The Four Color Media Monitor

Publishing Perspectives says there's companies in Germany now who're taking interest in manga from Japan, and manhwa from Korea. And there are domestic creators who're brought up here as well:

Germany’s comic book creators are seeing a rise in demand for their work from established French and American publishers, and they say they can count on an increasing number of state-run programs to support their activities.

At the same time, German publishers are heavily betting on Japanese manga, sales of which are booming. They say they also hope South Korea’s manhwa comic books might be the next big thing in the German market.

Thilo Krapp, a German comic book creator and member of the Illustratoren Organisation union—which represents the creators’ interests—says at Frankfurter Buchmesse that the past years have brought a rapid increase in French-German comic book collaborations. American publishers are also reaching out to Germany’s creators with job offers, Krapp says.

“More and more comic book creators from Germany are now working for Disney or big French publishers such as Dargaud, he says. “This is making our industry more visible, and makes it possible for us to receive more support from the authorities.

I'm sure Germany's got some items of interest. But, they also have fishy stuff too:

Marion Pauls from the German comics publisher Carlsen says that the company’s portfolio of Franco-Belgian comic books, featuring beloved characters including Tintin, Spirou and Fantasio, and Gaston, remains very important for the company and has a loyal following among German readers. At the same time, Carlsen continues to expand its offer with titles designed for mature audiences, and is keen to explore challenging, often politically charged topics.

“We publish Turkish creator Ersin Karabulut who specializes in politically engaged comics, and explores various themes, such as freedom of expression,” she says. “Another of our releases, Kate Charlesworth’s United Queerdom, is a graphic memoir which depicts what the 1950s were like to LGBT persons.”

Now what if it turns out the former produces Islamic propaganda, especially at a time when people are beginning to recognize again why it's a serious issue? If that turns out to be the case, they're working with bad sources. And the latter certainly sounds like propaganda favorable to LGBT ideology, so it won't be a surprise if it turns out to be just that. If their manga ventures turn out to be better, ditto the Korean imports, that'll be because their far east counterparts aren't as obsessed with the kind of ideologies the west's become sadly inundated with. So why must we be told that the domestic publications are politically charged by contrast? If the manga isn't, wouldn't that explain what's wrong with the marketing?

Good luck to them in selling the manga. But one sure thing - if they're unwilling to publish products that stress the importance of combating issues like Islamic terrorism, then all this talk about politically charged topics is farcical and all for naught.

Labels: Europe and Asia, golden calf of LGBT, islam and jihad, manga and anime, msm propaganda, politics