384 MANGA
A given manga title typically bears the name of a single creator, or at times a creative
team whose members are largely responsible for the creation of the story and artwork.
Manga creators are referred to as manga-ka , and are also referred to by the respect-
ful title sensei , much like doctors, teachers, or politicians. As is the case in American
comics, manga-ka are responsible to an editor, who represents the fi nancial interests of
the publisher as well as coordinating the production aspects of the fi nished manga. In
the United States, the control an editor has over the creative aspects of the work that is
produced depends on a variety of factors, such as the importance of the project, the
perceived value of a creator or creative team, or the editorial policies of the publisher.
In Japan, however, an editor generally holds a great deal of creative power, regardless
of the manga-ka involved.
During the plotting stage of a manga work, the manga-ka will typically draft out
the work in a notebook or on a series of folded sheets of paper referred to as a name
(pronounced “nah-meh”). Th e manga-ka will then submit the name to their editor, who
may approve some parts or request revisions in others. After the fi nal storyline is agreed
upon, the manga-ka coordinates the illustration of the story with their own personal art
staff , which is often a group of several people, each in charge of specialized tasks in the
creative process. Th e manga-ka or an assistant will lay out the page, rendering the panel
boundaries, and the manga-ka reserves the primary task of rendering the characters
on the page. It may be the assistants’ jobs to render background elements, background
fi gures, add tones and lettering, and fi ll in black or color areas of the page. Th is divi-
sion of labor allows for the relatively speedy production time that manga is known for,
and all the while the editor is in charge of verifying that the manga-ka is producing the
required number of pages to meet deadlines. Also, working as an assistant for an estab-
lished manga-ka allows for new artists to earn their way into establishing their own
careers as manga-ka.
Of course, not all manga creators utilize such a system. Experimental and alternative
manga artists are rarely even paid for their work, much less are given a staff to assist in
the creative process. Despite this, these manga-ka are not only given a forum for public
exposure, but they are given almost total creative control over their own work, which is
atypical in mainstream manga.
Outside of the mainstream, yet still infl uential, are the manga fanzines referred
to as dojinshi. Dojinshi are produced and published by independent creative teams
outside of the corporate system, often by artists who aspire to work in that system.
Dojinshi are diffi cult to characterize, since they are produced independently of the
commercial manga editorial system. Dojinshi are often printed in thin, black-and-
white magazine-style pamphlets, and may contain stories using established manga
characters in unlicensed fan stories that may focus on character relationships and
other fan-oriented expectations.
Dojinshi , along with mainstream and other manga, are often sold in the context of
large trade shows, analogous to the American comic conventions. Th e largest one is
Comic Market, otherwise known as Comiket, held twice a year in Tokyo. Comiket is
