Keiko Tobe: With the Light: Raising an Autistic Child (Volume 7)

Excerpt

There are a number of cultural and historical factors both in the United States and Japan that have influenced the comic book industry and have provided Japan with fertile grounds to germinate graphic novels or manga that are not solely about super heroes as is the predominant topic in U.S. based comic books and graphic novels. In Japan there are a wider variety of genres to appeal to a mass audience. In the United States the audience is conceived of as made up of children, particularly adolescent boys. Adult men who read comic books and graphic novels are referred to as “Fan Boys,” not having out-grown their childish enjoyment of reading a comic book or graphic novel. In Japan, all age groups and both genders read manga. The ubiquitous nature of manga in Japan allows for a wide variety of topics including the topic of autism as evidenced by Tobe’s With the light: Raising an autistic child series. …