How much pull in the industry is too much? At first it was just actors and actresses putting out hilariously bad albums because they had “always dreamed of being in the music business.” Now this particular trend seems to be moving into the world of fiction, and more importantly, comics and manga. Now, many will argue that there is good and bad to be said about adding celebrity style to the genre of graphic novels, but in the end, could it truly just be a fad, something that is going on only to boost sales of movie tickets?

The precursor to the trend of rock stars and actors working in the field of graphic novels was obviously the children’s book, the tell-all book, the autobiography and fictional works. Stars turned authors has happened for years, and will obviously never stop as long as they make money. But why the genre of graphic novels, or manga for that matter? Is it because it’s suddenly trendy to be seen in an airport terminal reading a massive volume of what is, essentially, an adult comic book? Or perhaps it’s the stream of movies being spawned from the genre that is inspiring things such as Princess Ai or Mayhem.

One could see how actors would make good writers. They live in odd little worlds that allow them to become other people at the drop of a hat. They have been in good movies, and bad movies, both of which start out as scripts. They also have the ability (most of the time) to improvise on set should it be needed. But do actors and rock musicians (particularly the ones who do not write their own songs) really have the creativity to produce a story that hasn’t been done a million times before in the exact way they’d like to present it?

The opposing argument is that the theory of actors and musicians writing in the genre of manga and graphic novels is to boost album and ticket sales. It’s nothing but a new means of revenue in a world where pirated music and movies are as easy to come by as birds in trees. The idea that creating something just as a marketing tool, not because the author truly wants to tell a story in words and beautiful art is disturbing to those of us who enjoy and devour the classics while learning about new works that could become future favorites.

In the end, it is like every other high-profile industry. If it is creative and can afford some press, there is always going to be someone attempting to break into the field from the constant celebrity of movies, music and television. It is up to the reader to decide if graphic novels presented by these people are worthy of time, though.