Why are manga and anime more diverse than American animation and comics?

[JWeinCom]

I wonder if a big part of it is the fact that manga is black and white and (from what I've seen) generally printed on cheap paper.

Comic books are a lot more expensive to make, and that makes publishers more risk averse. It also would I imagine make readers a bit less likely to try new or weird things. Comics are about $4 an issue for about 20 pages. Getting into a series can be an investment.

Then there's also logistical difficulties. The US has a far more spread out population, and distributing books across 50 states again makes the process more expensive.