Manga – is the equivalent of the American comic. It owes its existence to the existence of the latter, the reason being that the early Japanese ‘comic’ artists, were inspired + heavily influenced by their American contemporaries, namely the comic strip artists whose work featured regularly on the Pulitzer magazine.

However the Japanese artists did not stop there. Osamu Tezuka, pioneer of manga and anime, improved on the American style. He adopted certain characteristics of the comic, particularly the eye-expressions, but went on to develop his own style. His first publication Shintakarajima - New Treasure Island:

• Was an impressive 200 pages – as opposed to the usual 20 or so pages
   
• Comprised of an amalgamation of the cartoon style of the West with early cinema techniques also used by the West. This is what distinguished his work in particular…