Skip to main content

Toward Maturity: Analyzing the Spanish Comics Industry Through a Comparison of National Graphic Novels and Gafotaku-Oriented Manga

  • 646 Accesses

Part of the Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels book series (PSCGN)

Abstract

The consolidation of the manga market signified by the emergence of gafotaku1 readers and the current popularity of the national graphic novel are two parallel streams within the comics industry in Spain which are only now beginning to overlap. The worldwide shift from comics to books began in the late 1980s with the development of the graphic novel. In recent years, this trend has culminated in a surge of popularity in Spain. New works receive acclaim and critical review in newspapers and other publications, while alternative “avant-garde” manga titles join these graphic novels on the shelves of major bookstores.

Keywords

  • Comic Book
  • Spanish Market
  • Mature Reader
  • Broad Readership
  • Spanish Author

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1057/978-1-137-55090-3_15
  • Chapter length: 16 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-1-137-55090-3
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Hardcover Book
USD   149.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)

References

  • Barrero, Manuel, and Tebeoeditores. 2015. La industria de la historieta en España en 2015 [The Comics Industry in Spain in 2015]. Tebeosfera 13, February 20. Accessed March 30, 2015. http://goo.gl/VXLRRy

  • Bernabé, Marc. 2015. Estadísticas manga 2014 [Manga Statistics 2014]. Mangaland, January 11. Accessed March 30, 2015. http://goo.gl/8R3GwD

  • Berndt, Jaqueline. 2006. Adult Manga: Maruo Suehiro’s Historically Ambiguous Comics. In Reading Manga: Local and Global Perceptions of Japanese Comics, eds. Jaqueline Berndt and Steffi Richter, 107–125. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • ———. 2015. Manga: Medium, Art and Material. Leipzig: Leipziger Universitätsverlag GmbH.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berndt, Jaqueline, and Bettina Kümmerling-Meibauer, eds. 2013. Manga’s Cultural Crossroads. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brienza, Casey. 2009. Books, Not Comics: Publishing Fields, Globalization, and Japanese Manga in the United States. Publishing Research Quarterly 25(2): 101–117.

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  • Brienza, Casey. 2014. Sociological Perspectives on Japanese Manga in America. Sociology Compass 8(5): 468–477.

    Google Scholar 

  • Estrada, Oriol. 2012. El Gafotaku; ¿una nueva especie? [Gafotaku: New Species?]. La Arcadia de Urías, March 26. http://goo.gl/5pPqub

  • ———. 2014. Entrevista Milky Way Ediciones En España estamos viviendo algo parecido a la etapa del gekiga en Japón [Interview with Milky Way Editions: We Are Experiencing Something Like the Gekiga Age in Japan]. Zona Negativa [Negative Zone], December 2. Accessed July 14, 2015. http://www.zonanegativa.com/entrevista-milky-way-ediciones

  • Gálvez, Pepe. 2008. La novela gráfica o la madurez del medio [Graphic Novel or the Medium Maturity]. In De los superhéroes al manga: el lenguaje de los cómics [From Superheroes to Manga: The Language of Comics], ed. Nicolás Cortés, 69–112. Barcelona: Centre D’estudis i Recerques Socials i Metropolitanes.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, Santiago. 2010. La Novela Gráfica [On the Graphic Novel]. Bilbao: Astiberri.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, Santiago Coord. 2013. Supercomic. Mutaciones de la Novela Gráfica Contemporánea [Supercomic: Mutations of the Contemporary Graphic Novel]. Madrid: Errata Naturae.

    Google Scholar 

  • García, Santiago. 2014. Crisis en Tierras Paralelas II [Crisis on Parallel Lands II]. Mandorla (blog), July 15. Accessed March 29, 2015. http://goo.gl/7tRtOz

  • Gómez Salamanca, Daniel. 2013. Tebeo, cómic y novela gráfica: la influencia de la novela gráfica en la industria del cómic en España [Tebeo, Comic, and Graphic Novel: Influence of the Graphic Novel on the Comic Book Industry in Spain]. PhD diss., Universitat Ramon Llull.

    Google Scholar 

  • Román, Eduardo Díaz-Guijarro. 2014. Entrevista a Paco Roca en su exposición Dibujante Ambulante [Interview with Paco Roca about His Exhibition, Traveling Artist]. Tomos y Grapas [Volumes and Staples], December 17. Accessed July 16, 2015. http://tomosygrapas.com/2014/12/17/video-entrevista-a-paco-roca-en-su-exposicion-dibujante-ambulante/

  • ——— 2014. Iberomanga: From Mainstream to Gafotaku and Gendered Niches. In Manga Outside of Japan (Global Manga Studies Vol. 4), ed. Jaqueline Berndt, 265–304. International Manga Research Center.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2016 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Iglesias, J.A.S. (2016). Toward Maturity: Analyzing the Spanish Comics Industry Through a Comparison of National Graphic Novels and Gafotaku-Oriented Manga. In: Brienza, C., Johnston, P. (eds) Cultures of Comics Work. Palgrave Studies in Comics and Graphic Novels. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55090-3_15

Download citation