what? why? how?...how to read a manga page unlike traditional books, manga is read “backwards”...
TRANSCRIPT
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
Humor
Non-Fiction
Fantasies
Adaptations
Spin-offs
or
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 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