Mangasia: The Definitive Guide to Asian Comics

A comprehensive visual survey of comic-art styles and themes throughout Japan and Asia.

An exhaustive and visually engaging account, Mangasia charts the evolution of manga from its roots in late nineteenth-century Japan through the many and varied forms of comics, cartoons, and animation created throughout Asia for more than one hundred years.

World authority on comic art Paul Gravett details the evolving meanings of the myths and legends told and retold by manga artists of every decade and reveals the development and cross pollination of ideas between manga artists throughout Asia. He explores the explosion of creativity in manga after the Second World War and highlights how creators have responded to political events since 1950 in the form of propaganda, criticism, and commentary in manga magazines, comics, and books.

With maps, timelines, and reproductions from Japan, China, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, the Philippines, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh, this book is the first to explain the significance of key themes, the meanings of embodied myths, and the connections between various manga traditions.

800+ illustrations, 500+ in color

Paul Gravett is a writer, critic, curator, publisher and broadcaster who has worked in the comics industry since 1981. He is author of many books, including Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life, Comics Art, Mangasia, and Posy Simmonds in The Illustrators series. He is co-director of Comica, the London International Comics Festival.