Many of those attending the Tite Kubo panel dressed up as their favorite Bleach characters. (Tony Weidinger)

On Saturday I got to attend VIZ Media's Tite Kubo panel. He's the guy who wrote the popular manga Bleach. The room was packed with people, many dressed as their favorite Bleach character. One person even had Ichigo's huge sword. There was a lot of anticipation in the room and when Kubo entered, he was like a rock star. One girl squealed, "He's so cute." You could feel that there was a lot of respect for him from everyone in the room. He showed a video of his studio in Japan. At one point there was a shot of some chairs and a suitcase. When asked what was special about the suitcase, he said he bought it to come here to the US for the first time. He also had to get a passport. When asked when he realized he had such a big fan base here, he said, "Yesterday." There were also a lot of Hispanic fans of the manga because one of the Bleach characters Chad, is Mexican. The panel inspired me to try and catch up on the Bleach anime series which I think is at almost 200 episodes.

Popular crossover manga includes Bleach, Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist (Viz Media)

Shojo -- or, the style of manga for young girls -- may be dominating the market, but don't discount the influence boys have on the manga market. Just because manga focus more on character development doesn't mean they don't have any action at all. You just have to look at the success of series like Naruto, Bleach, or Fullmetal Alchemist to see that isn't true.

All three of these series have the fighting, weaponry, and snappy banter readers find in American comics. The difference is that both boys and girls are reading Naruto, Bleach, and Fullmetal Alchemist, and it's that crossover appeal that makes the difference. Most girls -- at least in my library -- aren't picking up Spider-Man, Batman, or the Fantastic Four. But they are reading Fruits Basket, Hikaru no Go, Her Majesty's Dog, Land of the Blindfolded, Sugar Sugar Rune, Death Note, Kingdom Hearts, Yotsuba&!, and on, and on. They're also reading Bone, Oddly Normal, Kat and Mouse, Runaways, Sidescrollers, and other American comics that have a clear beginning, strong characters, and complex storytelling -- all things they've come to expect from comics by reading manga.

NOTE: Bleach creator Tite Kubo will be at the Con Saturday at 1:15 pm in Room 7AB, and then Viz Media will host a Shojo Beat Panel at 3:30 pm in Room 10.

Tite Kubo makes his first appearance at this year's Comic-Con. (Viz Media)

Tite Kubo is the creator of the hugely popular mangas Bleach (which has also been made into an anime series) and Zombie Powder. Bleach is about a teenage boy who gains the powers of a soul reaper and is forced to kill creatures called hollows (which are corrupted souls). Zombie Powder is about four main characters that are hunting for the twelve rings of death that are the source of power for "zombie powder," a substance that can raise the dead or give the bearer eternal life.