Osamu Tezuka

Manga has become so popular within Western culture over the past decade that a variety of guidebooks have appeared – or resurfaced – to initiate the budding fan into the vast and varied world of Japanese comics. This is not to say that there was no interest before the mid- to late nineties; like many popular culture forms, manga, along with her sister format, the graphic novel, has coursed through the underground for generations, filtering through to the mainstream and bursting into a ready and willing population whose interest in cartoons, comics, and Japanese culture created a match that is Heaven Sent (yes, that is an actual manga title). These instructional tomes are as varied as the material they represent. Here is a look at a few of the better ones that stand – or will stand – the test of time.