New Japanese Gekiga manga-ka in the vein of GARO

[zoddman]

Are there any new or up-and-coming Japanese manga artists that are closer in spirit and artistic sensibilities to work like Tatsumi, the Tsuges or Seiichi Hayashi? I feel like all the manga artists I hear about now are primarily either working for big publishing companies like Shueisha and are aiming their work at a more general audience. The only artists that come to mind are Taiyo Matsumoto (Tenkonkinkreet, No. 5) and Atsushi Kaneko's work, which sadly has only had one series published here (Bambi and Her Pink Gun, which didn't even finish getting printed in English). I guess there's also Iou Kuroda, but his work also tends to skew more to a comfortable slice-of-life approach in his storytelling, despite the bold brush line art.

[carlov]

I still have like 10 copies each of those 2 Bambi books that got published in English, haha.

[zoddman]

Sept 20, 2021 6:08:47 GMT carlov said:

I still have like 10 copies each of those 2 Bambi books that got published in English, haha.

Yeah I loved it, it was great seeing a Japanese artist that was clearly influenced by Western artists like Geof Darrow, Jamie Hewlett and Daniel Clowes and wearing those influences on his sleeve.

[k0rnbr34d]

Not Japanese, but there are a handful of contemporary Taiwanese 漫畫 (manhua) creators who have more western influence and would easily fit into a Garo-esque collection. My favorites are Alan Yu Shan and Xue Tseng-Hsien. This issue of Stripburger has stories from both and you can find previews in the link. Another is Ding Pao-Yen, who was featured in the Comics Journal at one point. I've spoken with Alan online and met Tseng-Hsien at a book fair and both are very kind and serious about experimentation. The latter runs a small press (I believe) that puts out really beautiful stuff.

[MilleniumDibber]

k0rnbr34d - woah! All three of those artists you mentioned are incredible. Especially love Ding Pao-Yen's stuff. Thanks for the links!