Post by @ChurchHatesTucker@mefi.social

2026-06-01 15:08 UTC

#MangaMonday 111 “The Swamp” by Yoshiharu Tsuge Tsuge is one of those artists who was influential when manga was becoming #manga. He got started in the postwar rental book market (think DVD rentals, but for books (ask your parents about DVD rentals.)) When that market started to dry up he was recruited by the seminal “Garo” magazine—literally. Nobody on staff knew how to contact him so they put a notice in the magazine asking him to get in touch. This volume (Drawn & Quarterly, 2020) collects eleven of his stories from that period. (Technically they’re all from “Garo,” but four of them were redraws of his earlier works.) Series editor Mitsuhiro Asakawa contributes a fifteen page afterwards that alone is worth the price of admission. It’s an interesting collection that shows inklings of Tsuge’s later, more influential, work. “Chirpy” is probably closest to that, but it falls in the middle of this (temporally arranged) volume. #TheSwamp

Replies (1)

@ChurchHatesTucker@mefi.social 2026-06-08 14:09

#MangaMonday 112 “Axed Mangaka and Doujin Creator” by Hibito Sumi Manga about mangaka (manga creators) are not unusual; I’ve recommended a couple before (MM60 & 61.) Mainstream #manga about doujin (fanfic, often about same-sex pairings) creators are much rarer. Yukuru (pen name Robou) is a mangaka who’s just had his series cancelled. It was never very popular but he had one vocal fan, Chirita, who creates #doujin about the two male leads. Out of a sense of gratitude, he goes to a convention where she’s selling it and buys a copy. She assumes he’s a fellow fan and he begins to use her as a touchstone to gauge his next work. Chirita is a fun character; she’s personable and fashionable—her day job is in retail. There’s no romantic tension so far (unless you notice the similarities between Yukuru’s editors and his male leads) and it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Chirita figures out Yukuru is Robou. Ongoing with nine English chapters on Shueisha’s “Manga Plus” website/app.

Open ##3215602