Leonard Rifas
MoPOP exhibit on the evolution of Asian comic art is overwhelming—in a good way
The exhibition that became Asian Comics: Evolution of an Art Form, now at MoPOP, began when London-based comics historian and curator Paul Gravett was...
Two books examine the complex relationship between American comics and Japanese manga
Eike Exner’s Comics and the Origins of Manga: a revisionist history was awarded the prestigious Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in the category of...
A graphic novel about the only woman reporting from the battlefields in the first...
Cold War Correspondent: A Korean War Tale tells of Marguerite Higgins’ experiences as the only woman reporting from the battlefields during the first months...
An extensive history of a century of Thai cartooning
The Art of Thai Comics, a handsomely-produced and colorfully-illustrated volume, offers an absorbing and fun history of a century of Thai cartooning. It would...
A 2021 manga take on Sōseki Natsume’s early 1900s classic “I Am a Cat”
The loved and celebrated Japanese novelist Sōseki Natsume (1867-1916) achieved instant success with his first novel, Wagahai wa Nekodearu (I Am a Cat), which...
Graphic novel faithfully adapts artist Yayoi Kusama’s unusual and fascinating life story
Unlike pop-phenomenon Yayoi Kusama’s own artwork, with its bright familiar colors that contribute to its near-universal popular appeal, Elisa Macellari’s new graphic biography of Kusama uses...
Tsuge Yoshiharu creates in his readers a “lingering reverberation” with “The Man Without...
For many years, those, like myself, who rely on English translations to read manga, have heard intriguing hints about a Japanese comics creator with...
Manga describe experiences of workers at Fukushima power plant
Two very different Japanese manga, now available in English translation, describe the experiences of bottom-tier workers at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. One describes...
‘The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye’—Sonny Liew’s graphic novel weaves history, art masterfully
A book may have many layers, but unless it can be enjoyed on a superficial level, that book will not be read, and those layers will remain undiscovered. Sonny Liew’s graphic novel, The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, has been able to attract an outpouring of rapturous praise from both around the world and within Liew’s adopted nation of Singapore because, its author has created an enjoyable story.
‘God of manga’ Osamu Tezuka a multi-faceted artist
Osamu Tezuka was revered during his lifetime as the manga no kami-sama—the “God of manga.” More than any other individual, he was responsible for...
