382 MANGA
indie comics artist Adrian Tomine,
and several titles by Tatsumi have
been translated and published in
English.
Th e diversity of stories avail-
able in Japanese manga, accessible
from very young to very old read-
ers, and including children’s humor,
fantasy , science fi ction , We s t e r n s ,
romance, action stories, comedy,
horror , and even pornography have
led comics fans and creators in the
United States to question the nar-
row focus of American comics on
superhero stories.Artistic Style
Th e most commonly perceived
artistic conventions in manga, par-
ticularly for Western readers, are
the peculiar conventions manga
utilizes for character design. Often
characters will have dispropor-
tionately large eyes combined with
small, delicately drawn noses and
mouths. Characters may often be
indistinguishable save for costum-
ing and elaborate, and at times
outlandishly colored, hairstyles.
In some types of manga there is a preference for illustrating both male and female
characters with thin, feminine qualities.
Th is style largely originates with Tezuka, who was distinctly infl uenced in his artistic
style by Walt Disney cartoons that were being shown in Japan during the post-war
occupation. Tezuka’s conventions in character design were a major infl uence on his
fellow artists for many years, particularly his use of childlike proportions, large eyes,
and thick arms and legs. By the 1970s, other artists had expanded the parameters of
manga style — some artists, including Tezuka, continued to use the familiar style, inked
in a heavy line, while some artists would use a completely realistic style, thickly inked
with pen and brush. Th e style that became popular with shojo comics featured the
now-stereotypical style with androgynous characters, large eyes and unique hairstyles,
and in the 1970s this style became popular as the preferred mainstream style of manga.
Th e basic conventions of this style are predominant in all but the more experimentalTypical manga drawing style. Photofest