*STARRED REVIEW As early as age 8, Adrian Tomine (Killing and Dying) publicly announced exactly what he wanted to be when he grew up: “A famous cartoonist,” he told his Fresno class in 1982. He confused his teacher, who thought perhaps he aspired to be Walt...
Mysteries and thrillers make up a sizable portion of the Japanese literary market. Thanks to the international success of Keigo Higashino, Natsuo Kirino, and Miyuki Miyabe – and, just as importantly, their translators – contemporary Japanese crime fiction proliferates on Western shelves. Below is a list...
Shockingly enough, Valentine's Day wasn't actually created by Hallmark! In fact, the heartfelt holiday has two versions as to its origins. The Christians say the date commemorates three martyrs all named 'Valentine'; St. Valentine's Day was established at the end of the 5th century, only...
Holy moly! This manga is older than I am! No snickering, please! First published in Japan in 1956 by a then very young Yoshihiro Tatsumi (who memorialized his own artist-as-a-young-man development in his autobiographical graphic memoir A Drifting Life – in which you can also read more...
You've gotta love this boxed set of eight little mini-comic books. As a not-so-cool high school student (the first picture you see once you slide out the contents) who didn't have much of a social life, Adrian Tomine had quite the cool other-life, inking comics...
This 850-plus page autobiographical epic is truly a portrait of an artist as a young man, done manga style. A child of 10 in 1945 post-war Japan, Hiroshi – Tatsumi’s pseudonymous stand-in – makes manga obsessively. His regularly winning contest submissions soon bring him acclaim,...
The poignant shortcomings of soulful slacker Ben Tanaka are artfully presented in this striking volume. And, of course, Ben isn’t the only one with shortcomings. When his live-in relationship in Oakland falls apart and his girlfriend...
