Manga Mania: How to Draw Japanese Comics (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Manga (pronounced "mhan-ga," with a hard "g") means comics in Japanese and refers to Japanese comic books..." (more)
Key Phrases: Astro Boy, Sailor Moon, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5 Up-Hart takes a small but measurable step beyond the basics in this guide to the distinctive Japanese art form. Sandwiched between an introduction to the several genres of manga and a searching interview with Bill Flanagan, editor in chief for one of the largest U.S. manga publishers, is a discussion of techniques for drawing, dressing, and posing all of the standard character types effectively ("-you want a short upper lip, which is a trademark of a youthful character. Long upper lips are reserved for older and sinister characters"). Hart covers creating animals, from dragons to sidekicks, and composing panels that are properly cinematic. For the art, which mixes dozens of step drawings with flurries of finished, usually colored, sample figures, he supplements his own work with generic examples from nine domestic artists, then uses examples of popular published manga to illustrate the interview. Though writing, storyboarding, and computer-assisted design are not covered here, and chapters that introduce a few phrases of tourist Japanese and provide brief, standard generalities about careers in the comics industry are off topic, this book dishes up such generous helpings of specific advice and general encouragement that it makes an appealing alternative to Mikio Kawanishi's How to Draw Manga: Expert Edition (Graphic-Sha, 1998; o.p.) and the many narrowly focused instructional manuals.
John Peters, New York Public Library
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Hart, a successful contributor to MAD magazine, the Blondie cartoon strip, and film and TV, adds another volume to his prolific output of books, which includes his recent Cartooning for the Beginner (LJ 11/15/00). Here he presents the only book on how to draw the wildly popular manga style of comic book art. In Japan, manga comics are devoured by children and adults. The style has been imported in the form of Digimon, Dragon Ball Z, Sailor Moon, and Pok mon. Hart is a master at teaching cartooning methods, and this book, with chapters like "The Bad Boys of Manga" and "Manga's Fantasy Realm," doesn't disappoint. Recommended for public libraries.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; illustrated edition edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823030350
• ISBN-13: 978-0823030354
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (89 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #228,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars It's good but it's not manga., October 17, 2001

A Kid's Review

Well, actually I got it as a present during the summer vacations from my aunt so I feel pretty bad critizing it though it wasn't anime.

Before I begin on the good side I think I should start on the flaws. The noses were pathetic! They were totally not Japanesse (though if it had been for western comics I guess it wouldn't fit there either). The eyes were excellent though they were the hardest bit and were hardly explained at all. The colored pictures looked too Western (though they were very pretty to go through if you aren't learning how to draw Anime/Manga)and the shading and hands and feet were hardly explained when the bits that need to be explained to most as they are usually the weakness for most artisits.

Apart from these flaws it was quite allright. The panneling and elven bits were exceptionally good and the interview at the end was more than helpful. But then again you can get all these from the net tutorials.... which, if you were seriously going pro, you would've probably gone through.

The book lacked Japanesse Drawing though it was pretty good (if you just wanted to draw).

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not one of my favorites, December 30, 2002

By A Customer

I don't think I would buy "Manga Mania" again. While Christopher Hart has hired some talented artists to draw this book for him, most of them look like they have drawn in the style of american comics all their lives. It's like a book on basketball written by a rookie who has great potential, but has never really played as a pro. There's work from ten artists in this book, with Christopher Hart narrating. Only one of these artists (Svetlana Chmakova) seems to know what the manga art style is really like. As for the rest of the artists, it's like they said to themselves, "I think I'll draw manga today!" and applied for the job. Even if you have drawn american comics for years, you can't just jump into manga art and become a pro.
Topics in this book include an introduction(in which the pronunciation of the word, "anime" is written incorrectly), "manga basics", "action poses", "The bad boys of manga", "manga genres", "manga's fantasy realm", "drop-dead-gorgeous manga babes", "awesome robots and other cool stuff", "designing dynamic scenes", "common japanese terms"(why is this in here?), "So you wanna be a cartoonist?", "the inside view" (a nice interview with Viz man, Bill Flanagan), and an index.
Although the books by real manga-ka and manga-ka groups (like K's art, Hikaru Hayashi, the society for the study of manga techniques, and Kenkyukai Manga Gihou) are a little more expensive, I would definitley choose book by japanese pros over this.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A interesting Western point of view, June 10, 2001

A Kid's Review

As many people know, both anime and manga are gaining an increasingly stronger and broader fan base in America. With this increase have come How-To-Draw books and the like. Chris Hart brings a Western to manga. Yes, there are books by Japanese artists out there, but I think that Western take should be given just as much respect. Hart did an excellent job in the chapter on fantasy which included tips on shadowing and drawing folds in clothing. Also, he gave some extra attention to drawing males. I know there are books on drawing bishoujo (pretty girls), but where are the books on bishonen (attractive guys) then? I found this book to be helpful and would reconmend it to beginning and intermediate manga artists.