Here’s a note from comics reader/Dilbert fan, Kentaro T. Pretty great!

I am interested in your saying, “I was too embarrassed to read comics in public”.

In Japan, comics (we call them “manga”, you know) are very popular, so adult people commonly read manga in public.

In the early 1970s, when the japanese college students began reading manga publicly, they were criticized by the previous generations.
But by that time, the kinds of manga had dramatically increased, and many mangas were eagerly accepted by the young people as their own bildungsroman, love stories, art forms, or even political assertions.

Their manner of reading manga in public was popularized through 70s.

I remember the foreign people from US or Europian countries satirized us for Reading Comic in Public in 1980s.

We felt pity for them, oh, they didn’t know fertility of the world of manga! (Although we also loved Peanuts.)

But I thought it was a long time ago.
After all, The Dark Knight Returns was born about a quarter-century ago, you have The Alan Moore, and I also love Dilbert.
So I was surprised you still embarrassed to RCiP!

Well, I hope your movement will change your world.
Your generation leads younger people to the world of RCiP.

Your English is great, Kentaro! I’m sure that half the people I speak with on a daily basis have no idea what “bildungsroman” means.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 · 2 Comments »