Comics Underground Japan presents the wild, subversive world of Japan’s most accomplished underground comics artists. Some of the dozen artists included in this anthology will be familiar to followers of manga; others make their American debut in these pages. The richly imaginative stories in this volume show a great range of graphic style, from painstakingly detailed craftsmanship to exuberant, maniacal renderings. At the heart of each work in this anthology is a unique personal vision and a fierce artistic compulsion–these manga artists are the misfits of the art form, and they are its visionaries.
Included stories are:
1. "Hell's Angel" by Yoshikazu Ebisu
2. "It's All Right if You Don't Understand" by Yoshikazu Ebisu
3. "Steel Pipe Melancholia" by Masakazu Toma
4. "Future Sperm Brazil" by Takashi Nemoto
5. "A Love Like Lemons" by Carol Shimoda
6. "Selfish Carol's Summer Vacation" by Carol Shimoda
7. "Mercy Flesh (Jiniku)" by Kazuichi Hanawa
8. "Don Quixote #1 & #2" by Yasuji Tanioka
9. "Planet of the Jap" by Suehiro Maruo
10. "Mary’s Asshole" by Hanako Yamada
11. "Volvox" by Pan Migawa
12. "Bigger and Better" by Muddy Wehara
13. "Laughing Ball" by Hideshi Hino
14. "Cat Noodle Soup" by Hajime Yamano & Nekojiro
Ax is the premier Japanese magazine for alternative comics, heir to the legendary Garo. Published bi-monthly since 1998, the pages of Ax contain the most innovative, experimental, and personal works in contemporary manga - the flourishing underground of the world’s largest comics industry.
Ax has always published manga outside of the more commercial market and not followed manga conventions, thus the titles appearing in this magazine do NOT fall under any of the basic demographics (shoujo/shounen/seinen/josei).
This landmark English publication volume includes work by 33 artists:
The Watcher by Osamu Kanno
Love's Bride by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Conch of the Sky by Imiri SAKABASHIRA
Rooftop Elegy by Takao Kawasaki
Inside the Gourd by Ayuko Akiyama
Me by Shigehiro Okada
Push Pin Woman by Katsuo Kawai
A Broken Soul by Nishioka Kyodai
Into Darkness by Takato Yamamoto
Enrique Kobayashi's El Dorado by Toranosuke Shimada
The Neighbor by Yuka Goto
300 Years by Mimiyo Tomozawa
Black Sushi Party Piece by Takashi Nemoto
Puppy Love by Yusaku Hanakuma
The Brilliant Ones by Namie Fujieda
The Hare and the Tortoise by Mitsuhiko Yoshida
The Twin Adults (Two Stories) by Kotobuki Shiriagari
Haiku Manga (Two Stories) by Shinbo Minami
Mushroom Garden by Shinya Komatsu
Home Drama: The Sugawara Family by Einosuke
A Well-Dressed Corpse by Yuichi Kiriyama
Arizona Sizzler by Yunosuke Saito
The Rainy Day Blouse & The First Umbrella by Akino Kondo
Stand by Me by Tomohiro Koizumi
My Old Man & Me by Shin'ichi Abe
Up and Over by Seiko Erisawa
The Song of Mr. H. by Shigeyuki Fukumitsu
Kataoka Toyo Pathos Theater (2 Stories) by TOUYOU Kataoka
Kosuke Okada and His 50 Sons by Hideyasu Moto
Les Raskolnikov by Keizo Miyanishi
Alraune Fatale by Hiroji Tani
Sacred Light by Otoya Mitsuhashi
Six Paths of Wealth by Kazuichi Hanawa
This is Hanawa Kazuichi's debut work from 1971.
The story revolves around an incorrigibly bad son whose mother takes him to a sadistic acupuncturist to "cure" him.
It also includes interviews with Yamano Hajime and Kamosawa Yuji.