Comics
A Brief Look at Manga | Comics Around the World
Welcome to Comics Around The World, where I take a brief look at comics from other countries, tell you a bit about the history behind them, and talk about some famous comics from that country.
Manga is still without a doubt one of the most misunderstood mediums, by both its critics and its fan base, on the planet. From the misconceptions of it being nothing but hentai and weird shit (critics), to it being superior to American comics in every way from demographic variety, story, characters, awesomeness and quality (otaku-tards). Neither of these claims are true, and these claims are usually perpetuated by people who either don’t really understand Manga, or love Manga and don’t really know anything about Western comics. It’s very rare you’ll find someone who is equally as in love with both.
The hate for Manga is certainly annoying, especially seeing as it comes from huge ignorance of Japanese comics, and the irritating fan base in the West who seem to want to be Japanese so badly that it physically hurts, although that’s an entirely different rant that I’m not going to go into further here.
Due to the fact that I’m sure people reading this have no doubt had Naruto and numerous other popular anime and manga shoved down their throats, I’m going to take a different approach and I’m going to talk about Manga that has been acclaimed and/or is historically important, but I’m going to try to avoid the typical mentions of Naruto, Bleach and Death Note (although I will say that despite the constant talk surrounding it, Death Note is legitimately great).
Modern manga as we know it today started after World War II with one of the most immediately popular titles being Astro Boy. Following the cutest, cuddliest little robot this side of Mega-Man, Astro Boy is one that many think of when they think of early manga.
What many people don’t know though is that bande dessinée actually had a huge impact on manga. Cyber punk stories such as The Long Tomorrow published in Metal Hurlant had a large impact on Manga influencing works such as Ghost in the Shell and Akira, which I have talked about to death and won’t get into again. Manga has since been a very good place to look for cyber-punk stories.
Lone Wolf and Cub (1970 – 1976) is a particularly important historical manga taking pace in feudal Japan, following a samurai and his small child as they fight to survive. Written by Kazuo Koike, it had a very big impact on American comics, being a big influence on Frank Miller who would go on to help re-define American comics as a medium through his seminal work on Daredevil and The Dark Knight Returns.
When you look back at older comics it is interesting to see how different the artistic styles tend to be. While it is most certainly a myth that all manga uses the same style of big eyes and unusual hair in a very stylised manner, it is true that this is by and large a lot of what you will commonly see from Death Note to Dragon Ball.
This is part of why I particularly like the art work of Goseki Kojima, who has collaborated with Kazuo Koike on more than a few occasions outside of Lone Wolf and Cub. There is more realistic artwork out there, and I think that if people are put off by popular manga styles, that’s still not a reason to not look for more.
Just like with American comics, there is manga for every interest especially if you’re willing to look at older comics, from boxing manga Hajime No Ippo, which delivers on a surprisingly good representation of boxing from a country with such a rich history in the sport, to the ridiculously good Lovecraftian-esque horror Uzumaki and even the more recent Attack on Titan which despite the masses of hype surrounding it, is a very good series. Of course no list could be complete without mentioning one of the longest running mangas ever, the pirate manga One Piece, which alongside it’s broad acclaim for its art, humour and story, has broken numerous publishing records and based on sales is undisputedly the most successful manga of all time.
There is a wealth of Japanese comics worth reading. My suggestion is look around at the many acclaimed comics and see what one peaks your interest. Don’t let the often loud and obnoxious fan base put you off because chances are, if you’re a fan of Western comics, regardless of if you’re into the dark work of Vertigo or high-octane superhero action, you will probably like manga. They are still comic books, while there are differences such as manga more frequently being published in black and white, and in volumes rather than weekly issues (although if you collect trades then that shouldn’t matter anyway). Manga are comics, and aside from being Japanese and being read right to left (which isn’t that hard to grasp) there really is very little difference in the medium once you finally get down to it.
Aleksander Caban, co-founder of Polish VR game developer Carbon Studio, noticed a major problem in modern game design several years ago. He manually created rocks, hills, paths, and other video game environment elements, which was time-consuming and laborious.
Caban created tech to automate the process.
In collaboration with Michal Bugała, Joanna Zając, Karolina Koszuta, and Błażej Szaflik, he founded Auctoria, an AI-powered platform for creating 3D game assets. Auctoria, from Gliwice, Poland, is in Startup Battlefield 200 at Disrupt 2023.
Auctoria was founded on a passion for limitless creativity, according to Zając in an email interview. It was designed to help game developers, but anyone can use it. Few advanced tools exist for professionals; most are for hobbyists and amateurs. We want to change that.”
Using generative AI, Auctoria creates various video game models. One feature generates basic 3D game levels with pathways, while another converts uploaded images and textures of walls, floors, and columns into 3D versions.
Like DALL-E 2 and Midjourney, Auctoria can generate assets from text prompts. Or they can submit a sketch, which the platform will try to turn into a digital model.
All AI algorithms and training data for Auctoria were developed in-house, according to Zając.
She said “Auctoria is based 100% on our content, so we’re not dependent on any other provider.” It’s independent—Auctoria doesn’t use open source or external engines.
In the emerging market for AI game asset generation tools, Auctoria isn’t alone. The 3DFY, Scenario, Kaedim, Mirage, and Hypothetic startups create 3D models. Even Nvidia and Autodesk are entering the space with apps like Get3D, which converts images to 3D models, and ClipForge, which generates models from text descriptions.
Meta also tried tech to create 3D assets from prompts. In December, OpenAI released Point-E, an AI that synthesizes 3D models for 3D printing, game design, and animation.
Given the size of the opportunity, the race to market new solutions isn’t surprising. According to Proficient Market Insights, 3D models could be worth $3.57 billion by 2028.
According to Zając, Auctoria’s two-year R&D cycle has led to a more robust and comprehensive toolset than rivals.
“Currently, AI-based software is lacking for creating complete 3D world models,” Zając stated. “3D editors and plugins offer only a fraction of Auctoria’s capabilities. Our team started developing the tool two years ago, giving us a ready-to-use product.”
Auctoria, like all generative AI startups, must deal with AI-generated media legal issues. Not yet clear how AI-generated works can be copyrighted in the U.S.
However, the Auctoria team of seven employees and five co-founders is delaying answering those questions. Instead, they’re piloting the tooling with game development studios like Caban’s Carbon Studio.
Before releasing Auctoria in the coming months, the company hopes to raise $5 million to “speed up the process” of creating back-end cloud services to scale the platform.
Zając stated that the funding would reduce the computing time required for creating worlds or 3D models with Auctoria. Achieving a software-as-a-service model requires both infrastructure and user experience enhancements, such as a simple UI, excellent customer service, and effective marketing. We’ll keep our core team small, but we’ll hire more by year’s end.”
Even though trophy support for older games on PS Plus Premium isn’t always great, you can always count on Sony’s first-party games to have it.If you like collecting these digital trinkets, you’re in luck, because today’s big PlayStation Plus update includes two classic games that can now be used to earn Trophies.
Each trophy list for Ape Academy 2 and Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror includes the platinum cherry on top. You can look at their respective listings here and here if you’re interested.
The list for Dark Mirror appears to be quite simple—you can basically earn them all by finishing the game. The trophies in Ape Academy 2 appear to be a little more complicated, requiring you to complete particular objectives in card battles and advance to specified rankings. Nonetheless, it doesn’t seem too difficult, so we’re looking at a couple of quite simple platinums.
Ridge Racer: Type 4 is this month’s other premium classic game; sadly, it does not offer trophies. But it makes up for it by being a complete banger.
However, will you be obtaining some of these trophies with a nostalgic flavor?
This year, Sony produced some truly outstanding work, releasing four high-profile games on the PS5 and PS4 (not to mention the numerous PC ports). The earliest of these, Horizon Forbidden West, arrived in February of 2022 and got the year off to a strong start. One of Aloy’s sophomore journey’s greatest strengths, among the many other things we like about it, is its excellent art direction. The Art of Horizon Forbidden West allows you to now delve deeply into the game’s visuals.
This coffee table book, which was published by Dark Horse Books, contains 200 pages of concept art and developer commentary. It provides an inside look at the process used to develop engaging characters and settings, and Forbidden West is certainly not lacking in either.
There will be two editions of the book: standard and deluxe. Both are hardback books, with the deluxe edition having pages with metallic edges and a unique slipcase. These are now up for pre-order and will go on sale on April 25, 2023.
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