Philippines
Ecuador
Nigeria
United States of America
Greece
Brazil
United Kingdom
Peru
Bulgaria
Canada
Estonia
Cambodia
Israel
China
Portugal
Australia
Japan
Launched in 1996 the CCI website is the internet's Original, Longest-Running, and Most Complete Online Guide of its kind!
Search the CCI Website!


this CCI Site web
France
Kenya
Mexico
South Korea
India
Norway
International Links Spotlight Features Questions? COMIX35 Information Site Map
Launched in 1996, the CCI website is the internet's Original, Longest-Running, and Most Complete Online Guide of its kind.

What's New on the COMIX35 Site?

Buy books through our Christian Comics Catalog

Learn about our 'Timothys and Joshuas / Marthas and Priscillas Project'

Information on our Comics Competition for US Prison Inmates

The latest updates on our African Comics Project

Learn about the impact of comics in The 10/40 Window

Go to the CCI Home Page

New Life Literature Asia/USA


COMIX35 is a participant in the Combined Federal Campaign
CFC #: 12211


A ministry of
COMIX35 is a ministry of ROX35 Media Inc, a 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization.
A 501(c)(3) Nonprofit Organization

Comics Quotes & Facts
from PHILIPPINES and INDIA [ASIA Page 3]
Information about secular and general circulation comics literature from around the world

All information is © by the individual publications and organizations noted as sources
ASIA
Page 1

Click here for facts & quotes from JAPAN.

ASIA
Page 2

Click here for facts & quotes from the CHINA (including HONG KONG and TAIWAN), SOUTH KOREA, and THAILAND.

ASIA
Page 4

Click here for facts & quotes from SINGAPORE, INDONESIA, MALAYSIA, AUSTRALIA, BURMA, CAMBODIA, PAPUA NEW GUINEA, and ASIA PACIFIC (General).


PHILIPPINES

Liwayway magazine is the oldest magazine still being published in the Philippines. Begun in 1923 Liwayway became the vehicle for some of the early comic strips which later launched the comics industry in the Philippines. During the Japanese Occupation, the Japanese Imperial Army confiscated Liwayway and continued to publish it for propaganda purposes. The Manila Bulletin took over ownership of Liwayway in 2005. (From the article "A History of Liwayway Magazine" by Dennis Villegas on The Philippine Comics Art Museum Online web site, January 2006)
"The Philippine Sports Commission is... launching [the] Batang Pinoy-Philippine National Youth Games 2000 [using] the IEC [information, education & communication] strategy. The IEC strategy includes the launching of Batang Pinoy Komiks [comics], an innovative... and illustrative reading material espousing the very ideals of Batang Pinoy." (From an article in the Manila Bulletin, April 2000)
"Comic books have always had a special place in Filipino society, leaving an imprint on Pinoys as they grow up. This cultural significance has resulted in a diverse lot, ranging from Mars Ravelo's innovative komiks stories to the seminal tales in the serial Funny Komiks. But recently, younger artists have tried to merge Filipino sensibility with a Western-style art form: the American comic book/graphic novel." (From the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Feb 2000)
"In the '50s, '60s and '70s, many Filipino movies were based on popular novels serialized in magazines and komiks publications." (From the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Dec '99)
Filipino students usually turn to the abridged komiks versions of history books and classic novels which are required-reading in high school, such as the story of Jose Rizal and the metrical romance Florante at Laura. (From articles in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Oct and Dec '99)
The Philtranco bus company has produced an on-board comics publication, the Biyaheng Pinoy Komiks-Magasin. This 52-page color monthly is to be distributed free to all Philtranco passengers. It has a circulation of 300,000 and is the first such publication of its kind in the Philippines. (From the Manila Bulletin, November '99)
"Of the many recent techniques developed to bring basic information to our people, the use of the vernacular komiks ­ illustrated reading materials ­ has been found effective. Knowledge that our people widely read this type of material inspired the... University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital to utilize it... The Rayuma Komiks... will help many of our poor countrymen to comprehend medical terms. We hope that similar measures will be undertaken by authorities in the various other government agencies which deal directly with our people." (From an article entitled "Komiks & Education" in the Manila Bulletin, November '99) "Rayuma Komiks, which is published locally in the vernacular, was spearheaded by Dr. Amante. He observed that educational material in the form of glossy brochures, pamphlets and books are usually disregarded by Filipinos. What he noticed was that the Filipino usually reads local comics... Printing patient information materials in the vernacular is the best way to educate these patients." (From the Manila Bulletin, October '99)
"Media forms can be divided into three major categories: they are the print media, the electronic media, and special media. Print media include newspapers: broadsheets or tabloids, comic books, novels, and monographs... In the Philippines, the most widely used media forms are the print media... To date, there are ... eighty-nine serial comic books... [A 1999 Mediawatch article entitled "The Fascinating World of Pinoy Komiks"] discussed the public's continued support for the Pinoy Komiks and how these materials reflect and reinforces Filipino cultural values at best. A special Mediawatch issue [August 1993] discussed the potentials and use of the popular komiks as an educational tool." (From the Philippine Information Resources web page, 1999)
"In the post-World War II years Filipino komiks appeared, modeled after American comic books discarded by the GIs... the industry flourished; by the 1970's, about half of all Filipino movies were based on komiks, which had become the most-read medium in the country." (From the book Themes and Issues in Asian Cartooning, 1999)
"In the past, distribution problems in Asia made following weekly US comic series difficult but today many people in the region have good access to the muscle-bound superheroes' latest adventures. It is still early days but the comics have won a firm following in Hong Kong, Singapore and the Philippines, while Thailand, Japan, and Hong Kong look likely to follow suit... [but still]... far more Japanese and Hong Kong titles are sold in Asia than American comics." (From a TimesNet ASIA article, Feb '95)
"Forty percent of Filipinos read a comic every day, and only 500,000 [less than one percent] read a newspaper." (From a communications professor at the University of the Philippines in the mid-1990s)
"I often saw Japanese businessmen reading comics on the train, and many, many adults read them in the Philippines with no sense of embarrassment, as might be felt in the West. Actually, if you can be seen to be reading something it is a point in your favor because being literate is considered a mark of distinction." (From a UBS photojournalist in the mid-1990s)
The number one comic in the Philippines sells 1.5 million copies per month. (From various reporting sources in the mid-1990s)

There are fifty comic magazines published in the Philippines, with a combined circulation of more than two million copies. It is estimated that there are 16 million regular readers of the comics from Aparri to Jolo (the northernmost tip of the country to the southernmost point), if one counts those who borrow or lend their copies for a fee. When one considers that the total population of the Philippines is 44 million, the number of comics readers represents a diffusion rate of 1 to 4. Although most of the readers are not affluent, they spend an average of two million pesos a week-or more than 100 million pesos a year-on this popular medium. While most of the comic readers and buyers are obviously children, teenagers and adults also read comics. A household survey of Greater Manila in 1973 showed that 46% of the respondents 14 years old and above had read one or more local comics within a week of the survey. Among the regular comic readers, the highest percentage belonged to the 20-29 age group, most of which had reached high school and belonged to the lower class homes. The survey also showed that female comic readers exceeded male readers by 7%. (From a survery by S.S. Reyes published in "The Philippine komiks", in C. Del Mundo, ed. Philippine Mass Media, Manila: Communication Foundation for Asia, 1986)
Comics are one of the most popular print media [in the Philippines] together with newspapers which tend to be used between 1 to 15 times a month. Exposure to comics is higher among younger persons and to a lesser extent, among never-married respondents, persons with higher education, and respondents who lived in houses judged to be in good state of repair. More affluent persons tend to devote slightly more time to reading of books and comics than do the less affluent. But reading assorted kinds of comic books does not differ substantially by socioeconomic status. However, the higher the level of education, the lower the preference for comics, as the best reading materials for entertainment. (From a study on Filipino reading habits by Institute of Philippine Culture, 1980)
In the Philippines, just as in other countries with pronounced language differences between regions or ethnic groups, comics form one medium of communication that can boast of reaching every population group. The comics literature over half a century has reflected the changing position, tastes, and worldview of the Filipino masses. Today, the comic is unquestionably the most influential mass medium among the semi-literate Filipinos. (From "Komiks: The Filipino national literature" by Marcelo in Asian Culture magazine, 1980)

INDIA

Illustrated Orchids will launch 4 new comics series, Bollywood, Santa Banta & Trendy, Mythology and Hawk, in India in 2006, with plans to spread to other countries in the future. Creative director Sudhir Sehgal said, "Our passion for comics turned into serious business idea earlier this year. Focusing on the 25 million strong Indian diaspora, Illustrated Orchids started developing the comics based on Indian characters. Of course there is a huge market at home but the Indian staying overseas always want to have something which can keep their kids attached to our culture." (From the Animation 'xpress web site, December 2005)

Gotham Entertainment Group, an Indian publishing licensee of Marvel Comics in the USA and leading publisher of international comic magazines in South Asia, has collaborated with Marvel to launch Spider-Man India. "Spider-Man India interweaves the local customs, culture and mystery of modern India, with an eye to making Spider-Man’s mythology more relevant to this particular audience. Readers of this series will not see the familiar Peter Parker of Queens under the classic Spider-Man mask, but rather a new hero – a young, Indian boy named Pavitr Prabhakar. As Spider-Man, Pavitr leaps around rickshaws and scooters in Indian streets, while swinging from monuments such as the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal." (From a Gotham Comics press release, June 2004)

"India got its first comic characters 'the teenaged Dabu and his mentor, Professor Adhikari' in 1960 when Pran broke the monopoly of syndicated foreign comic strips and brought out a sci-fi series. He followed it up with Shrimatiji, and in 1973, Chacha Chowdhary and Sabu, a duo who combine brain and brawn to fight the evils of society. Published by Diamond Comics, the series captured the market. In the mid-70s, India Book House launched the mythological Amar Chitra Katha, which also proved extremely popular. However, with the advent of cable television, fables of their kind could no longer hold children's interests. The remedy for many publishers seemed to lie in introducing more blood and gore into comics. Pran, widely considered the father of Indian comics, regretted the deterioration. 'All this has a very bad impact on the child's mind,' he said. 'The objective is to give them healthy entertainment and a message to become ideal citizens.' Despite the trend, or rather because of it, Diamond Comics which emphasises on simple and clean stories, continues to be the leader of the pack. 'We are still at the top because we are clean,' said Gulshan Rai, editor and director of Diamond Comics. 'Characters like Chacha Chowdhary, Billu and Pinki are very popular because they are taken from the family environment.' According to him, too much of sex and horror in children's book and on TV is corrupting the child's mind. 'And some comic books are copying that which is bad,' he said. (From THE WEEK "India's No. 1 Weekly News Magazine", Jan 2001)
"Anant Pai of India Book House publishes a children's comics book series called 'Tinkle'. One of the characters is called Suppandi and the stories are sent in by readers, then drawn by professional artists. The publisher gets about 5-6000 letters with stories from their readers per week." (From the India comics website created by World Comics - Finland, Dec 2000)

Amul, a leading dairy processing company in India, uses cartoons, called "Butter topicals," in their advertising campaigns. These cartoons often on touch current events and are hugely popular, as is the mop-haired Utterly Butterly girl who represents the company. The round-eyed, chubby cheeked cartoon character, dressed in her little polka dotted dress and a red and white bow, first appeared on billboards in 1967 and was an instant success. The cartoon ads are now ready to enter the Guinness Book of World Records for being the longest running campaign ever. (From several web pages including the AMUL "Taste of India" site, Dec 2000)
"For the past 10 years we have been involved in literature evangelism here in Goa. In the year 1998 my wife and I gave away about 40,000 picture New Testaments (comix type) 'He Lived Among Us'. The first 'seeds' of the Gospel sown in my heart were through comics literature when I was a kid. Here in India comics go VERY fast ... I believe in publishing our own for our own culture .... Though have no formal training, I draw and sketch cartoons and drawings and explain the Good News this way. It really works here as the literacy level is low." (From a letter by a Christian national working in India, August 2000)
"From Tin-Tin to Archie and Phantom to Flash Gordon, comics are a genre among themselves. They have forever created a niche in our hearts and brought smiles on our faces when we most needed them... Comics are books that have been passed from generation to generation and people have no qualms about reading and re-reading them over and over... Granted all these guys have been brought to the small screen in an animated series or even on the silver screen in the form of movies. But nothing beats the thrill of reading their adventures and mis-adventures on those colour comic pages... Comics have provided the masses with entertainment in the days when television and computers were a figment of some genius's imagination. But they have stuck out for the long haul and a kid [in India] today is as well-versed with the comic-book universe as he was twenty years ago." (From an article entitled "Comics still rule the world" in The Times of India, June 2000)
"If you're wondering what a feature on comic book superheroes is doing on the Kulture page, don't. Right from the time Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan of the Apes swung into existence, the comic book has been quite a stalwart of 'popular culture'...'I remember when the city [Mumbai, India] was first exposed to the likes of Superman and Spider-Man. It was a rage,' says... a comic book fanatic for nigh on 25 years. 'I used to own a small comic book stall in Colaba. Spider-Man, Superman and eventually Batman digests used to sell like hot cakes.' he adds." (From an article entitled "Hero" in The Times of India, May 2000)

In Kanpur, India every two out of ten city children are suffering from some mild form of asthma according to the city's leading chest consultant. He is organising an asthma awareness program to educate children using an audio-visual programme of the "Hair [sic] and Turtle" story reinforced with a comic book version that the children can take home. (From two Times of India News Service articles, March /April 2000)
"What I like about teenagers [in India] now is that they pay more attention towards their studies... Especially the girls, and I think this is a very good thing. They are really into reading. They buy the latest comics from me like Archies, Tintin and Mickey Mouse." (From a magazine seller interviewed in Teens Today: The Now Generation Mag, published by India Today Group, August '99)
"What better way to learn history than through the comic books?" The Amar Chitra Katha comic book series is popular in India and abroad, and over seventy million copies have been sold in the last fifty years. These full length comic books contain over 384 stories based on tales from Indian culture and history. (From information on the India Book House and Times Computing Reviews web sites, May '99)
"Indigenous comics in India have been around for fewer than 30 years, but have already found an important place in Indian popular culture. In the 1970s and 1980s, comics were the premier children's mass medium. For many children, comics became an affordable and parentally approved mode of entertainment... [then] in the late 1980s and early 1990's... comics geared toward an older teenage audience appeared." (From the book Themes and Issues in Asian Cartooning, 1999)
The Indian child is an astute, observant and decisive individual, who recognises school as the most important thing in life. Securing good grades and excelling in academics was very important to him. In terms of readership, the Indian child reads mostly school books and comics. (From an A. C. Nielsen and TNT-Cartoon Network survey of almost six thousand 7 to 18-year-olds, termed "New GenerAsians," across 18 cities of the Asia Pacific in 1998)

In 1984 the Bible Society of India sold 1,041,000 copies of the first United Bible Societies "Moses" comic title. Over the next 5 years that one issue sold an additional 2,115,200 copies. During the period 1984-1989 they sold a total of 5,451 300 copies of the Moses (I & II), David (I & II), Elijah, and Jeremiah comics inthe "Heroes of Faith" series. Between 1984 and 1994, total Indian sales of all UBS comics ranged from a low of 659,700 copies ('89) to a high of 2,930,000 copies ('94). Sales never dropped below 500,000 copies, were at a million or above 6 of those years, above 2 million the last two years, nearly 3 million that last year. And that's just in India. Since beginning their comics program in 1982, the United Bible Societies have distributed approximately 100 million copies of the 13 titles in their "Heroes of Faith" series in over 100 languages worldwide. (From information supplied by the Bible Society of India in '96 and the United Bible Societies in '97)

"The heart throb of millions of comic strip lovers, [Indian cartoonist] Pran [has] created comics having Indian characters and on local themes. His characters... have become phenomenal successes one after the other [with] series running in many newspapers all over India. His strips have also been compiled into comic books. In 1983 Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi released his comic book, 'Raman - United We Stand.' [The cartoonist was] winner of the People of the Year Award [in] 1995." (From the publisher's introduction to the Chacha Chaudhary comic books)

"Shotaro Ishinomori (1938-1998) is one of the most famous Manga authors of all time, distinguished by his creations of more than 500 Manga characters ... The author is known for various story-Manga titles such as Cyborg 009, Kamen Rider (Masked Rider), and Manga Introduction to Japanese History ... In Japan, his name is as widely recognized as is the name, Walt Disney, in the United States ... Comic Book Movies and Ishimori Group (will) jointly develop motion picture franchises based on (his) original properties ... 'The business of the future is building comic book franchises covering many different genres based upon pre-sold American and Japanese comic book, graphic novel, and Manga properties,' said Michael Uslan, Producer and Chief Creative Officer of Comic Book Movies. (From a Business Wire story, Nov 2005)
"Manga is Japanese for 'comics.' Dishpan-sized eyes (and) samurai-like movements ... are a few of its tell-tale elements. Technically, you can bring a Superman comic to Japan, and it will be referred to as 'manga.' But nobody's bringing Superman comics to Japan. And everybody's bringing manga to America." (From the Fox Features web site, August 2005)
"Though its true origins can be traced to 12th century Japan, manga's life officially began in the early 19th century, when famous landscape artist Hokusai — who, along with others, produced colored, wood-block paintings very similar to comics — published some sketches in a collection entitled 'Hokusai Manga.' When Eastern folklore met Western art forms after World War II, true manga was born. (From the Fox Features web site, August 2005)
“There are 87 TV anime programs being broadcasted in Japan and 50, which are 60% of them, are based on manga. 14 out of the 15 most popular anime series are made after manga, and this trend shows no signs of changing. It is certain that manga is supporting the quality and quantity of Japanese anime ... Japanese manga got their start in 1959. Two magazines, Weekly Shonen Sunday and Weekly Shonen Magazine were launched on the same day and they practically created the manga boom. It has been 45 years since then, and there are approximately 70 thousand manga that sell over 120 million copies every month. If you figure that the population of Japan is 120 million, that’s one person buying one manga each month. Recently, we have seen a decrease in the sale of manga, as similar products have become available over the internet and on cellular phones, but there is no fear that this representative form of Japanese entertainment is going to vanish anytime soon ... I have been serving as an editor of the Corocoro magazine for 13 years. Corocoro magazine is a monthly publication that targets boys aged 7 to 13. It sells about 1.3 million copies per month. Considering that there are only 4 million kids from age 6 to 12 in Japan, this penetration even surprises me!" (From a presentation on “Global Anime Strategy” at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, October 2004)
"The...manga industry accounts for one-third of all the material printed in Japan. (By contrast, the U.S. comic industry is closer to 3%.) The manga that makes it to North America, featuring giant fighting robots and questing knights, represents a narrow cross-section of what's actually produced. 'What is available here is what can be sold here,' says Fredrik Shodt, a manga expert and translator, 'and the existing North American comic market is young and male, so what's brought over is the action-oriented material. But in Japan, you can get manga about taxes, about the constitution or about how to choose a defence lawyer. Anything can be manga.' (From an article in the National Post of Canada, May 2002)
"Japan's Education Ministry says manga comics, which are very popular in the country, are playing an increasing cultural role. In a government White Paper released last week, the ministry called comics a 'powerful representation of our times' and said manga is part of Japan's national culture, recognised and highly regarded abroad. The comics are enjoyed by young people and adults ... Manga is increasingly being used for educational purposes and publishing companies find that the comics are a useful way of teaching history and other subjects." (From an Ananova News Service story, Nov 2000)
"The tax office recently released its list of last year's top taxpayers in Japan, with the author list headed by... (an) author with the highest taxable income, an estimated 648 million yen... However, this record was surpassed by the manga artist Takahashi Kazuki, whose income for 1999 is thought to be 1.09 billion yen! His manga Yu-Gi-Oh, serialized in the manga magazine Shonen Jump, is popular with elementary and junior high students." (From The Japan Times, June 2000)
"The ubiquitous Sakura of Card-captor Sakura [Japanese manga] is so popular that she has spawned 340 million yen in sales in 11 volumes, not to mention the video, laser disc, DVD, CD, Game Boy and PlayStation merchandise created in her image." (From The Japan Times, May 2000)

"A Japanese university is offering the ideal course for students who hide comics in their text books - an academic course in cartoon studies. The Kyoto Seika University's department for cartoon and comic arts has gathered a collection of 15,000 comic books which it hopes will help develop the skills of budding cartoonists and comic critics. Art professor Keiichi Makino told Asahi News: 'Cartoons present their own form of expression, where pictures and words are sorted by frames. They must be studied from a new viewpoint that is different from literature or painting'." (From an April 2000 item on the Ananova online news service)
"The JoJo's Bizarre Adventure comic book has delighted more than 5 million readers on a weekly basis for over 15 years. The books were authored in 1986 by well-known Japanese artist Hirohiko Araki." (From an Entertainment Wire story, March 2000)
"Manga, the Japanese brand of comic strip, play a significant role in Japan's contemporary culture. They account for one third of all print material in Japan, and 4.75 billion dollars' worth of books are sold every year. Dragon Ball is the world's most successful comic [and] the drawings of it's inventor, Akira Torijama, also grace the walls of the Tokyo National Museum of Western Art. Berlin's 'House of Cultures of the World' [is] preparing an extensive exhibition of Japanese manga art which is scheduled to open in early 2000." (From a September '99 article in Lufthansa Magazin)
A Japanese paperback sensation, Tezuka Osamu's manga Blackjack presently has 10,000,000 copies in print with 35 million copies aggregate published to date. (From an August '99 Entertainment Wire Story)
"Japan has experienced a sharp cinematic decline since the 1950s when it made 500-plus films a year--perhaps the world's biggest film industry. Animated films have since become much more profitable than live-action, most of them based upon the famed Japanese manga comic books. (From Asian Pop Cinema: Bombay to Tokyo, March '99)
"What's Japan reading? That is, what is Japan reading besides the ubiquitous manga - those book-size comic books that much of the adult population seems to be poring over in coffee shops and game centers? It has been estimated that 70% of passengers on Japanese public transport are looking at manga. Indeed 32% of all publications in Japan are manga; 2 billion were purchased last year - more than 17 copies for every citizen of Japan. Shonen Jumpu, the most popular of the manga, sells more than 4 million copies a week. (From the Nov '98 issue of United's Hemispheres magazine)
"Japan's comics, or manga, business accounts for nearly 40 percent of all the books and magazines published in Japan each year, with sales approaching the equivalent of $7 billion. And they're not just for kids...comics cater to children, teens, young adults - and even middle-aged men, who are often seen reading [them] on commuter trains... [They] are increasingly popular in the United States and Europe... Proponents predict the country's comic books and animation styles will form the backbone of 21st century world pop culture... [and]...will challenge Western pop culture." (From a July '97 AP story)
"Roughly 2 billion paperback comic books and magazines are sold in Japan every year, 40 percent of all Japan's printed material." (From a March '97 AP story by a Japanese correspondent)

"It is one of the cliches of modern Japan that a sumo wrestler cannot squeeze on to a Tokyo train without squishing half a dozen commuters reading... comic books, known as manga... There are romantic manga, educational manga, humorous manga, sports manga, adventure manga, even manga explaining how to hire a good lawyer when in trouble with the police. And the Japanese snap up 2.3 billion manga each year. One manga, Shonen Jump, sells 6m copies a week; several others tot up sales near the 4m mark. Besides karaoke, this is the only modern art form in which Japan is a world leader." (From The Economist Newspaper, December '95)
"In 1995, of all the books and magazines sold in Japan, 40% were manga [comics]. That amounts to 15 copies for every man, woman and child in Japan." (From a Christian working in Japanese media)

In Tezuka Osamu's honour an entire Manga Museum was opened in Tajarazuka, Japan. (From the Japan Times Weekly International Edition, May '94)
"I often saw Japanese businessmen reading comics on the train, and many, many adults read them in the Philippines with no sense of embarrassment, as might be felt in the West. Actually, if you can be seen to be reading something it is a point in your favor because being literate is considered a mark of distinction." (From a UBS photojournalist in the mid-1990s)

"Why are the Japanese so fond of manga [comics]? Immersed in manga weeklies aboard commuter trains, we seem to strike foreigners as strange... Why have foreigners been indifferent to manga? One possible answer is that they have had no Tezuka in their own countries. It is impossible to discuss postwar Japanese manga without mentioning Tezuka Osamu." (From a Feb.'89 editorial "Astro Boy's Message" in Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's 3 major dailies, after the death of the comics creator who published approximately 700 comics titles in his lifetime)
"There are so many kinds of weekly comic magazines in Japan... One in ten Japanese regularly buy a comic magazine... over one-third of the population are estimated to have access to comics. These comic magazines form a subculture in Japanese society. We think nothing strange when we see businessmen reading comic magazines on the commuting train. But what is portrayed in those comics? Mostly what you would never want your child to see. Many are flooded with sex, violence, and the occult. Japanese comics have largely been under the influence of the New Age worldview. In this subculture of comics, as well as in internet community, the power of evil is rampant. There are a number of Christians who have taken effort to advance comic evangelism, but unfortunately their effort has not drawn enough attention nor support. Generally speaking, it seems that as Christians grow spiritually, they tend to have less connection to other people living in this world. No matter how many high-toned messages are preached at church, 99% of the Japanese population live totally away from church. Then, should we not share the love of God in their language and in the culture that they can understand? That is the reason why we think it necessary to put out Christian comics in the world." (From an editorial by the director of one of the biggest evangelical TV programs aired in Japan)


 news | catalog | notables | pioneers | testimony | links | spotlight | faq | comix35 | map | home


please contact us about any website errors or technical problems


Buy books through our Christian Comics Catalog

This web site is administered and maintained by COMIX35 / ROX35 Media, Inc. as a ministry service. "Christian Comics International", "Christian Comics Catalog", "International Christian Comics Competition (ICCC)", "Christian Comics Pioneers", and the series title "Personal Testimony Comics" (in continuous use since first publication in Christian Comics & Games Magazine in 1996) are all trademarks of Nate Butler currently administered by ROX35 Media, Inc. by special arrangement. "COMIX35" and "New Life Literature Asia/USA" are both DBAs and trademarks of ROX35 Media, Inc. "ANIMAX35" and "Creating Christian Comics for Your Culture" are trademarks of ROX35 Media, Inc. All other names and logos (& other images) are TM and/or Copyright © by their respective owners. All rights reserved worldwide. Please note that it is impossible to screen all the text on all the links listed on this site. Please do not assume that all opinions expressed on linked sites are identical to those of COMIX35 / ROX35 Media, Inc.


Support the COMIX35 ministry
Give with confidence. GiveDirect.
Buy books through our Christian Comics Catalog