Garo (magazine)
Encyclopedia
was a monthly manga anthology magazine in Japan, founded in 1964 by Katsuichi Nagai. It specialized in alternative
and avant-garde
manga
.
, naming it after one of Shirato's ninja
characters. The first series published in Garo was Shirato's ninja drama Kamui
, which with its themes of class struggle
and anti-authoritarian
ism was a hit with college students. Garo attracted several influential gekiga
artists such as Yoshihiro Tatsumi
and Yoshiharu Tsuge
, and discovered and promoted many new artists.
Garos circulation at the peak of its popularity in 1971 was over eighty thousand. However, during the 1970s and 1980s its popularity declined. By the mid-80s its circulation was barely over twenty thousand, and its demise was rumored to be imminent. Nagai managed to keep it going independently until 1991, when it was bought out by a game software company. Although a new, young president was installed and advertisements for computer games (based on stories featured in Garo) started to run in the magazine, Nagai was kept on board as chairman until his death in 1996.
After being bought out, there were allegations of the anthology taking a more commercial path. Eventually authors who were regular to Garo went their own ways and founded other anthologies like Ax
. Garo is no longer being published.
, founded by manga legend Osamu Tezuka
, and Comic Baku.
Over the years, Garo went through many artistic phases, including Shirato's leftist samurai
dramas, abstract art
and surrealism
, erotic/grotesque, and punk
. Unlike many of the popular anthology titles, the magazine never had a set theme to which the stories contained within it were required to conform; the only requirements were that they were interesting, and that their content was more important than their surface form.
Although it was never considered a "major" magazine, Garos influence both within the manga business and in Japanese society as a whole has been considerable. Many manga artists
who got their start in Garo went on to do much higher-profile work elsewhere, and several films have been produced based on stories that originally ran in Garo. Contemporary graphic design
in Japan owes much to Garo artists, particularly King Terry, Seiichi Hayashi, and Shigeru Tamura. Retrospectives on the magazine have appeared in mainstream non-manga magazines, and in 1994 the Kawasaki
city museum had a special exhibit of work by Garo alumni.
translators have mostly overlooked experimental fare. However, some Garo comics are available in English.
In the early 1990s, Viz Comics (now VIZ Media
) published some of Sanpei Shirato's Kamui under the title Legend of Kamui. More recently, Blast Books has published books of avant-garde manga, including many pieces from the pages of Garo. Even more recently The Comics Journal
published Yoshiharu Tsuge's work Screw Style in issue #250.
In 2008 Drawn and Quarterly
published Good-Bye, the third volume of their ongoing edition of the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi
. Some of the comics collected in Good-Bye originally appeared in Garo.
Alternative comics
Alternative comics defines a range of American comics that have appeared since the 1980s, following the underground comix movement of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Alternative comics present an alternative to "mainstream" superhero comics which in the past have dominated the US comic book industry...
and avant-garde
Avant-garde
Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....
manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
.
History
Katsuichi Nagai founded Garo in July 1964 with the help of Sanpei ShiratoSanpei Shirato
, known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as his realistic drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He is considered a pioneer of gekiga. The son of the Japanese proletarian painter Toki Okamoto, his dream to become an artist...
, naming it after one of Shirato's ninja
Ninja
A or was a covert agent or mercenary of feudal Japan specializing in unorthodox arts of war. The functions of the ninja included espionage, sabotage, infiltration, and assassination, as well as open combat in certain situations...
characters. The first series published in Garo was Shirato's ninja drama Kamui
The Legend of Kamui
is a manga by Sanpei Shirato. Set in feudal Japan, it tells the story of a low-born ninja who tries to flee his clan. The series combines historical adventure with social commentary and themes of oppression and rebellion that reflect Shirato's Marxist convictions...
, which with its themes of class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
and anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarian
Anti-authoritarianism is opposition to authoritarianism, which is defined as a "political doctrine advocating the principle of absolute rule: absolutism, autocracy, despotism, dictatorship, totalitarianism." Anti-authoritarians usually believe in full equality before the law and strong civil...
ism was a hit with college students. Garo attracted several influential gekiga
Gekiga
is Japanese for "dramatic pictures." The term was coined by Yoshihiro Tatsumi and adopted by other more serious Japanese cartoonists who did not want their trade to be known as manga or "irresponsible pictures." It's akin to Will Eisner who started calling his comics "graphic novels" as opposed...
artists such as Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Yoshihiro Tatsumi
is a Japanese manga artist who is widely credited with starting the gekiga style of alternative comics in Japan, having allegedly coined the term in 1957....
and Yoshiharu Tsuge
Yoshiharu Tsuge
is a Japanese manga artist and essayist. He was active in comics between 1954 and 1987. The content of his works range from tales of ordinary life to dream-like surrealism, and often show his interest in traveling about Japan...
, and discovered and promoted many new artists.
Garos circulation at the peak of its popularity in 1971 was over eighty thousand. However, during the 1970s and 1980s its popularity declined. By the mid-80s its circulation was barely over twenty thousand, and its demise was rumored to be imminent. Nagai managed to keep it going independently until 1991, when it was bought out by a game software company. Although a new, young president was installed and advertisements for computer games (based on stories featured in Garo) started to run in the magazine, Nagai was kept on board as chairman until his death in 1996.
After being bought out, there were allegations of the anthology taking a more commercial path. Eventually authors who were regular to Garo went their own ways and founded other anthologies like Ax
Ax (manga)
is a Japanese underground manga anthology. In October 2008, North American publisher Top Shelf announced that it will release a 400-page selection of underground manga stories called AX Collection, edited by Sean Michael Wilson...
. Garo is no longer being published.
Styles and Influence
For much of its existence, Garo was the premiere showcase for "art" manga in Japan. It was popular enough during its heyday to inspire several imitators, including COMCOM (manga magazine)
was a manga magazine started in January 1967 by Osamu Tezuka. It was started in response to the success of Garo , and as a way for Tezuka and other artists to showcase more avant-garde and experimental works in manga...
, founded by manga legend Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, and Comic Baku.
Over the years, Garo went through many artistic phases, including Shirato's leftist samurai
Samurai
is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...
dramas, abstract art
Abstract art
Abstract art uses a visual language of form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th century, underpinned by the logic of perspective and an...
and surrealism
Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members....
, erotic/grotesque, and punk
Punk subculture
The punk subculture includes a diverse array of ideologies, and forms of expression, including fashion, visual art, dance, literature, and film, which grew out of punk rock.-History:...
. Unlike many of the popular anthology titles, the magazine never had a set theme to which the stories contained within it were required to conform; the only requirements were that they were interesting, and that their content was more important than their surface form.
Although it was never considered a "major" magazine, Garos influence both within the manga business and in Japanese society as a whole has been considerable. Many manga artists
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
who got their start in Garo went on to do much higher-profile work elsewhere, and several films have been produced based on stories that originally ran in Garo. Contemporary graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
in Japan owes much to Garo artists, particularly King Terry, Seiichi Hayashi, and Shigeru Tamura. Retrospectives on the magazine have appeared in mainstream non-manga magazines, and in 1994 the Kawasaki
Kawasaki, Kanagawa
is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....
city museum had a special exhibit of work by Garo alumni.
Garo in English
For the most part, commercial manga translators have passed over the offbeat works showcased in Garo in favor of more mainstream, action/adventure and romance stories from the major publishers. Similarly, scanlationScanlation
Scanlation is the scanning, translation and editing of a graphic novel from a foreign language into a different language. Scanlation is done as an amateur work and is nearly always done without express permission from the copyright holder. The word scanlation is a portmanteau of scan and translation...
translators have mostly overlooked experimental fare. However, some Garo comics are available in English.
In the early 1990s, Viz Comics (now VIZ Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
) published some of Sanpei Shirato's Kamui under the title Legend of Kamui. More recently, Blast Books has published books of avant-garde manga, including many pieces from the pages of Garo. Even more recently The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal
The Comics Journal, often abbreviated TCJ, is an American magazine of news and criticism pertaining to comic books, comic strips and graphic novels...
published Yoshiharu Tsuge's work Screw Style in issue #250.
In 2008 Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly
Drawn and Quarterly is a Canadian comic book publishing company, headed by Chris Oliveros, and based in Montreal, Quebec. Its focus is on graphic novels and underground or alternative comics. Drawn and Quarterly was also the title of the company's flagship quarterly anthology during the 1990s...
published Good-Bye, the third volume of their ongoing edition of the work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi
Yoshihiro Tatsumi
is a Japanese manga artist who is widely credited with starting the gekiga style of alternative comics in Japan, having allegedly coined the term in 1957....
. Some of the comics collected in Good-Bye originally appeared in Garo.
Manga artists associated with Garo
- Masumura Hiroshi
- Carol Shimoda
- Hinako SugiuraHinako Sugiurawas a manga artist and researcher in the lifestyles and customs of Japan's Edo period. Born Junko Suzuki in Minato, Tokyo, into a tradition-steeped family of kimono merchants, she studied design and took an increasing interest in old Japan. She attended Nihon University, but gave up her formal...
- Muddy Wehara
- Murasaki YamadaMurasaki Yamada, born as Mitsuko Shiratori, was a Japanese feminist essayist, manga artist, and poet. She was associated with Garo. Frederik L. Schodt regarded her work as particularly important because, although there is a culture of girl's manga, Yamada's work has a feminist message, which is rare in girls' manga...
- Sanpei ShiratoSanpei Shirato, known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist and essayist known for his social criticism as well as his realistic drawing style and the characters in his scenarios. He is considered a pioneer of gekiga. The son of the Japanese proletarian painter Toki Okamoto, his dream to become an artist...
- Shoichi Sakurai
- Tadao Tsuge
- Suehiro MaruoSuehiro Maruo, is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter.-Biography:Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15 he moved to Tokyo and began working for a bookbinder...
- Kiriko NanananKiriko Nanananis a female Japanese manga artist. She is famous for her realistic josei work featuring understated artwork with a sense of detachment. In addition she has affiliated herself with the "La nouvelle manga" movement. Her first work was published in Garo in 1993. Two of her works have been made into...
- Suzy Amekane
- Shungicu UchidaShungicu Uchida, known by the pen name , is a Japanese manga artist, novelist, essayist, actress, and singer.- Biography :She was born August 7, 1959 in Nagasaki, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. Her father left the family when she and her younger sister were in primary school. Her mother was a dance teacher and bar...
- Seiichi Hayashi
- Shigeru Tamura
- King Terry
- Yoshiharu TsugeYoshiharu Tsugeis a Japanese manga artist and essayist. He was active in comics between 1954 and 1987. The content of his works range from tales of ordinary life to dream-like surrealism, and often show his interest in traveling about Japan...
- Yoshikazu Ebisu
- Yoshihiro TatsumiYoshihiro Tatsumiis a Japanese manga artist who is widely credited with starting the gekiga style of alternative comics in Japan, having allegedly coined the term in 1957....
- NekojiruNekojiru, known by the pen name , was a Japanese manga artist.In 1990, she debuted in the June issue of the monthly manga anthology Garo with Nekojiru Udon, which is now considered her definitive work. She committed suicide on May 10, 1998...
- Shinichi Abe
- Usamaru FuruyaUsamaru Furuyais a Japanese manga artist. He graduated from Tama Art University where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance....