I wanted to explain and source everything correctly, that said some are more sourced than others. Some sections are entirely written by me and others take a line or two form Wikipedia and About.com. There are personal notes in each section.
Although this leaves me with a wall of text feeling, but again, I still feel it needs to be done.
Let's begin.
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"Manga is the Japanese word for "comics/cartoons" and consists of comics and print cartoons. In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan or by Japanese authors in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th century. In their modern form, manga date from shortly after World War II.
In Japan, people of all ages read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action-adventure, romance, sports and games, historical drama, comedy, science fiction and fantasy, mystery, horror, sexuality, and business/commerce, among others. Since the 1950s, manga has steadily become a major part of the Japanese publishing industry. Manga have also gained a significant worldwide audience.
Manga stories are typically printed in black-and-white, although some full-color manga exist. In Japan, manga are usually serialized in large manga magazines, often containing many stories, each presented in a single episode to be continued in the next issue. If the series is successful, collected chapters may be republished in paperback books called "tankobon" (volume). If a manga series is popular enough, it may be animated after or even during its run, although sometimes manga are drawn centering on previously existing live-action or animated films." (Source)
What do you know about manga and it's influence?
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In the United States, people refer to what they perceive as manga "styled" comics as Amerimanga (which I have never heard), world manga, or original English-language manga (OEL manga). Still, the original term "manga" is primarily used in English-speaking countries solely to describe comics of Japanese origin. More Information
Tokyo Pop used to hold a contest called The Rising Stars of Manga. Where they would print volumes with the winners of each contest, display their entries along with a small profile of the writers and authors. (This is no longer being held but I remember them and thought I would mention as many artists have gone on to do other works and hair their works printed.)
Some of the ones I know of are Van Von Hunter, Bizenghast (Seriously amazing art style), Mark of the Succubus, and Sorcerers & Secretaries.
Around the world: More Information on manga in Brazil, France, Germany, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Thailand, the United States, and manga influences around the world.
Now that we have the specifics out of the way, I usually just refer to all of them as "mangas". I feel in the big scheme of things those titles or names don't usually matter all that much. None the less it's good to know when searching for or referring to a series. Such as a Manhwa should be stated as at least being of Korean origin and not simply as being a "manga".
For the most part, and the rest of this post, I will refer to "mangas" as a whole. Mainly because it's easier and should now be more understood.
