There used to be a lot of weekly literature magazines in the west, but they mostly died at the same rate as other print medias (newspapers, magazines, journals, etc). Bonfire of the Vanities was originally published as a serial in Rolling Stone in the 80s. Most of H.P. Lovecraft's fiction was published in magazines, as was Charles Dickens. I think Japan is one of the few places such publications endure because a magazine like Shonen Jump is almost a national institution. Numerous elements of Japanese culture are printed in manga magazines so they've maintained a readership that keeps them in business. Dragon Ball. Naruto. Bleach. One Piece. All published in Shonen Jump, but I'd note that the mangas isn't where most of the money in these products is. Most of their money is in merchandise and licensing, which is very different from older western prints that tended to be literary only. Shonen Jump also survived because Shonen Jump, and the Manga industry, turned itself into a blockbuster industry where the magazine is just one piece of the larger business. And that's what it's really about. Having enough paying readers to stay in business and turning those readers into buyers of other products. As you note, in the west we went a different way. These sorts of stories and creations still exist, but have been relegated to a realm of amateur and independent publishing with alternative models for generating money from them. There's obviously space for the product given that it exists right now and works, but I don't think that space can be separated from the internet. Answer from Lord0fHats on reddit.com