"Fake" Manga

Sooo, I didn't know where to put this, so I put it here by default... lol I am curious. How many people here consider western manga to be fake, or wrong? I ask because the consensus in places like ANN seems to be "if it wasn't made in Japan, it's not manga". But manga itself is an artistic style, one that has heavily influenced many successful artists here in the west. There are thousands more artists that can't make it in the industry because, in the United States in particular, there is a stigma concerning "home grown manga". It's seen as imitative rather than genuine, asinine. This irks me, because I've known many truly talented artists that are snubbed because of stylistic influence. So, I put it to my otaku friends: Do you consider western manga true or fake? What are your reasons for this decision? Do you think western manga deserves a chance to grow? Could a western mangaka find popularity in eastern markets?

Well manga is known as manhwa and manhua in Korea and China respectively. I would say it should be called something a bit different to distinguish it as, it would be like making a Grana Padano (Parmesan Cheese made outside of Parma) in Wisconsin and calling it Parmigiano-Reggiano, which refers to cheese produced SOLEY in Parma. The point is that western manga-style comics aren't fake, at all, but they cannot be called manga. The word itself, like manhwa, refers to a particular style of drawn, printed media produced in a country. It is like someone calling Avatar and Teen Titans anime. They aren't, they're anime-style animation. Anime refers to animation produced in Japan. In regards to whether or not Western manga-style comics 'deserve' a chance to grow, it would depend entirely on the context and content of the media. It is like me asking if my novels I'm writing deserve to have anime adaptations made of them, it would depend entirely upon the content.