Women's Comics

Being a big fan of Manga for a long time now, I have inevitably stumbled across cases of American artists emulating the manga style. Amerimanga, as its sometimes called, is a fun mix of cultures. Drawn in the manga style, these stories usually hold more of an american or other cultural feel. Back when I would collect manga frequently, I would sometimes see a featured artist and their work at the end of a manga. Tokyopop did this sometimes. Checking out amerimanga from time to time is how I learned about an artist named Chynna Clugston. One of her most notable works is called Blue Monday, and it follows the life of a group of friends as they go through high school together. Set back in the 1980's, Chynna does a great job of giving it that 80's punk feel, mixing in a bit of european and japanese culture for flavor.

Blue Monday along with Scooter Girl, another popular work of hers, are centered around a female main character. This is common in works produced by women artists. I find that more often than not, the love element seems to be stronger in works produced by women. This is a nice break now and then quite honestly. I find it a nice break from popular action hero comics, which is what a lot of people probably immediately think of when they think of comics.

In the pursuit of reading manga, and even amerimanga, I have developed a love for learning about the Japanese culture. Ultimately, this has led me to wanting to know more and more about many more cultures. I find different cultures very fascinating, and when somebody uses different cultures in a work of art like Chynna does in Blue Monday, I will most likely immediately fall in love with it.