Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History

Product Description

Comics and the Origins of Manga challenges the conventional wisdom that manga evolved from traditional Japanese art, and reveals how Japanese cartoonists in the 1920s and 1930s instead developed modern manga out of translations of foreign comic strips like 
Bringing Up Father, Happy Hooligan, and 
Felix the Cat.

Review

”
Comics and the Origins of Manga is a fascinating, materialist account of the history shared between the Japanese and Euro-American comics traditions. With the rise of manga as a globally dominant idiom, the prewar development of the form has been of increasing interest to artists and researchers alike. Eike Exner’s thorough, elucidating scholarship tracks this history in an engaging manner in what will undoubtedly be an important English-language reference work on the subject for years to come. Highly recommended.”
— Adam Buttrick ―
cartoonist

“I have been waiting many years to see something Eike Exner’s
Comics and the Origins of Manga. Modern Japanese comics, or ‘manga,’ have enjoyed huge success around the world in the last three decades. So much so that today some fans occasionally seem to think manga—perhaps even all comics—are really a purely Japanese invention. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. In his book, using primary sources from inside and outside Japan, Eike Exner does a wonderful job of cutting through both mist and myths and showing us another reality.”
— Frederik L. Schodt ―
author of Dreamland Japan: Writings on Modern Manga

“Eike Exner has meticulously researched voluminous archival materials transnationally, analyzed them critically and carefully, and, in the process, challenged, contradicted, and corrected the history of manga’s origins. Without any reservation, a history-altering masterpiece!”
— John A. Lent ―
founder/publisher/editor-in-chief, International Journal of Comic Art

“Through subtle formal analysis and groundbreaking archival research, 
Comics and the Origins of Manga makes a compelling argument for the strong influence of translated American comics on the development of modern Japanese manga.”
— Henry Jenkins ―
author of Comics and Stuff

“…a compelling investigation of an historical ‘audio-visual’ dialogue between the ‘sound images’ of comics and manga…this text becomes a meaningful revelation of the unique and multifarious histories of world print and comic cultures.”
— Frenchy Lunning ―
editor of Mechademia

“This is an excellent book that I enjoyed reading immensely. The topic is timely and important and the scholarship is meticulous and comprehensive.”
— Gennifer Weisenfeld ―
author of Imaging Disaster: Tokyo and the Visual Culture of Japan’s Great Earthquake of 1923

About the Author

EIKE EXNER is an independent scholar who has taught at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles and Josai International University in Tokyo. His research has appeared in the 
International Journal of Comic Art, ImageTexT, and 
The Comics World, and he has received the John A. Lent Award in Comics Studies.