Back in January, and yes it’s relevant, Jim Lee was interviewed by a Japanese website about what DC could learn from the successes of manga in the US. This prompted a further response from me as to what DC could and couldn’t learn from manga. Manga’s success came in part from continuing to do some things we don’t or stopped doing while also being uniquely Japanese, which many Japanese media fans in the West find interesting. At the time they were also losing to Marvel Comics, as it tends to go back and forth between the two.
Today DC is doing much better against Marvel in the comics, but still losing to manga last I heard. They made some changes, but they’re also still making many of the same mistakes I pointed out in my article, relying more on gimmicks and trades than doing what comics do best. They’ve also been getting a boost from the Absolute line, reaching readers who somehow thought current Batman wasn’t dark enough and thought Snyder’s Superman wasn’t Supermanless enough. I don’t follow the Absolute line so I don’t know what if anything has changed with the tone, but everything I did hear says it’s not for me and doesn’t feature what I loved about the DC Universe…more so than the regular DC titles currently. They’re also reprinting older comics and doing smaller, more affordable versions of some of their biggest storylines in trade form. So some good moves are being made.
It isn’t enough for YouTuber Comic Drake, often a good source of daily videos and recommended viewing, who recently posted a video about what he thinks is behind DC’s current success increase and what they could do still. While I agree with a couple of his points, this is a VS article so you know there’s enough disagreement to make this interesting. Like I said back in January, US and Japanese comics operate from different perspectives and that’s a good thing for both industries. Yes, there are things DC could learn or even relearn, but not everything Japan is doing is going to work for us because it still abandons what made comics so big in the first place. Watch the video and I’ll explain. Just dodge the occasional “S” bombs.
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BW Vs. Comic Drake> DC’s Manga Lessons
Back in January, and yes it’s relevant, Jim Lee was interviewed by a Japanese website about what DC could learn from the successes of manga in the US. This prompted a further response from me as to what DC could and couldn’t learn from manga. Manga’s success came in part from continuing to do some things we don’t or stopped doing while also being uniquely Japanese, which many Japanese media fans in the West find interesting. At the time they were also losing to Marvel Comics, as it tends to go back and forth between the two.
Today DC is doing much better against Marvel in the comics, but still losing to manga last I heard. They made some changes, but they’re also still making many of the same mistakes I pointed out in my article, relying more on gimmicks and trades than doing what comics do best. They’ve also been getting a boost from the Absolute line, reaching readers who somehow thought current Batman wasn’t dark enough and thought Snyder’s Superman wasn’t Supermanless enough. I don’t follow the Absolute line so I don’t know what if anything has changed with the tone, but everything I did hear says it’s not for me and doesn’t feature what I loved about the DC Universe…more so than the regular DC titles currently. They’re also reprinting older comics and doing smaller, more affordable versions of some of their biggest storylines in trade form. So some good moves are being made.
It isn’t enough for YouTuber Comic Drake, often a good source of daily videos and recommended viewing, who recently posted a video about what he thinks is behind DC’s current success increase and what they could do still. While I agree with a couple of his points, this is a VS article so you know there’s enough disagreement to make this interesting. Like I said back in January, US and Japanese comics operate from different perspectives and that’s a good thing for both industries. Yes, there are things DC could learn or even relearn, but not everything Japan is doing is going to work for us because it still abandons what made comics so big in the first place. Watch the video and I’ll explain. Just dodge the occasional “S” bombs.
Continue reading →
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on May 19, 2026 in DC Spotlight and tagged BW versus, Comic Drake, comics vs manga, commentary, DC Comics.
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