The state of the UK Comic Scene and manga

The first question to ask yourself is, "is there an industry for comics in the UK"? When was the last time you purchased a UK manga-style comic? Not on the shelves of a UK newsagents or supermarket, that's for sure. (In France, any supermarché has rows of books and comics available for sale, displayed just like a UK bookshop would.) You can buy comics from a comic shop, some newsagents, and/or from a self-publisher. Here is a lowdown on the state of the UK comics industry by Down The Tubes, good reading.

The UK generally has comics for adults with a male skew (e.g. 2000AD) or comics for kids (e.g. Beano). Both are awesome reads regardless, so don't let categorisation put you off. There was a UK girls comics industry (titles such as Bunty, Misty etc), but this ended around the late 1980's because it was decided by some suits that girls didn't like comics and wanted younger versions of glossy women's magazines instead. Of course this is nonsense, because translated girl's comics from Japan did incredibly well in UK and US bookshops in the 2000's... but momentum got lost and there's not a lot available again from newsagents and supermarkets, so you have to dig a little deeper to find what you like to read - and not steal it for free off dodgy scanlation/comic sites either (please purchase subscriptions via official sites to support the authors!).

So, if - as a creator, you want-- no, need! - an industry involving where you live (i.e. the Western hemisphere), then you have to vote with your finances and purchase with your very credible consumer power first.

So - Comics, コミックス or 漫画? "Comics", "Komikkusu", or "Manga"? "Comics from Japan"? "Japanese manga comics" (urrgh!)? Is "manga" a tainted Western Y2K marketing buzzword? In the future, people won't "categorise" any perceived differences between comic types from different countries like they do now. The internet has homogenised manga and comic book art to a huge extent over the past 10-15 years.

Remember - manga-style is still very, very niche in the UK and not often supported by mainstream publishers, and teachers who do not read comics still don't understand what it's all about. Comics have received prejudice since the dawn of comics-creation, especially in the UK due to Victorian era snobbery that is still sadly very present in the 21st century, so be prepared to fight the fight, to draw what you love.