On the January manga episode, Shea and Derek discuss the first five volumes in Drawn and Quarterly’s Kitaro series, created by Shigeru Mizuki. This includes The Birth of Kitaro, Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon, Kitaro and the Great Tanuki War, Kitaro’s Strange Adventures, and the most recent Kitaro the Vampire Slayer. Both guys love this character, and they have a good time highlighting the usual, and at times wacky, characters that populate Mizuki’s yokai narratives. Hair that shoots out projectiles? Walking eyeballs? Farts that destroy? Poisonous pee? Yep…this is the world of Kitaro.
After that, Shea and Derek take a completely different turn with Paul Gravett’s Mangasia: The Definitive Guide to Asian Comics (Thames and Hudson). This is a visually infused overview of manga from across Asia, not just that in Japan. Gravett’s encyclopedic knowledge of Asian comics is unparalleled. And although Shea would have wanted a more critical text, the book’s graphic-centric approach serves as a indispensable introduction to the medium.