The distinction depends on the self-identity of the artist.
If an artist calls their comic's "manga", then it's a manga. Similarly, if an artist call their comic's "visual novel" or "graphic novel", then it is what they said it is.
I agree 100%. While manga in Japan is just a word for 'comics', artists outside of Japan can identify their work as manga because of the big difference between american comics compared to Japanese comics.
If you blur the lines between both comics and manga and say "They're both the same thing." I would have to disagree. When I walk into a comic book store there are both manga and comics and they're never together in the same place. They are separate from each other, so what's my point? If I'm looking for manga then I'm specifically looking for one type of comic. In the comic world everything is a comic, but if I say "manga" then I'm being specific to what I want to read.
Take webtoons or tapas for example, they're comics online created in vertical scroll format. They identify as comics just like manga. Some comics are made into vertical scroll format and some manga is made into vertical scroll format. In the end we get a new type of comic called vertical scroll comics.The vertical scroll format lends itself to any type of comic. So what happens to the old comic format? You know, the read from right to left or left to right, top to bottom. Flipping pages? Where are those type of comics?
This is why the distinction is important. Comics can be influenced by style, you can take something and adapt or leave it. You can make it vertical scroll or not. It can read from right to left or left to right. Many of these things can overlap
So, What is your comic type?
The distinction depends on the self-identity of the artist.
I also want to break the notion that if you are not Japanese and you draw in a manga style that you are purposely aiming for a Japanese audience, are interested in Japanese culture, becoming a mangaka, following a trend, or because you want to be different.
All of these things have nothing to do with why the person draws manga.
Not all of us grew up reading superhero comics. My first experience reading a comic was in fact a manga. It is called shonen jump. I had no tv, no internet, and no idea how to draw comics so the only thing I had to learn from was shonen jump.
There is many differences between the american comic and the Japanese manga, I'm not going to get into the details on how they're different but I will talk about one. The typical Japanese high school student with the spiky hair that attends a Japanese high school, and the overdone superhero comic.
You can complain as much as you want about how both of these things are overdone, but my favorite thing about them is that it's there. Of course there are many stories that don't involve that scenario and it may not be your cup of tea, and that's why I read manga and I draw manga, it has both the cliche and many genres. It doesn't bother me at all that someone wants to make another cliche manga or heavily influenced anime comic, but another american superhero comic I wont read.
When it comes to comics everyone has an increasingly different style to the point that if I don't like your art I wont read it. This is different with manga where there is a common style, I know what to expect and I know what I'm getting. With manga they have laid down a foundation where everyone can bring their own style to it and make it different. You don't get that with comics.