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This star means that the title or site is recommended especially for younger teens
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About/History
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Online
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About Graphic Novels and Comics
Want to know more about the origins, history, and uses of graphic novels, manga, and anime? Try these titles to get started.
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An essential reference for any graphic novel librarian but especially helpful to school librarians, and those who might be working with them, in terms of collecting graphic novels with an eye on literacy and classroom connections. Gorman does an excellent, and succinct, job of explaining all the ins and outs of the medium. Getting Graphic is also filled with helpful worksheets, programming ideas, and annotated lists to get any librarian off on a solid start in selecting and promoting their graphic novel collection. |
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Although this is an older title, it is still one of the best available in English specifically on Japanese manga (comics) rather than anime (Japanese animation). A quick and illuminating read, copiously illustrated, it covers everything from the history of the art form in Japan through the growth of the industry and all its subgenres and finally into the current world of the booming manga business. Packed full of history, cultural differences, and explanations of all the various genres and audiences that manga has been created for over the years, Schodt’s book covers it all. This title also includes the only examples of classic early manga translated into English, most notably Osamu Tezuka’s Phoenix and Riyoko Ikeda’s Rose of Versailles. His later books, including Dreamland Japan: Writing on Modern Manga, continue his illuminating exploration of the format as both a Westerner and a long-time resident of Japan. |
If you’re sitting around wondering just why anime (Japanese animation) looks, feels, and works the way it does, this is the resource for you. A relatively in-depth book, the first half explains the general conventions from the big-eyed art style to the archetypes of samurai in entertaining and well-researched essays. Drazen covers everything from the mysteries of friendship, love, and sexuality to the variety of religions colliding in Japanese culture. The second section of the book addresses particular seminal titles in anime history, including Neon Genesis Evangelion. When I was first delving into the world of manga and anime, this title was the book the helped me understand a lot of the traditions and conventions present in both media – it was rather like having a light switched on in darkened room so I could suddenly see all the details and relationships. |
Anime Companion 2: Both by Gilles Poitras Poitras, a librarian, anime fan and columnist for NewType magazine to name but a few of his hats, has created the indispensable resource for any anime fan. These companions, subtitled “What’s Japanese in Japanese anime,” follow an encyclopedia format and fill any manga or anime fan in on any random question they’ve ever had about what they’re watching or reading. Covering everything from buildings to social conventions to food, Poitras’ comments on everything and ably demonstrates why understanding all the details of the culture producing a work leads to a deeper understanding of the whole. How else do you know exactly what a bento is, and where you get them, or why a tofu maker’s horn is so necessary for knowing what time of day it is? The newly available second volume compiles all of the examples that didn’t make it into the first. Both are highly recommended for anime fans seeking more information as well as libraries hoping to help their anime fans learn more about the culture their favorite media comes from. |
Getting
Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens
and Teens
Manga!
Manga! The World of Japanese Comics 
Anime
Explosion: The What, Why and Wow of Japanese Animation 
Anime
Companion: 
Itching to pick up a pen and pencil and give this whole comics thing a try? Here are some great resources to help you understand comics, from the first line you draw or line of dialogue you write to the ways comic storytelling works on your brain and heart.
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Balloon Tales |
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One of the first texts, by the grandmaster himself, to consider comic art and attempt to explain its format, inner workings, and style. |
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A companion to Comics and Sequential Art, this volume concentrates on how to tell a story in visual forms, drawing information from comics to filmmaking. |
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Ever wonder just what the differences are between how to draw manga and how to draw American comics? The answers are in this book, along with great guides for traditional characters and movements. |
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An informative guide to all the ins and outs of the most overlooked art of comics -- inking. |
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A great guide for drawing comics in the traditional American style. Especially good for learning about the variety in cross-hatching and just what makes a superhero different, visually, from an ordinary guy. There are actual quite a few titles in this series, all of which offer great insight into specific parts of comic art: Dynamic Figure Drawing |
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In the same series as The Art of Comic Book Inking, this time author Stradley, one of the best editors in he business, gets into the nuts and bolts of how to write for comics. The book includes perspectives from such top authors as Kurt Busiek, Peter David, Ron Marz, John Arcudi, Dave Gibbons, Mark Waid, and Steven Grant. |
Comics and Sequential Art
Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative
Manga Mania: How to
Draw Japanese Comics
Understanding
Comics
After Eisner's Comics
and Sequential Art, Understanding Comics is a must-read
for anyone curious about how comics work -- as art and as a way
to tell stories. Just why do we care so much about a mouse? Or a
superhero? Reinventing Comics goes into how the comics industry
has been changed by technology.
The Art of Comic
Book Inking
Drawing Dynamic Comics
The Art of Comic
Book Writing
copyright Robin Brenner 2002-2004