Marvel is a titan of the comic book industry, but do we want them messing in our manga playground? They might be too big to chase away, and maybe that’s fine. Let’s explore Marvel’s manga offerings and big X-Men news and see why Marvel manga is a must-read in 2024.
Into the Mangaverse
Marvel has dabbled with the manga art form for years. The Marvel Mangaverse was a series of comic books published in the early 2000s that reimagined the Marvel Universe through a manga lens. “Toni” Stark has a nice rack (yeah, I mean “of weapons,” sure), and the Hulk transforms into Godzilla. For giant robot fans, Iron Man has a combined form piloted by a team of Avengers. The series is a joyful celebration of otakudom, created by American manga artists playing with mainstream comics’ toys.
The Marvel × Shōnen Jump+ Super Collaboration featured seven one-shot stories, each written and illustrated by a different Japanese manga artist. Kind of like the first season of Star Wars Visions, without all the distracting movement.
That’s my clever segway into Marvel Anime. Japanese animation studio Madhouse — who more recently brought us Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End — collaborated with Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan and Marvel between 2010 and 2012. This collaboration created two direct-to-video movies and four twelve-episode TV series. That included a series for Iron Man, another for Wolverine, one for the X-Men, and one for Blade.
Marvel Manga Today
Marvel still produces manga today. Two titles are coming out in 2024, which we’ll get to soon.
Here are five titles to look out for:
- Deadpool: Samurai (Volumes 1 and 2). The new Deadpool Wolverine trailer just dropped, so you can bet fans will be snapping up more adventures from the merc with the mouth.
- Elektra and Wolverine: The Redeemer is a graphic novel illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano (yes, of Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy fame). It’s not manga, but who cares if Amano’s art features? Look for it on the second-hand market.
- Spider-Man: Octo Girl is, according to fans on the J-List (Official) Discord, a weird, wild ride. This Shonen Jump series was created by the creators of My Hero Academia! Vigilantes, Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court. Doc Ock wakes up from a coma inside the body of a Tokyo schoolgirl. Volume one is set for release on October 8th, 2024.
- Marvel Mangaverse is available on Amazon for digital readers and on the second-hand market. It smells like a fan reimagination of old Marvel favorites drawn by American fans of manga. Is that a bad thing or a bold love letter to a genre? You decide.
- Avengers K: Avengers vs. Ultron is a manhwa produced by Korean artists. I found the dark themes of a decimated family a jarring contrast to the cute renderings of the Avengers. However, it’s a fitting companion to anyone who enjoyed the Avengers movies, especially Age of Ultron.
What Marvel manga is next on my reading list? Spider-Man: Fake Red has an interesting spin on my favorite Marvel character, Spider-Man. It’s created by mangaka Yusuke Osawa.
Newsflash: X-Men ’97 and X-Men: The Manga: Remastered
It seems to happen often that one story emerges from another. Just this week, Disney+ and Marvel Animation announced a return of the X-Men that stays true to the X-Men animated series of the ’90s. Tellingly, it’s called X-Men ’97.
I’ll grab a slice of that nostalgia cake, thank you. But we came here to talk manga, so… Throws back the curtain with a loud shout: “But wait, there’s more!”
X-Men ’97 will be well supported with a direct adaptation of the X-Men animated series from 1992 in manga form. X-Men: The Manga: Remastered, by Hiroshi Higuchi, is a 512-page paperback that will be released on November 12th of this year. The comic was first published in Japan in the late ’90s.
You Are What You Read
Experiment time. What would you spend your free time on now if you were a teen? I’ll bet when you look back — droopy-eyed — on your teen years, what you do now will have informed who you’ve become. If you’re an older person, you can see how your formative years shaped you.
When I was a teen, I read fantasy books and Marvel comics. I’d daydream about being Spider-Man or going on epic quests in the Warhammer Old World. Apart from Amazing Spider-Man, I collected Uncanny X-Men and X-Force. I’ve been a Marvel fan for a long time, and comics brought me to tabletop gaming and, much later, to manga and anime. Nowadays, I spend significant amounts of time tracing anime back to manga. I should have seen that coming when I, pimple-faced, was staring at Jean Grey’s chest.
For me, Marvel manga is the best of two wonderful worlds. I already know and love the broad stable of Marvel’s characters, so they’re familiar. And with manga, I can enjoy a different way of telling stories. There’s a science — and art — to telling stories with graphic novels. Read Scott McCloud’s seminal Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art for that rabbit hole. Manga has many unique conventions, and it’s not just about reading in a different direction. I enjoy exploring those mechanical aspects and the fresh stories they tell.
But are Western Manga Still Manga?
We love defining things. It gives us some illusion of control over our chaotic world. When it comes to comics, though, does it matter what words we use to define it? Does it matter who had a hand in making it? If a comic is good, then I figure that we can leave the definitions for the scientists, scholars, and critics. I came here for compelling stories about characters I could identify with. It’s time to read.
Let’s Chat
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How about you? Do you see the globalization of manga as a good thing? Or would you like Disney-owned Marvel and anything they’ve touched to stay well away from your fandom? Let us know.
If you’re going to fight bad guys, dress appropriately. Tight-fitting spandex is appropriate. Right? Or skimpy bikinis and torn stockings? Himopantsu? Whatever you choose, How to Draw Sexy Costumes has you covered. Well, you know what I mean.
The Marvel images that appear in this article are used for illustrative purposes. This isn’t legal text, and I’m not a lawyer. Go buy their comics.
