Short answer: It's called that because the Japanese version is called that.
Longer answer: In Japan, a large number of manga anthologies include at least one word of English in the title, because English is cool whether it strictly makes sense or not. For instance, Shonen Jump's direct competitors include Shonen Magazine, Shonen Sunday, Shonen Champion, Shonen Ace and Shonen Captain.
Shonen Jump probably got the same name as the Japanese version for recognition value among hardcore fans, plus exoticism value for others. They're certainly keen to emphasise the link to the Japanese magazine, with several short articles per issue about untranslated titles from it.
As for why it's popular? Short answer: I'd say manga does light entertainment for teens and below (in particular for female readers, though that doesn't apply to Shonen Jump) rather better than current US comics. Plus there's the benefits of cross-marketing with anime.
Longer answer: could probably get very long, and I'd be on shakier ground. I'll call it a day here.
As someone who worked in the Viz offices at the time, I can assert that many alternate names for the magazine were tossed around before it was decided that just keeping the Japanese title was the best bet. I'm glad that's the way it worked out; the suggested new titles, like "Manga Tsunami," might have been slightly more coherent, but they were also blander. "Shonen Jump" has a distinctive weird sound to it that catches the attention.
And no, it doesn't really make any sense in Japanese, either. "Shonen" is because it contains boys' manga (as opposed to girls' manga, young men's manga, ladies' manga, or what have you), and "Jump" is because, well, jumping is cool!
American comics already have plenty of hyperexaggerated fight sagas, but they need more stretchy pirates.
Johnny!
what about Guns n' Roses!! They're better than Dokken, no?
Dave
I've been gradually getting into "manga" lately (why don't we just call them comics that happen to be by creators from Japan? it's not like they're a different art form). And while it's true that the vast majority of what's out there pretty much sucks (I've bought a few issues of Shonen Jump, and been unimpressed, to say the least), remember that the same is true of American comics--it's not like you can just buy random books off the shelf, even bestselling ones, and expect them to actually be good. Now personally, I'm not into giant robots and endless battle scenes with minimal dialogue, and the whole weird schoolgirl fixation seems kind of icky (IMO, of course, everybody's got their "thing"). But that said, there are some real standouts waiting to be found, depending on what kind of material you like. My problem has just been learning how to glean useful information from review sites, etc.--unfamiliar with the general milieu, I can't easily spot kindred spirits among reviewers the way I can with sites that review American comics. But I'm learning.
Hey Dave!
Why doncha turn up the 70's Gold while I read my big honkin'manga about Schoolgirl robots that battle Space Toast?! And I'll read it while listening to RATT!
Metal Rules!
Actually, I still have the old e-mails where SHONEN JUMP names were bandied around.....
MANGA TYPHOON
(This was the closest...)
And now the absurd ones. These were e-mailed by various Viz employees in response to a call for names. They were NOT seriously considered... mostly... I repeat that these were NOT considered... these are just some old e-mails I found... anyway, let the show begin, from "most serious" to "least serious":
* MANGA SLAM!
* POWER UP!
* MANGA BOOST
* MANGA HONCHO
* COMIC ACTION! (or MANGA ACTION!)
FURY or MANGA FURY
Z
MANGA BOOM!
MEGAMANGA
MANGA POWER
Manga Asylum
Manga Momentum
Momentum!
?Manga Maniac
Manga Club
Fight!
Rocket!
Tales of Adventure!
Manga Adventure
Comic Action
Manga Action
Comic Battle
Super Battle
Super Battle Action
Manga Fantastic Shock!
Comic Clash!
Manga Battle Power
Action Combo
Super Ultra Hyper Manga
Manga Comic Mighty
"Japanic Button"
"Lester's House of Speed Lines"
"Manga Squall"
"Leap Comics"
"Free Manga Magazine"
"Le Manga"
"Manga Carta"
"Manga Cum Laude"
"Manga Muchacho"
"Manga Journey"
"Manga, Damnit"
"The Mangaler"
"Manga Beach"
Bunji Jump (Bunji Manga)
Mega Manga
Mazinga
Manga Man
Manga Planet
Manga Horizon
Super Manga
Manga Monster
?E-Manga
?Majestic Manga
?Animerica Gaiden
?Manga Kick
?Manga Bust
?American Manga
?Shounen Gun
?Shounenba
?Manga Invasion
?Manga Xtreme!
?Offline Comics
?Comic-kaze
?Critical-Mass Comics
?Manga Mania
?Fantastic Tales fom the Orient
?Rising Sun (comics)
?Manga Mayhem
--Manga Maelstrom
--Mr. Manga
--Manga Monster
--Mangore: Eater of Brains
--Manga Dojo
Manga Maniacs
Yo Manga
It's Funny!
Power Manga
Big Bang Manga
Manga Zap
Mondo Manga
Manga Boost
Indestructable Manga
Easier to read than books!
I love "Lester's House of Speed Lines". "Super Ultra Hyper Manga" is cool, too.
See, I'm not such a hard case, now am I ?!?
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