What Was Alternative Manga?
The Fukui Ei’ichi Incident and the Prehistory of Komaga-Gekiga
Though generous to his fans, and generally warm with his peers, Tezuka Osamu (1928-89) was not above letting professional jealousy get the best of him. The first time this trait reared its head in public was in 1953, when, in … Continue reading
Proto-Gekiga: Matsumoto Masahiko’s Komaga
One could say that Matsumoto Masahiko was the true innovator of gekiga and today’s manga. Sakurai Shōichi (cartoonist, publisher, brother of Tatsumi Yoshihiro), 1971-72 As an aside, let me point out that, around the time that the term ‘gekiga’ was … Continue reading
Manga vs. Art History: Hayashi Seiichi at SISJAC
Modern art, comics, and some words with Seiichi Hayashi. Continue reading
Enka Gekiga: Hayashi Seiichi’s Pop Music Manga
If his autobiographical reminisces are true, then Hayashi Seiichi’s literary life began with falling tears. As he recalled the early 50s in “Azami Light” (“Keikō,” 1972): “‘Look at you sniveling like a little girl,’ said my mother. She turned her … Continue reading
The Mysterious Clover: Matsumoto Katsuji, Douglas Fairbanks, and the Reformed Modern Girl
Last time, I argued that one of the first commodity icons of Japanese kawaii was probably based on a mix of Grace Drayton’s New Kids dolls and American jazz age cartooning. This time I want to focus on a sixteen-page comic published as a premium insert furoku for “a girl’s best friend,” the magazine Shōjo no tomo, in April 1934. Continue reading
Matsumoto Katsuji and the American Roots of Kawaii
A look at shojo manga pioneer Matsumoto Katsuji (1904-86). Continue reading
Shinohara Ushio’s Action Cartooning
A lost body of work we might simply call “action cartooning,” a name that captures the two art historical currents that underwrite Ushio Shinohara’s figurative work, Continue reading
