I just managed to get my hands on scans of the Shintaro Kago pages in this month's issue of Vice. Thumbnails here, and links to download large scans below. ENJOY!
3 page interview thumbnails:
4 page Vice exclusive comic thumbnails:
UPDATE: No need to download scans unless you want them REALLY BIG (if so, just email me). The interview with Kago, picture of him holding his dog and the entire comic can be found online at Viceland here.
PS: I want to send a copy of the magazine to our Shintaro Kago scanlator and provider, Mr. Anonymous K. I have his contact details, so if you have a copy you'd like to donate, I would really appreciate it. Mr. K lives in a country where he'll probably not see this magazine in person unless a generous Same Hatter gifts him one. Email me at samehatATgmailDOTcom if you wanna be his secret santa.
I just found out that blog favorite Shintaro Kago is gracing the cover of the newest issue of Vice Magazine!! Looks like it's the February issue, and features an absolutely stunning cover by Kago along with a feature interview with the man himself!
God, this cover is fucking gorgeous. And despite my hating of Vice's politics and editorial bent, this is a killer artistic decision (along with giving Johnny his own comics page and recently featuring spot illustrations by our buddy Laura Park). I gotta get my hands on many, many copies of this issue.
[A MILLION THANKS TO JOHNNY RYAN FOR THE NEWS & COVER SCAN!!]
From Umezz's blog, here are the Japanese covers for the reissues of his classic 紅グモ(Crimson Spider).
The shojo manga series was originally published in 1966, and reprinted as part of the Shogakukan Creative series. The two volumes went on sale 1/25/08 in Japan. More details here (And Google Translated broken English version here).
...Kazuo Umezu singing Paul Anka's You Are My Destiny (君はわが運命). I've had this clip on my back burner to post on a rainy day-- Minerva posted it today in the comments, and it's time everyone else gets in on the goodness.
FUCK DUDES, I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY. HE IS MY FAVORITE FOR LIFE.
We're happy to break the news that the next English language publication of Kazuo Umezu's work will be his 1967 series, Cat Eyed Boy! In Japanese the title is 猫目小僧 (Nekome Kozou). (EDIT: Now I see that Slightly Biased Manga sort of beat us to it last week. Damn you!)
I had informally heard this series kicked around as a next possibility, but recently saw it confirmed with the addition of listings on Amazon for Volume 1 and Volume 2!
From the Amazon description: "Cat-Eyed Boy is a half-human, half-monster child who mostly resembles a human, and therefore cannot live in the demon world. He lives hidden in the shadows of the human world, hated by both demons and humans. But wherever he goes, awful events occur. Humans interact with demons, but for the most part the humans that appear to act more evil than the monsters.
Cat-Eyed Boy acts like Trickster, saving the innocent and helping the wicked receive the punishment that fate metes out. The stories are mostly tales of revenge and retribution for the evil acts people do. The series is broken into 11 individual stories, full of extremely grotesque and disturbing images."
Overgrown Nekome Kozou cosplayer.
It's still unclear exactly what the book will look like, but I'm assuming it'll be under the Viz Signature imprint (like the Gyo/Uzumaki reprints, and Drifting Classroom were). Amazon lists both volumes as being released on JUNE 18, 2008.
More interestingly, it shows Volumes 1 at a hefty 544 pages, and Volume 2 at 496 pages. Hot damn. This begs the question of if Viz is going to be moving toward presenting more titles (including Umezu classics?) in the Tekkon Kinkreet or Azumanga Daioh gigantic format.
All hail the cat king.
While unconfirmed, I've heard the editor will be Ian Robertson (who is a longtime Viz-er and also edited Tezuka's Phoenix series, among others). While it's slightly disappointing that the next Kazuo Umezu title isn't Fourteen or Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil-- this more classic manga from Umezu is a welcome addition to an already impressive line-up for 2008. Nice work, Viz!
PS: For your further viewing pleasure, the opening & ending credits of the original Nekome Kozou anime:
As promised, we're happy to host and present the newest Shintaro Kago scanlation from our extremely productive friend, Anonymous K.
Anonymous K informs me that this is the last strip from this book of surrealist experimentalism he'll have for us. BUT! He is working on a new swatch of comics from a different Kago book.
With regard to its ambition and story, Drunkard Condo Syndrome is a slightly different beast; It takes a small and corny concept to it's logical conclusion (and horrifically beyond), but is less concerned with the limitations of formal comic storytelling than previous comics. This time, the core conceit is a drunken salaryman coming home to the wrong apartment, in one of those massive apartment complexes straight out of Otomo's Domu.
This comic is slightly more NSFW than previous Kago strips, but nothing too beyond the pale. Well, some of it is beyond the pale, but it's Shintaro Kago we're talking about! Don't say you weren't warned.
As usual, leave feedback/scorn/praise in the comments!
I read this weekend on comics212 the official confirmation that Drawn & Quarterly will be releasing Seiichi Hayashi's Red Colored Elegy. This is gonna be the perfect book to see given the deluxe D&Q treatment in 2008. Here are the cover and details:
Red Colored Elegy By Seiichi Hayashi 24.95, 240 Pages, Hardcover Shipping in April 2008
Since people are posting about it, I wanted to remind folks that I first "broke this story" back in June 2007, after hearing it from D&Q directly at BookExpo America. Don't believe me? See this post here for the first details I'd posted back then. SCOOP!
A short post to inform you of the latest in the manga/graphic novel form; Here are some books hitting the shops today!
DRAGON HEAD Vol. 9 + Why you should buy: It's the pentultimate volume to this series, and we FINALLY get to see what's been happening in Tokyo, meet a community of "survivors" and see what's become of Teru's home. (HINT: IT'S ALL BAD NEWS).
+ Ryan says, I got this on Sunday at Kinokuniya but stalled for hours before reading it because I don't really want the series to end. While it's not the strongest possible entry (as second-to-last, it doesn't have the luxury of answering any big questions), it succeeded in convincing me that Dragon Head is NOT going to have a happy ending (DUH) but will end with a bang. Only three more months until Volume 10!
MANGA SUTRA Futari H Vol. 1 + Why you should buy: It's a romantic comedy about newlyweds learning how to please eachother. It's a manga-style sexual self-help guide. And it's the closest thing you can get to hentai without having to head to that "special section" of the comic store, in the back beyond a beaded curtain.
+ Ryan says, I saw this at Kinokuniya but passed (for now) because of the huge size-- it's large and in a box that is also shrinkwrapped-- and the huge price ($20). That said, I'm gonna check it out next week, if only to see if it fills the hole left when Dance 'Til Tomorrow was died alongside Pulp magazine.
THE LAST MUSKETEER + Why you should buy: It's another tiny masterpiece by Jason. This time we get the story of Athos, last of the Musketeers, finding himself increasingly irrelevant and annoying until Martians attack Earth. Nested in the adventurer frame story are some really brilliant conversations and small jokes. Oh, and the coloring by Hubert is meticulously great, especially for the Mars scenes.
+ Ryan says, I read this today on my lunch break, and I really, really enjoyed it. Once you get over paying 13 bucks for what should cost around $8. Jason's lastest comics are getting the formula just right for mixing nostalgia, genre tropes and deadpan humor-- it's the kind of comic I wish I could pull off. My favorite bits were the not-too-subtle bits about Mars being like a pre-colonial Renaissance Fair and that every chatterbox (in this case, Athos) thinks that they're really a thoughtful, taciturn guy.
DOOM PATROL Vol. 6 + Why you should buy: The final volume of Grant Morrison's infamous run on this series. Includes the original covers by Simon Bisley and Mike Mignola, along with a one-shot special title DOOM FORCE-- a really offensive Liefeld parody with lots of huge thighs and SO MANY POUCHES.
+ Ryan says, I'm a loser and still stuck back reading volume 3. That said, based on my GF talking nonstop about how fucking rad this last volume is gonna be, I'm planning a Morrisonathon this weekend to get up to speed.
Updated: SAME HAT stopped updating in 2013! For all new projects, please see Youth in Decline's sit and Instagram.
All fan translations of manga that you'll see in the archives are previously untranslated into English and range from comedy to horror to avant-absurd weirdness.
Same Hat is written & edited by Ryan. If you would like to contact me, please email: samehat @ gmail.com. Also, you can Ask me anything on the Same Hat Tumblr!
