This Day in Comic Book History: July 12
This Day in Comic Book History: July 12
July 12 is an occasion to celebrate the history of manga — Japanese comics — and its journey from a uniquely Japanese art form to a global phenomenon that has transformed how the world reads and thinks about comics.
Osamu Tezuka: The God of Manga
Osamu Tezuka
Astro Boy · Black Jack · Phoenix · Kimba the White Lion · Created modern manga's visual language · The God of Manga
No single creator was more important to the development of manga than Osamu Tezuka (1928–1989), whose innovations in visual storytelling, character design, and narrative complexity created the foundation upon which all subsequent manga was built. Tezuka's Astro Boy (1952) established the big-eyed character design that became synonymous with anime and manga worldwide. His Phoenix cycle explored themes of life, death, and reincarnation across thousands of years of human history. His Black Jack is one of the greatest medical dramas in any medium. Tezuka called comics his life's work — and he produced over 700 volumes of it.
Manga Comes to America: The 1980s and 1990s Revolution
Manga's American Arrival
Akira (1988) · Ghost in the Shell (1991) · Dragon Ball Z · Sailor Moon · The manga boom that changed American comics forever
While Japanese comics had been trickling into American awareness since the 1970s, it was Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira — published in English by Marvel's Epic Comics imprint starting in 1988 — that truly opened American eyes to what manga could be. The subsequent decade saw Masamune Shirow's Ghost in the Shell, Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball, and Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon transform the American comics market, eventually creating the manga boom of the early 2000s that made manga the fastest-growing segment of American publishing.
Manga Today: The Global Phenomenon
Manga's Global Dominance
Demon Slayer · One Piece · My Hero Academia · Attack on Titan · Manga now outsells American comics in the US
In the 2020s, manga has become so dominant in the American market that it now outsells American superhero comics in many bookstores. Titles like Demon Slayer, One Piece, My Hero Academia, and Attack on Titan have sold tens of millions of volumes worldwide. The manga tradition that Tezuka pioneered in postwar Japan has become a genuinely global art form — the fastest-growing segment of publishing in America, and a creative force that shows no signs of slowing.
🏆 Top 10 Essential Manga for American Comics Readers
- Akira Vol. 1 (Epic Comics, 1988) — Katsuhiro Otomo's cyberpunk masterpiece; the manga that launched the American manga boom and remains one of the greatest comics ever made.
- Astro Boy Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, 2002) — Osamu Tezuka's foundational manga; the work that established manga's visual language and made Tezuka the God of Manga.
- Ghost in the Shell (Dark Horse, 1995) — Masamune Shirow's cyberpunk classic; influenced The Matrix and every AI/identity story in subsequent popular culture.
- Dragon Ball Vol. 1 (Viz, 1998) — Akira Toriyama's shonen masterpiece; the template for virtually every action manga that followed.
- Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (Viz, 1988) — Hayao Miyazaki's epic eco-fantasy manga; one of the most visually ambitious and philosophically rich comics ever created.
- Barefoot Gen Vol. 1 (New Society, 1987) — Keiji Nakazawa's autobiographical account of surviving Hiroshima; one of the most important anti-war comics in any medium.
- Berserk Vol. 1 (Dark Horse, 2003) — Kentaro Miura's dark fantasy epic; widely considered one of the greatest manga ever created.
- One Piece Vol. 1 (Viz, 2003) — Eiichiro Oda's generational adventure; now one of the best-selling comics series in history with over 500 million copies sold.
- Attack on Titan Vol. 1 (Kodansha, 2012) — Hajime Isayama's landmark thriller; transformed how mainstream audiences thought about manga storytelling.
- Demon Slayer Vol. 1 (Viz, 2018) — Koyoharu Gotouge's phenomenon; one of the fastest-selling manga in history, demonstrating manga's extraordinary global reach.
Find manga collections and Japanese comics at Epic Panels Comics!