Monday, December 26, 2005

A DAY LATE, BUT...


HOPE EVERYONE HAD A
HAPPY HORRORDAY!

Sunday, December 18, 2005

DIDN'T EVEN SEE IT COMING...

as usual, please read from right-to-left.

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

'TIS THE SEASON

Koji Aihara lives!

as usual, please read from right-to-left.


enjoy!

Monday, December 05, 2005

GAG COMICS, THEN ITOS, AND THEN, AND THEN,



Thanks to everyone for the supportive feedback lately! After finishing up the Bible, we've been taking it easy and working on some other things for a little while (like um... holidays! video games! and... OUR JOBS?!).

BUT!

We're getting back in scanlation mode, and have been digging up some really radical stuff to post over the next few weeks. Replies to my post about what to put up next were great... and JEEZ!, all over the place. So we decided to just post what we felt most interested in reading ourselves right now.

We're hoping to be able to have something for everyone in the next few months. Right now, the current plan is for some Koji Aihara gag manga, followed by the Junji Ito short story I mentioned. But fear not! We're going to work on Kago, Umezu and Maruo too!!




CHECK BACK-- A NEW STRIP WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS!
PS: Evan just got a copy of Maruograph II last week. It's SO BEAUTIFUL! He'll probably post about it soon :)

Monday, November 28, 2005

THE DOLLS!

Hey kids, Evan here. First off, thank you very much for all the kinds words on our Bible comic. I had lots of fun doing it, and am pestering Ryan to get another script ready for me to illustrate... We'll post more info when we're ready to sell paper copies.

Ryan was out of town for the holiday, and I was sick most of the weekend, so not much new content to post right now, however... I made a new photo-illustration on Saturday which I figured would appeal to you horror fans. Ball jointed dolls gone wrong...



Click one of the above teasers or here to see the full image.

Monday, November 14, 2005

THE BIBLE!

Evan and I have collaborated on countless, weirdo pursuits but this post details our first ever ORIGINAL COMIC COLLABORATION!

Check it out -- 14 pages of full color scripture as (re)told by Evan!!




click above, or here to read it.

The idea for this comic was birthed while sitting over cheese fries and Dr. Peppers at the Lucky Penny diner in SF. Something Evan said-- Jesus descending from heaven on a flaming cloud to impart the 10 Commandments?! -- cracked me up. Myself, I was raised Irish-Catholic and got a weekly dose of catechism (fire, brimstone and transubstantiation) from age 10 to 14. Evan was lucky enough to miss all that fun stuff with a non-religious upbringing: no sermons, first eucharist or bedtime bible stories. It's all junk that I take for granted, but HE DOESN'T KNOW THIS STUFF.

So we decided to have Evan retell the Bible to me, as he thought it went. I quizzed him along the way, and he patched together pieces of stories he heard over the years, along with a crazy pop culture mish-mash of Dante, Sandman and Preacher comics, and even Roman mythology. As a rule, I never confirmed or denied any of his Bible tales-- I just put down his words as... well, GOSPEL TRUTH!


We'd really appreciate any comments/feedback! It will be online for at least a week, and will also be available in hard copy for anyone interested. Maybe 3 bucks an issue? If you'd want an actual copy, leave a note or send us a message directly at samehat @ gmail.com!

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

RECHARGE THOSE BATTERIES!

We're not dead--- just taking a brief break from scanlations to finish up our original, full-color 16-page comic! Evan tells me we should have it completed later this week. radical.

We'll be putting it online in its entirety for a while, and them making copies available for sale (just charge enough $ to cover printing/postage) if anyone wants one!
(do you??)



After this comic, what would you Same Hat junkies want to see us put up next? We have a few things in mind, so please--- cast your vote by leaving a comment:
  • 1. A 20-page Junji Ito horror story about unexplainable suicides?
  • 2. More BODY HUMOUR Koji Aihara gag strips?
  • 3. A bunch of 16 panel comedy gold by Yoshida Sensha?
  • 4. A first installment of a Kazuo Umezu horror series?
  • 5. Another Suehiro Maruo short?
  • 6. Dig up something by Shintaro Kago?

Tell us what you want to see, and PLEASE KEEP CHECKING BACK!

Saturday, November 05, 2005

Friday, October 28, 2005

POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER THREE

Enjoy the concluding chapter of this radical story by Suehiro Maruo!


as usual, please read from right-to-left.
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9
page 10

ALSO CHECK OUT:
POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER ONE
POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER TWO

See the previous Maruo comics we've done here, here and here

Thursday, October 27, 2005

PARALYSIS by HELLEN JO

FINALLY, IT HAS DROPPED!
like a demon on your chest in the night!


Hellen has finished her horror-romance comic, "Paralysis"!!
Evan and I are TOTALLY GEEKED about this comic, and from what we've seen it looks AMAZING!

According to Hellen, the details are: Forty-five 8.5"x11" pages of cringe-worthy blood, drool, and kissy-kissy. Our friend (and Internet superstar/reknowned pixelpRon master) Derek Yu also wrote a foreward for this comic... so what the fuck MORE could you ask for?

Check out some ENTICING preview pages: right here, here and here!

It's gonna cost you a measly 5 BUCKS(+$1 for shipping). That's such an awesome deal for this thick ol' floppy book, complete with a HAND-SCREENED COVER! Photographic evidence:


In summation: We can't wait to get our copies, Hellen rulez, and this comic is gonna blow up and blow your mind--- so CHECK IT OUT!

PS. POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER THREE comes out on FRIDAY!

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

aak.


hey kids. We're having some server problems tonight, it seems, so a lot of the images on the site aren't showing up. This is only temporary, and should be fixed soon. Hang in there...

UPDATE! - SITE PICTURES ARE NOW BACK ONLINE!

Sunday, October 23, 2005

...and now for something completely different.

COMING THIS WEEK - The STARTLING conclusion to Poison Strawberry!



In other news, Evan and I are currently working on an ORIGINAL comic, and have finished 4 pages as of tonight. It's less Junji Ito, and more Sergio Aragonés-goes-to-catechism. Lots of plagues, nudity and carpentry. We'll give more details when we get a bit closer to posting it online!

Wednesday, October 19, 2005

POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER TWO



as usual, please read from right-to-left.
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9
page 10

CHECK OUT POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER ONE
CHECK OUT POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER THREE


See the previous Maruo comics we've done here, here and here

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

JUST BOUGHT IT!!

HOME FROM WORK, SITTING DOWN TO READ BLACK HOLE!!!



POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER TWO, COMING TOMORROW!

Friday, October 14, 2005

POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER ONE

We're happy to post the first of three chapters of Suehiro Maruo's "Poison Strawberry." Please visit the links at the bottom of the post to read the next two chapters. Evan did a radical job on the lettering and touch-up, and it's the comic we're most proud of to date.

Just to note -- This is Maruo we're talking about, so the usual MATURE VIEWERS ONLY warning applies in spades! PLEASE ENJOY!




as usual, please read from right-to-left.
page 1
page 2
page 3
page 4
page 5
page 6
page 7
page 8
page 9
page 10

CHECK OUT POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER TWO
CHECK OUT POISON STRAWBERRY - CHAPTER THREE

See the previous Maruo comics we've done here, here and here

Thursday, October 13, 2005

SHE COULD LICK 'EM BY SMILING

Starting tomorrow, we're going to begin posting a 3-part Suehiro Maruo comic titled, "Poison Strawberry"! Evan and I have had this one in the works for a long time, and are happy to begin making it available. It's both sickly twisted & hilarious (in that black, thumbtacks-in-your-milk Maruo way), and one of my favorite stories by him.



We're releasing each of the three 10-page chapters over the next two weeks. We hope you really enjoy this one-- it's been a labor of love! Please direct all the Maruo-lovin' freaks you know (and I know there are a lot of them!!!) to this blog over the next few weeks.

CHAPTER ONE - TOMORROW!

Monday, October 10, 2005

LEFT HAND OF SCISSOR MUTILATION, RIGHT HAND OF THE GIRLIES



Some exciting and crazy news on the j-horror movie front: They're making a movie of "Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil" by Kazuo Umezu! HOLY CRAP!

There's a ton to be said about this, but the first is... where are they going to get enough dismembered body part prosthetics, rusty scissors and GALLONS and GALLONS of fake blood? We have a copy of the first volume of this series and it is CHOCK FULL of people getting scissors through their eyes, scissors snipping open noses, skeletons being pulled out from people's mouths, skin being melted off by acid showers, etc.etc. The comic is relentless, horrific and unceasingly gory and gross. If they were faithful, this would put Dead Alive to shame in terms of blood spillage.

But! The movie probably is going to get dumbed down and perhaps have little to do with Umezu's source material. There is a creepy official site online here. I really dig the landing image. Here is a short summary of the series from the bibliography at the back of Orochi:Blood:


"Umezu's most relentless "pure horror" work: a masterpiece of the abnormal, of dream and reality colliding head on. A young boy experiences visions and nightmares that turn out to be related to his sister's massive vomit attack. It all goes back to a gruesome serial killing spree that occurred before they were born and still haunts the local community."

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

But the fact that this movie is being made alone is just the tip of the iceburg. It has been announced that this movie will be featuring 11-year old wunderkind Saaya Irie. If you haven't heard about her, this is the young F-CUP idol whose picture was posted on a Chinese BBS as a peace offering between the two countries. Tension was high due to Japan being retarded and flaring controversy with another bullshit war revisionist textbook. The Chinese were already upset, and then the Japanese beat them in a soccer match hosted in China-- leading to nationalist violence (read: protests/riots)at the stadium, and later at the Japanese Embassy in Shanghai. Then, some brilliant Japanese dude posted Saaya Irie's pic with a call for understanding between the two nations.




Her spike in popularity lead to her idol singing group (Sweet Kiss) being thrust into the jpop spotlight, her manager banning her from posing for swimsuit pinups again, and much rejoicing among pedo white dudes around the world. You can read all about the controversy in this article. She even has a wikipedia entry! holy crap.

Anyway, she's still famous because of the China/Japan incident, (and sure, she still has her huge baby bosom) so this will be her first big movie role. From what I've read of Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil, she will probably play the little sister, and if so, she can expect (you guessed it!) lots of scissor mutilation. yeeesh.


Oh, also-- the Japanese idol Reon Kadena is gonna be in it. I dunno what role she'll play, but this movie seems to be popluated with belle du jours from all over the jpop strata. It's offical though, check it out on IMDB. Looks like the screenwriter is Shusuke Kaneko, who did a bunch of giant monster movies and some low-budget horror stuff (like an adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft).

UPDATE: Just found this article, with a full cast list and link to the screenwriter's homepage.

PS: WE FINISHED A MAJOR SCANLATION LAST NIGHT, AFTER A FEW MONTHS OF WORK! WE WILL POST A PREVIEW PICTURE IN THE NEXT DAY OR SO. NEW SUEHIRO MARUO!

Friday, October 07, 2005

BISECT

Evan here. I made a new photo-illustration last night and I thought you kids may be interested, since I was going for a gory & surreal type thing...



... Click above or here for more info. Hope it appeals to you.

In other news, Ryan & I have something BIG that we're working on right now...

Monday, October 03, 2005

IN SPACE, NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU...

as usual, please read from right-to-left.

Saturday, October 01, 2005

NANCY BOYS

not manga related, but...
I GOT TO MEET NEIL GAIMAN YESTERDAY!

He came to visit Google yesterday, and did a 1-hour talk and reading from his new book "Anansi Boys," followed by a book signing! I got to:
  • Ask a question about that moronic Village Voice article trashing comics and comic adaptations, and his feelings on the whole thing

  • Hand Neil a black (duh) Google Print t-shirt

  • Thank him in person for making my teenage years less painful and get a picture together!
What a cool way to end the week!
-ryan


UPDATE: Neil put up a post with a short mention of his visit to Google here

Tuesday, September 27, 2005

MANGA WISH LIST

HERE ARE COMICS I WANT TO READ . . . RIGHT FUCKING NOW!

Oh lord! There's a slew of really amazing books that either just came out, I just heard about, or are coming soon. I wish i could teleport my future paychecks into the psychic coffers of these publishers and have the books in my meaty paws immediately. Here, for your enjoyment-- more Same Hat Library fodder!


The Push Man and Other Stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi: Amazon says it's not released yet, but I saw it at a local bookstore on Sunday. This thing is GORE-GEE-OUS! The book is bound nicely and the panels and printing look really smooth. It's flipped, rather than the right-to-left I prefer, but apparently Tatsumi actually helped with these changes to make sure they were done right. Aside from being a collection of really masterful, twised and shocking tales, all the lettering was done by Adrian Tomine! Only 20 bucks! I want to take my time on digesting this one.



Doing Time by Kazuichi Hanawa: Okay, so this isn't new in the least, but I finally put it together in my brain that this is THE Kazuichi Hanawa (of previous monkey brain fame), and THE 'Doing Time' that was made into a Japanese movie a few years ago. Like David Choe's hilarious/depressing article about his weeks in a Japanese prison in Giant Robot a year or so ago, this book is a collection of true stories from Hanawa's time in prison. Read about what got the old man into jail in this review. Sounds (not to be totally lame here) really illuminating about some real post-war Japan, not more samurai and courtesan crud. Put out by a UK(?) publisher and sometimes hard to track down.



Scary Book Volume1: Shadows by Kazuo Umezu: FINALLY! Another English translation of Kazuo Umezu's stuff is going to be released. Guess they're going literal with this one-- SCARY BOOK! The drag is that it won't be out until early next year. I'm hoping that they don't follow the Orochi:Blood lead and only put out one book of a series. MORE UMEZU! YAY!



Black Hole by Charles Burns: It's not manga, but this is the one I'm MOST EXCITED ABOUT! Charles Burns' BLACK HOLE is finally being collected into a hardcover trade. I've read issues of this here and there (and being totally creeped out and floored by most everything) but purposefully avoided reading more because I had heard this would be coming out one day. And not that day has come (well, nearly). There isn't another book that I'm looking forward to more this fall! (except maybe this)

PS: Hellen is almost done with her night paralysis comic!! You can see a cellphone photo of one of the pages on her blog. Yay Hellen! Finish that damn thing, cuz we're DYING to read it!!!

PPS: NEW KOJI AIHARA STRIP GOING UP VERY SOON

Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Aftermath Relax

Gross hats off to you, Mr. Aihara!
as usual, please read from right-to-left.

Friday, September 16, 2005

BROUGHT YOU BACK SOMETHING NICE

Enjoy another Koji Aihara! Also, just re-started work on Junji Ito's 'Falling' --coming in a few weeks, hopefully!

as usual, please read from right-to-left.

Tuesday, September 13, 2005

EVEN A MONKEY CAN DRAW MANGA

Quick post today... Just wanted to mention another book you might want to add to your ERO/GURO/COMEDY 'SAME HAT LIBRARY' !



If Koji Aihara's name sounded familiar, it might be because he was 1/2 the team behind the infamous and slick parody manga instruction book, "Even A Monkey Can Draw Manga!" This is a really sweet marriage of picking on otaku nerdboys and outright self deprecation (He is awesome, YES, but the the dude does write queef & poo jokes, for god's sake!). A really hilarious book for anybody in the know-- Evan has a copy from waaaay back that we broke out again this week. It's still available via Amazon or Viz's homepage.

Thought it'd be a good mention as we move into a big batch of his 4-koma gag stuff in the coming week(s)! PLEASE ENJOY! Does anyone know - is there any truth to the rumors of a second volume of this title?


SAYS THE ABOVE REVIEW:
This mock-instructional tome is actually a hilarious parody in graphic novel form of those books which seek to advise one on "how to draw manga." But it is also a gripping comic book narrative in its own right about the struggle of two bumbling and desperate would-be know-it-alls — the authors of the book — in their vainglorious pursuit of comic book technique, wealth, and fame

wheeeee

PS: NEW AIHARA STRIP ON FRIDAY!!

Monday, September 12, 2005

gross & grosser

WE PROMISED IT, AND WE DELIVER
as usual, please read from right-to-left.



Even better if you've read Natsume Soseki's "I Am a Cat."
Click to check out the opening lines.

Friday, September 09, 2005

SEX JOKES, FART JOKES, POOP JOKES

NEW GAG COMICS by Koji Aihara

Here is the first of a bunch of short strips by a weirdo manga artist we like. Straying from the absurd Sensha stuff into more... colorful pastures (read: BODY HUMOR!!). We're talking: Grandpa farting on his deathbed, a dying warrior seeing a cow shitting as his last earthly moment, highschool boys begging for a peek at their gf's nekopai's-- you know, the USUAL STUFF.

We'll do our damnedest to translate these as smoothly as possible; I've already put in extra hours looking up the precise term for various types of farts, and Evan's is sharpening his WACOM sylus to be sure we get those wanking off sound effects just right. As always, any kind of comments/suggestions are VERY appreciated by both of us.

ENJOY!

as usual, please read from right-to-left.

RIGHT HAND OF THE DEVIL


This dude got a Kazuo Umezu TATTOO!

It is an image from "Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil". That is pretty fucking sick-- talk about DEEP CUTS!

Thanks to technorati.com, I am finding all sorts of weirdo horror manga fans like us!

Thursday, September 08, 2005

KAZUO UMEZU'S DRIFTING CLASSROOM

SHARING THE SCANLATION LOVE.



I came across this recently (because it is one of a few long stories we were thinking to do ourselves) and was totally geeked about it. Available at the link below are the first three volumes of this surreal, horror/fantasy tale about a school that literally disappears -- transported to a sick alternate reality that sortof resembles the future (or is it HELL?)!!!

(For more info on Kazuo Umezu, please click HERE!)

This thing is a really cool read (the story is way more interesting than Orochi:Blood), and the scanlation isn't bad at all. I had some issues with the translation-- sortof stuntingly formal and stiff-sounding in a few spots, but very nice work overall. I wanna give credit where it's due, so here's the info on this one: (and to note, if it wasn't obvious DUHHH, this one wasn't done by SAME HAT... we're just linking it!)

A post-apocalyptic manga. An entire elementary school of 862 students and staff are somehow transported into a barren future, after a series of disasters has wiped out the human race. The students must try to survive the harsh conditions, disease, strange mutated creatures which have taken over the planet, and more than anything the insanity that slowly takes over them and turns them against one another.

Joint project with Band of the Hawks.
Vol 1 - Vol 2 Chapter 1 were done jointly with Jinmen-Juushin.


THERE YOU HAVE IT! please enjoy!

as usual, please read pages from right-to-left!

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

BEAUTY LABYRINTH OF RAZORS

1. SO MANY RAZORS



There's been talk about this new collection of Jun Hayami's comics being released by Creation Books for a while now. It was supposed to come out September 1, but seems to have been delayed so far. BOOOO!

Anyone who enjoys this blog (and specifically, you Maruo-freaks who keep showing up!) will dig this collection of depraved, erotic-grotesque-nonsense comics. Hats off to Creation, who were responsible for the (in)famous Ultra-Gash Inferno collection by Maruo, for going ahead with this books-- the first time Jun Hayami's stuff has been translated and made available in English. Determined types (read:otaku) can call or visit their LA store, info here.

Here is a quote about Jun Hayami's stuff-- "Readers thought Jun Hayami must be mentally ill until the reclusive artist was discovered two years ago." What the hell kind of quote is that? I'm guessing that this book will be extreme-to-the-max, and not for soft-stomached/sane folks.

Has anyone read this book yet? It has been released in the UK (I believe), so I'd love to hear how other people like this book. I'll be lined up (electronically) for when it becomes available on the Creation site or Amazon.





2. NEW COMIC: CHURCH OF MUTILATION by aaronk!



Our friend aaronk has started selling his new comic, Church of Mutilation. It's a 15-page B&W, available direct from him for $3.00 > I posted my dollars to him today, and can't wait to see this thing. Check out his site for more information on ordering it!

Coming next from him: "A romance story called "Fort Purgatory" and will contain no sex or violence or shit"


3. WE ARE POSTING A NEW KOJI AIHARA COMIC TOMORROW!
wheeeeee!