mlai
All you geeks need to grow up. If you're old enough to type, you're too old for comics and that kiddie stuff. Put away your action figures and go watch some Superbowl like real men, or go help out in the kitchen if you're budding womenfolk.

*bakes cookies*
teeheehee!!

Well actually, I feel like comics kill one's attention span. Seriously. Sorry to put a damper on things, but I've come to the conclusion that: comics make me stupid!

It's crazy but it's true! I plow through manga quite quickly too (usually I go to Borders and read a few volumes w/o buying... or else I would be spending my money like mad!) but even though I read maybe 10-12 graphic novels a week (yeah I'm pathetic) I feel like my literacy level has gone down. I find I can't quite concentrate on novels, or sink my teeth into a good read, like I could before I started reading manga (which was this summer.)

When I was in sixth grade is when I first discovered anime/manga, and it just clicked within me as being something very enjoyable to my personal tastes. By seventh grade, I was scouring comic shops far and wide (this was before there was a manga section at the bookstore, kiddies!) for Inu Yasha, Ranma 1/2, Sailor Moon and other available titles. BUT THEN my literacy scores began to drop! I was... getting dumber! (not to mention being branded a geek... T_T) so I stopped reading comics, and my smarts came back.
I wish I could give comics up again (I've been aching to escape into some romantic gothic literature, a la "Bride of Lammermoor") but unfortunately it's become an inseparable part of my life now that I have my own comic. Alas, woe is meee.
I think comics are good in moderation, but if someone has no sense of moderation at all (like ME!) then no matter what age, he or she should
NOT
READ
COMICS!!!!

Really? I feel as if my lit level has stayed consistent, or even became better. Of course, I only read relatively wordy manga like GITS, Battle Angel, or BOTI. I don't read manga aimed at younger kids anymore.

Also, creating your own manga should only help you increase your literacy level, especially if you find yourself doing a lot of research for your story. I've become read and become knowledgeable in a lot of weird things thru doing various researches for stories. For a time, I was a gun fanatic because I did tons of research for a crime story.

mlai
Really? I feel as if my lit level has stayed consistent, or even became better. Of course, I only read relatively wordy manga like GITS, Battle Angel, or BOTI. I don't read manga aimed at younger kids anymore.

Also, creating your own manga should only help you increase your literacy level, especially if you find yourself doing a lot of research for your story. I've become read and become knowledgeable in a lot of weird things thru doing various researches for stories. For a time, I was a gun fanatic because I did tons of research for a crime story.

agreed.
I've actually started learning more about other countries though the research I did on some manga stuff. Sailor Moon got me hooked on Greek stories and other types of western myths.. since I heard that Naoko Takechui used elements from the Greek gods and other stories to base her ideas on.
Hellsing and some similar anime/manga got me researching many different religions so I can see how it all uses bits of reality to give depth to the characters' motive and so on forth.
Because I'm not only interested in enjoying the story and characters themselves, I'm also interested in the behind the scenes stuff...the stuff that goes into what makes the character tick.
especially helpful to research that sort of thing, especially if you're confused on why a certain character may have done something... and it turns out that the character's motive was based on many cultural things in real life. it just helps you feel more connected to the series and or universe that the creators have created.

really handy espeically if you want to write fanfiction or fanart based on the characters and want to give them an realstic depth in order to show how much you know of the characters and show how much you like a series.