Almost as soon as manga became popular outside of Japan, creators around the world started borrowing its stylistic and storytelling tropes for their own comics. Some simply incorporated manga techniques into their own work, but others proudly created manga-style comics and called them “manga,” sparking a decades-long dispute as to whether or not that’s OK. Either way, a quarter of a century later, the category of non-Japanese manga, known variously as “OEL manga,” “manfra” (in the Francophone world), or “international manga,” is still going strong.

Among North American readers, manga bridged the gap between reader and creator in a way that had never been seen before. Along with cosplay and Pocky snacks, American readers embraced the Japanese custom of doujinshi, or fan comics. Meanwhile, savvy publishers marketing to teen enthusiasts took the next step and encouraged submissions. Japanese publishers have been doing that for years, and many a famous mangaka got their start by winning a manga magazine competition. Japanese publishers recruit globally as well. Since the late 2000s, the Japanese government has run an annual competition for overseas manga creators, and the publisher Shueisha accepts submissions from everywhere for its Manga Plus platform, which hosts such heavy hitters such as “One Piece” and “Jujutsu Kaisen.”

So in short, manga-style comics come from all over the world. Some are spin-offs of classic Japanese manga while others are completely original stories rendered with manga-style storytelling. Whether they are in black-and-white or full color, read right to left or left to right, what makes these series work is the fact that they can sit comfortably on a shelf alongside manga from Japan. Each one has enough familiar qualities to feel manga-like, no matter where the creators live.

Also read: "There’s Not Enough Middle Grade Manga. U.S. Publishers Are Changing That."

Manga publishers including Viz, Seven Seas, and Tokyopop include non-Japanese titles in their catalogs, while manfra often comes from publishers who license many Franco-Belgian titles, such as Ablaze. One publisher worth watching is Saturday AM, which started in 2013 as an online anthology of shonen manga–inspired comics by creators from around the world. The Quarto Group began releasing print editions in 2020. These solid titles can hold their own against most of the Shonen Jump output. They also put people of color and LGBTQIA+ people front and center.

Here’s a look at some recent and upcoming graphic novels that are marketed as manga but have their origins elsewhere.

TEZUKA, Osamu & Samuel Sattin. “Unico: Awakening.” illus. by Gurihiru. Graphix. 2024–
Gr 3-6–The first manga in the Graphix line is a reimagining of Osamu Tezuka’s manga series “Unico” that starts from the same premise as the original—a baby unicorn who has the power to make people feel happy and lighthearted is exiled by the jealous goddess Venus and cast off to wander through time and space. Each time Unico comes to rest somewhere, he gets involved with the local people and animals and helps them change their lives, then as his memories begin to resurface, he is whisked away again. In this first volume, Unico teams up with a cat named Chloe to take down an evil hunter who is massacring animals for sport. Gurihiru’s full-color art is the real deal, with a Disney-esque feel (especially for the animals) and paneling and composition that owe a lot to manga. The violence is all off-panel—we see a gun go off, for instance, and then a bear lying in a pool of blood—although a monster that little ones may find scary shows up at the end. The main characters are adorable and likable, and the story is a satisfyingly twisty adventure. In the end, the scene is set for future volumes. The first is slated for August 2024.

LUMSDON, David. “Coral’s Reef.” illus. by Shiei. Seven Seas. 2023–
Gr 4-7–Coral is a sea sprite who enjoys surfing in this shojo-esque, slice-of-life comic set in New Lemuria, where many different aquatic creatures coexist in harmony. Coral has a high-spirited little sister, teaches surfing at a local resort, and has lots of friends, including Anemonie, a sea siren who can’t carry a tune, and Lillyanna, a dryad who lives in a tree in Coral’s backyard. Lillyanna is a newcomer who initially isn’t familiar with the concept of clothing, leading to some awkward moments, and when she meets cute boys for the first time, she turns into a giant flower and grasps them in her tendrils. The boys vying for Coral’s attentions include a fire ifrit named Nick Inferno and the rich, spoiled, but somehow intriguing Lance Riptide. With teen characters, this book has flirting, scheming, and misunderstandings; everyone wears swimsuits most of the time since it’s set at the beach. The art is in full color, and the characters have a variety of skin hues—Coral is blue—as well as different features such as fish tails, webbed ears, and fiery hair. This would be a good pick for younger fans of shoujo manga as well as those aging out of Archie comics. The first volume was published in October 2023 and a second is in the works.

ODIN, Jey. “Hammer.” illus. by author. Quarto/Saturday AM. 2022–
Gr 5 Up–Stud Hammer is 14 and pretty much on his own as this series opens. His father, while loving, is frequently absent, going on long trips in search of Stud’s missing mother, and the kids in the village won’t let Stud into their clique. What’s more, he’s still learning how to use the special powers he recently developed: the abilities to turn his hands into hammers and to shoot nails. Those powers come in handy when a magical book sucks him into an undersea world and he winds up battling a bunch of sharks to track down the killer of the Ocean King. Subsequent volumes take him into a jungle and a bird kingdom. The emphasis is on action in these stories. Lots of battles feature outlandish characters, and Stud is good-hearted but unsure of himself at first. The black-and-white art is clearly inspired by shonen manga but is a bit simpler and easier to follow. Featuring the fast-paced entertainment of “Dragon Ball” or “Naruto” without some of the problematic content, it’s a good choice for younger readers. The fifth volume is due out in January 2025.

BISCAY, Cédric, Tsukasa Mori & Harumo Sanazaki. “Blitz.” illus. by Daitaro Nishihara. Ablaze. 2022–
Gr 7 Up–Tom is a middle school slacker who doesn’t have a lot of ambition until he spots Harmony, a pretty girl who is a champion chess player. Tom knows nothing about chess but decides to join the chess club so he can get to know her. This means learning the game. After some initial fumbles, he is struck by lightning while doing a VR tutorial and suddenly becomes a chess prodigy. Tom can sense his opponent’s personality, and he visualizes each game as a battle between knights on a fantasy chessboard. Chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov shows up a lot in this series, both as inspiration and as the sponsor of an international chess tournament for young people. As this series progresses, new allies and opponents are introduced. The black-and-white art is straightforward, with well-defined characters, minimal detail, and increasing visual drama during the games and moments of high emotion. This series will appeal to chess fans, but like “Hikaru no Go,” it turns a board game into an exciting event by emphasizing the competitive aspects of the gameplay and the personalities of the players, so it’s a good pick for any fan of shonen manga. Ablaze published the third volume in January 2024.

XU, Ru. “Status Royale.” illus. by author. Viz. 2024–
Gr 7 Up–Ru, the creator of the middle grade graphic novel series “NewsPrints” (Graphix, 2017), is back with a fast-paced story set in the world of esports. Vell has been learning how to play the VR game Status Royale from her longtime friend Min-Jun Yong. So when he kicks her out in the middle of a game and ghosts her, she’s upset and puzzled. Vell doesn’t quit the game, though; instead, she forms a team with two other players and they decide to take Min-Jun and his team down. Min-Jun, for his part, is one of the top players in the league. He shows up in his hometown of Houston and rekindles his friendship with Vell, because the Dallas team he was playing for dissolved after a scandal, but he is quickly picked up by a New York team. This first volume has a nice balance of in-game action (with the characters represented by their game avatars) mixed with in-person drama. The dynamic, black-and-white art has plenty of diagonals and speedlines to convey action, and the characters have a mix of skin tones and body types. The first volume came out in February 2024, and the second is due in February 2025.

GALADIMA, Issaka with Frederick L. Jones. “Clock Striker.” illus. by author. Quarto/Saturday AM. 2023–
Gr 7-10–This shonen-inspired manga has a steampunk setting, an action-packed storyline, and stars a 10-year-old Black girl who is out to save the world—literally. In this story’s universe, Smiths are warriors who wield their engineering skills rather than standard weapons. When we first meet Cast, our hero, she is trying to persuade her teacher to let her try out to be a Smith. He insists that she can never be one, not only because she is female, but also because she does not have a left hand. While he sneers, she develops a prosthetic hand from a junkyard find and signs on as the Striker (assistant) to the very cool Ms. Clock—a mysterious, perhaps not altogether benevolent, Smith. Galadima really understands shonen manga, and it shows in the pacing, the paneling, and the plotting, as well as in the dynamic, heavily screen-toned art. The storyline includes a lot of fights and the occasional giant weapon, rendered deftly with motion lines and sound effects that convey speed and impact with minimal gore. The cast has a variety of complexions and characteristics, including the cybernetically enhanced Demon Bandits. The story has a bit of “One Piece”–inspired wackiness to it and would be a good pick for fans of steampunk manga and series such as Madeleine Rosca’s “Hollow Fields.” The fourth volume was published in January 2024.

ALQUIÉ,Jérome, Arnaud Dollen, & Masami Kurumada. Saint Seiya: Knights of the Zodiac – Time Odyssey. illus. by Jérome Alquié. Ablaze. 2024–
Gr 8 Up–The original version of Masami Kurumada’s “Saint Seiya” ran in the Japanese Shonen Jump magazine from 1985 to 1990; Viz published it in English under the title “Knights of the Zodiac,” and the series has spawned a number of spin-offs and anime adaptations. The basic premise of the series is that the Greek goddess Athena has come to earth in human form, protected by four mystical warriors to defend the world against other gods. In “Time Odyssey,” an authorized spin-off by two French creators, Chronos, the god of time, wants to be admitted to the pantheon of Olympus. He is using a Doomsday Clock, which can change events in the past, present, or future, to advance his plans. Those plans involve rigging the battle between Hades and Athena, which occurs every 250 years, by having Hades reborn as one of Athena’s former protectors, a knight named Ikki who has a checkered career within the franchise. The art is quite different from the original: it’s in color, the character designs have been updated, and the composition of the pages is more complex, in part because the 7” x 10” trim size of this graphic novel is larger than most manga. The obvious appeal of this series will be to fans of the original manga and anime, as well as the 2023 live-action film Knights of the Zodiac. But it’s also a good pick for fans of Greek mythology and complicated fantasy stories. The backstory is provided in the first few pages, so the series stands on its own. The first of a projected five volumes is set to launch in November 2024.