AX Volume 1: A Collection of Alternative Manga - Softcover

Various

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1603090428 ISBN 13: 9781603090421

Publisher: Top Shelf Productions, 2010

Synopsis

•  Nominated for a Harvey Award, 2010.
  'Ten best comic books of 2010', Publishers Weekly, and number 2 in Publishers Weekly critics poll.

• A groundbreaking introduction to the most creative andcutting-edge works of Japanese independent comics, presented in English for thefirst time, AX is the premier Japanese magazine for alternative comics.Published bi-monthly for over ten years, the pages of AX contain the mostcreative and cutting-edge works of independent comics in the world's largestcomics industry. Now, Top Shelf presents this collection of stories from tenyears of AX history, and features work by such visionaries as Yoshihiro Tatsumi,Akino Kondoh, Kazuichi Hanawa, and Shinichi Abe.

About this title

About the Author

Sean Michael Wilson is from Scotland, now living in Japan. He is the only British pro comic book writer living in Japan. He has had many books published with a variety of US, UK and Japanese publishers, such as 'A Christmas Carol' (Sunday Times 'Best of 2008'), 'The Story of Lee' (NBM), 'The Book of Five Rings' (Shambhala Publications) and edited the critically acclaimed 'AX:alternative manga' (Publishers Weekly's 'Best ten books of 2010'). In 2016, his manga version of Lafcadio Hearn's Japanese tales The Faceless Ghost, was nominated for a prestigious Eisner book award. 
seanmichaelwilson.weebly.com

Reviews

Wilson has teamed with Asakawa, an editor of the bimonthly Japanese magazine Ax, which prints alternative and experimental comics, to select works from 33 artists for this first English-language collection. As with any collection, there are hits and misses that are dependent upon the individual tastes of the reader. Some of the comics presented here are deep and introspective, others rely on off-kilter potty or sexual humor, and others still are horrific looks into the human psyche. And, lest anyone forget that manga is not a style of art but merely the Japanese word for comic, the artwork in this anthology will be a forceful reminder: it wanders as far across the map of styles as the writing does, ranging from rough, almost childlike pieces to lushly detailed creations. Violence, sexual situations, language, and adult themes reserve this for assuredly mature audiences, but libraries with alternative-comic fans or manga readers looking to move beyond the usual translated works would do well to add this collection. --Snow Wildsmith

Edition details

• Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1603090428
• ISBN 13: 9781603090421
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400
• Editor: Wilson Sean Michael, Asakawa Mitsuhiro