A World of ComicsDiscover different versions of comics in different countries around the globe.
It all started with an animation film titled “ Momotarou Uminokaihei", which Tezuka came across in 1945 when he was still studying medicine. “ Momotarou Uminokaihei" was a propaganda film that promoted peace and hope in spite of many problems Japan was facing. This inspired Tezuka and later dropped from medicine and became a full-time comic artist. Tezuka adopted Disney-like facial expressions, ranging from the eyebrows to the shape of the mouth, to exaggerate the characterization. Soon, he started to draw in his own way – with extremely large eyes as he strongly believed in the saying, “The eyes are the windows to one’s soul.” So, with more recognition to the eyes, the more the emotion or idea expressed. This revived the ukiyo-e like tradition, which emphasizes the line, “A picture conveys a thousand words.” In the mid-1960's, there arouse yet another distinct feature of manga which was called Gekiga. Because the artist of this trend weren't required of a deadline for their storyline, they had ample time to create their comics. These versions of the manga were more realistic in terms of the style of how it was drawn, which required much talent from the artist, and had a mature theme. That's why Gekiga was considered to have a higher degree than those that adopted the Tezuka style.
Manwha refers to Korean comics. It is read like Western books, from left to right horizontally since their native alphabet, the hangul, is also read from left to right. Although its features are quite similar to that of the manga, Japanese comics, it also has its distinct features. Manwahs are rarely adopted into animated movies. They are instead popularly turned into television series or movies.
Manhua is the general term used to refer to comics produced in China. It also includes mangas translated to Chinese characters. It is identical to the manga and manwha due to higher standards of liberalization and partly of globalization. So with sort of "no wall" states, information and products can cross from a country to another including comic books. The Manhua stretches its origin to the lianhuantu, a traditional Chinese illustrated story book. A lianhauntu differs from comics for it only contains pictures with caption and without word bubbles. The modern version of manhua was born in the nineteenth century. Up until now, the manhua has been quite similar. The features of ancient Chinese drawing are still present. Examples of these drawings are from the stone reliefs from the eleventh century BC. It is classified into four categories: satirical and political manhua, comical manhua, action manhua, and children's manhua.
From the name itself, these comics are produced in France and Belgium. Franco-Belgian comics were originally in the Dutch language but because of the strong influence of the froncophone, it was changed into French. Belgium and France, both being French-speaking countries, became markets for comics since there were no language and nationality barriers. The difference between the former comics that was written in Dutch and the present comics, written in French, is that both have different "feels".
What separates Filipino comics from over comics around the globe is the input of the colorful Filipino culture which includes their simple way of living, traditions, and typical moral values. Much of Philippine comics present their characters as simple people living meager lives then encounters a certain opportunity that could change or make a difference not only to their lives but also to the lives of their fellowmen. Most of the time this opportunity is the the form of extraordinary abilities, thus producing superheroes like Darna and Captain Barbel
The term Fumetto literally means 'little puff of smoke' referring to the speech ballons. So, its just appropriate for Italian comics to be called such. Its roots can be traced to the early satirical publications in the 19th Century that were used for educational and propaganda purposes. These satirical publications, then, produced the very first Fumetto, Il Corriere dei Piccoli. Although Il Corriere dei Piccoli was only captions and verses instead of the modern speech balloons, the way the story was presented was enough to recognize it the first Italian comics.
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