Synopses & Reviews
These stories get under your skin and invite rereading.” BookForum Abandon the Old in Tokyo is the second in a three-volume series that collects the short stories of Japanese cartooning legend Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Designed and edited by Adrian Tomine, the first volume, The Push Man and Other Stories, debuted to much critical acclaim and rightfully placed Tatsumi as a legendary precursor to the North American graphic-novel movement. Abandon the Old in Tokyo continues to delve into the urban underbelly of 1960s Tokyo, exposing not only the seedy dealings of the Japanese everyman but Tatsumis maturation as a story writer. Born in 1935, Yoshihiro Tatsumi began writing and drawing comics for a sophisticated adult readership in a realistic style he called "Gekiga." He has influenced generations of Japanese cartoonists and lives in Japan. Over four decades ago, Yoshihiro Tatsumi expanded the horizons of comics storytelling by using the visual language of manga to tell gritty, literary short stories about the private lives of everyday people. He has been called "the grandfather of Japanese alternative comics" and has influenced generations of cartoonists, but, until now, the majority of his work has remained unavailable outside of Japan. Abandon the Old in Tokyo is a collection of short stories from a modern master and includes an introduction by Koji Suzuki, author of Ring and Dark Water. "The artist's second volume of stories to be published in the US, originally published in Japan in 1970, shows that the graphic visionary was decades ahead of his time. As the anthology's title suggests, Tatsumi set these stories in a period of profound transition, both for Tokyo and for comic art, with the old giving way to the new in the 1960s. The artist's response reflects a deep ambivalence, as progress threatens obsolescence for a protagonist who has long catered to the youth comics market and for his ailing mother, whom modern society treats as refuse. Like the 'underground comix' of R. Crumb and Gilbert Shelton of the same era, Tatsumi's work opened the comics format to themes that were more mature, often sexual or scatological, and frequently darker than graphic narratives aimed at adolescents. The strength of the illustrations transcends differences in culture and language (the narrative is in English, with graphic signs translated), as Tatsumi depicts the common manbe he a graphic artist or a sewer workerin the grip of modern forces that he finds complex and confusing. What little humor there is within these seven stories is deadpan, subtle and mostly visual, though there's an irresistible irony in the opening story, 'Occupied,' in which the protagonist, whose work no longer appeals to kids, finds inspiration in bathroom graffiti, only to get him labeled a pervert in the process. Such a spirit of artistic subversion and self-deprecation sets the tone for the anthology as a whole. Fans of the contemporary graphic narrative won't find this volume of Tatsumi's work dated in the slightest."Kirkus Reviews "[Yoshihiro Tatsumi's] powerful drawing style depicts the characters with a starkness and simplicity that matches what is presented of their lives and conjures a convincing urban milieu through detailed backdrops. These decades-old tales are unlike anything published in the U.S. before or since, and it's gratifying that America is now finally catching up with Tatsumi's genius."Gordon Flagg, Booklist (starred review) "The second volume of Drawn and Quarterly's ambitious reprinting of selected works by manga master Tatsumi picks up where the first left off. This outing once again showcases Tatsumi's pitch-perfect psychodramas, but this time with stories that are a bit more ambitious and sure-footed. Tatsumi more or less invented his own genre, making compelling manga out of everyday moments that otherwise pass unnoticed . . . Tatsumi lends all of [the] characters sympathetic voices through his minimal dialogue and deft line work. No one captures urban Japan quite like Tatsumieven the streets feel nuanced. This collection of seminal work by a comics master is essential reading for anyone interested in the artistic development of the medium."Publishers Weekly
Review
"These stories get under your skin and invite rereading." BookForum
Review
"These decades-old tales are unlike anything published in the U.S. before or since, and it's gratifying that America is now finally catching up with Tatsumi's genius." Booklist
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"These stories...reveal an artist who was making comics that weren't just adult, but truly mature." The Village Voice
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"Tatsumi makes it so any of his characters could be any of the others, crafting a powerful and still-potent commentary on the social and sexual roles of Japanese society." Miami Herald
Synopsis
Abandon the Old in Tokyo is the second in a three-volume series that collects the short stories of Japanese cartooning legend Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Designed and edited by Adrian Tomine, the first volume, The Push Man and Other Stories, debuted to much critical acclaim and rightfully placed Tatsumi as a legendary precursor to the North American graphic-novel movement. Abandon the Old in Tokyo continues to delve into the urban underbelly of 1960s Tokyo, exposing not only the seedy dealings of the Japanese everyman but Tatsumi's maturation as a story writer.
Synopsis
Abandon the Old in Tokyo continues to delve into the urban underbelly of 1960s Tokyo, exposing not only the seedy dealings of the Japanese everyman but Yoshihiro Tatsumis maturation as a storyteller. Many of the stories deal with the economic hardships of the time and the strained relationships between men and women, but do so by means of dark allegorical twists and turns. A young sewer cleaners girlfriend has a miscarriage and leaves him when he proves incapable of finding higher-paying work. When a factory worker loses his hand on the job, the parallels between him and his pet monkey prove startling and significant.
About the Author
Born in 1935, Yoshihiro Tatsumi began writing and drawing comics for a sophisticated adult readership in a realistic style he called "Gekiga." He has influenced generations of Japanese cartoonists and lives in Japan.