This month’s WIRED magazine has gone Manga – well at least it has a large feature article on Manga and its cultural impact.

I’d heard a few Tokyopop folks raving about the article, so I borrowed a copy last night from work (yes I’m that cheap) and was very impressed.

The feature article is one of the best written pieces I’ve read about manga, covering not only the basics of Japanese Comics, but also discussing the cultural reasons why they became so popular in Japan, the current crisis the Japanese comics industry faces from new technology and why the manga publishers are turning a blind eye to the massive "fan-fiction" movement. This last part is particularly interesting as the writer puts forward an argument that this attitude of tolerance may be the basis for the future entertainment media business model.

For those who prefer reading pixels to print an online version of the article is available.

Following the article is a 10 page manga chronicling the history of manga in the US market and its spectacular rise over the last few years. Again this is one of the best use of comics I have seen in both communicating a complex story effectively while at the same time demonstrating the power of the medium.

Wired.com provides a PDF version for download.