Making Comics friend Sarah Weaver had a wonderful question that demanded a response: “How can a manga writer transition into writing western style graphic novels?”
Michael Yakutis, Private Comic Eye, led the investigation into the answering of Sarah’s question:
Writing a westernized graphic novel (like those found in North America or Europe) differs from that of a manga in various ways. Obviously the visual look of manga is greatly different from western comics, and manga comics can get away with using symbols to help convey emotion, such as popping veins and sweat drops on the forehead. Manga comics tend to place more emphasis on character emotions and reactions whereas western comics typically avoid overly-exaggerated character expressions unless they’re going for a more “cartoony” look.