s Literature

• 2007- American Born Chinese wins Printz Award for excellence in YA literature

• 2007 The Invention of Hugo Cabret finalist for NBA

• 2008 Invention wins Caldecott

• 2007-YALSA creates new annual booklist: “Great Graphic Novels for Teens”

• 2009-NYT Graphic Books Bestseller List

President

Obama

collects both

Spider-Man

and

Conan the

Barbarian

comics

Manga

Manga history

• Manga=comic books

• Period before WWII=beginning of modern manga

• Mid 1990s=came to US

• “God of Manga” Osamu Tezuka

• Hayayo Miyazaki: anime & manga

• Manga read by ALL

How to read a Manga Page

Unlike traditional books, Manga is

read “backwards” from back-to-

front

Often, if you

start at what

looks like the

front of the

Manga, you will

see a message

like this

Panel Order & Dialog

Balloons

Panels and dialog

balloons are read

“reversed”

1 3

4

2

8

5

6

7

10

9

11

Manga Terms

• Shonen: teenage boys

• Shojo: teenage girls

• Shonen-ai / Yaoi=boys love

• perceived as subversive=attractive!

• Ratings

• Read by?

•2/3 of GN market=manga

•75%=13-17 y/o girls

Why Graphic Novels & Manga?

• 6.3 million secondary school students are

reading below grade level. • Average American age 15-24 spends only

7 minutes of daily leisure time reading.

• Students with access to a variety of reading materials have higher average reading scores.

• Present complex material in readable text

• Serve as a bridge to more difficult reading

• Challenge readers of more traditional literature

• Embrace nature of multimedia world

• Fulfill NCTE’s “21st Century literacies” (multiple streams, simultaneous information)

Graphic Novels & Manga:

Learning more about Graphic Novels!

School Library Journal

Library Journal

Diamond Comics Bookshelf

Cooperative Children’s Book Center

Reviews & More

• Get Graphic!

• First Second Books

• Public Square Books

Creating Comics on the Web

• read*write*think comic creator

• MakeBeliefs Comix

• Stripcreator