Manga

Manga (漫画) are comics created in Japan, or by Japanese creators in the Japanese language, conforming to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century.They have a long, complex pre-history in earlier Japanese art.

In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business/commerce, among others.Since the 1950s, manga has steadily become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry,representing a 406 billion market in Japan in 2007 (approximately $3.6 billion) and 420 billion ($5.5 billion) in 2009.Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audience.In Europe and the Middle East the market is worth $250 million.In 2008, the U.S. and Canadian manga market was valued at $175 million. The markets in France and the United States are about the same size. Manga stories are typically printed in black and white,although some full-color manga exist (e.g. Colorful). In Japan, manga are usually serialized in large manga magazines, often containing many stories, each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue. If the series is successful, collected chapters may be republished in paperbacks book called tankobon.A manga artist (mangaka in Japanese) typically works with a few assistants in a small studio and is associated with a creative editor from a commercial publishing company.If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or even during its run,although sometimes manga are drawn centering on previously existinglive-action or animated films(e.g. Star Wars).

The term manga (kanji: 漫画; hiragana: まんが; katakana: マンガ;; English manga or manga is a Japanese word referring both to comics and cartooning. "Manga" as a term used outside Japan refers specifically to comics originally published in Japan.However, manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world, particularly in Taiwan ('manhua"), South Korea ("manhwa"),and China, notably Hong Kong ("manhua").In France, "la nouvelle manga has developed as a form of bande dessinee comics drawn in styles influenced by Japanese manga. In the United States, people refer to what they perceive as manga-styled comics as Amerimanga, world manga, or original English-language manga (OEL manga). Still, the original term "manga" is primarily used in English-speaking countries solely to describe comics of Japanese origin.

reference:wikipedia.org