This huge tome from Taschen is an excellent introduction to the scope of artistic production in the manga format. It definitely opts for breadth over depth, however, packing in entries on 135 different manga artists, with just two and a half pages on each of them. Also, because there is a shared emphasis on both historically significant, currently popular, and experimental and innovative artists, it is very uneven. For every genius like Katsuhiro Otomo and Junji Ito you have a hack or two whose art all looks the same. Also, the text accompanying the images is poorly written and full of cliches. Nevertheless, overall I know of no better introduction to manga in English. ( )