manga - Yoshihiro Tatsumi

Been reading lotsa manga lately. Been exploring the Subarb libraries for hard to get movies (i know, redbox or whatever, but i like free from CPL, so I search and wait and plot...). The Oak Lawn library - heavily used by many people i know finally i use it thissummer. They have a lot of book that the CPL system doesn't have - or @ least easy rite there access to stuff, instead of driving up to Portage Park or visiting the BEE branch (Have to for Slim) I lucked out browsing when i got The Push Man and Other Stories by Yoshiro Tatsumi. Wacked out subject matter - sex slaves, prostitution, murder, orgies, abortion, porn, crime, voyerism - Of Course a massive favouite of mine. I read it on a driving trip to KC to watch Manchester United play and I didnt want to sto reading it. Deeply compulsive. Like the subjects he writes about.

It's interesting to see how the Japanese manga market works - here you have these 8 page spread, there you have a different type of magazine, here is this type of mange, etc etc etc... Since i dont have to backing in the history of it, it's all very interesting. For example, Push Man was erilized in a magazine - most of the stories are told in 8 pages. Yoshiro also wrote a book about the history of manga and his involvement in that history in A Drifting Life.

This is a full book - not a collection of comix - and it follows Yoshiro as he got into the comix business - and how the business changed. fascinating hitory of something I never would have thought of as interesting - thehistory of mange and it's genres - but great. it's also kool to follow his life story - espcially having read Push Man - you eally wanna find out where this dude got som out there. Long hauling ass book - but well worth it.

Try Push Man.