[merylsilverburg]

This may be pretty pointless, but here I go: A month ago (December), I went to the bookstore to look for some pop art/Lichtenstein books for my final art assignment. When I got there, I noticed there were many of those "How to Draw Manga" tutorial books just lined up on the shelf. And, at the front desk, they had a gift set collection of "HtDM" in a carrying case. I didn't want to look at the books for one reason:
I felt pretty pissed just looking at the cover. Why? Because now that anime/manga has become more recognized and more popular, there are these books just sprouting out left and right. Which makes me furious because when I was younger and actually wanted to learn how to draw manga, there were no tutorials, no books, nothing to help me. And if I were to ask anyone about stuff like that, they would respond with "What's that?" or "Oh, you mean cartoons?". If I were to draw them an example, they'd say "What is that?" or "Why do they have such big eyes? They look weird!" etc. So, I ended up learning it all by myself. So now looking at those books makes me feel like I would be shattering my pride and all the hard work I did over the years (yes, I'm arrogant).

However, the problem is I want to learn more and also improve the skills I learned by myself. So I just wanted to ask: Do these books work? And for those of you who have used these books, do you feel your skills have improved using these books? I know you guys are thinking "Why don't you just go pick it up and look through it? Screw your stupid arrogance!" but I just can't do it. So, if anyone can give me an answer, thanks in advance.