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Ninjas vs Cowboys, Top 10 Cowboy Manga

I talk about US ninja comics and Japanese cowboy comics on Tim Young's Deconstructing Comics . Listen to it here ! I based on the lecture I gave last year at the Koshi Manga Museum . First slide from my Ninjas vs Cowboys presentation. Here are my Top 10 Cowboy Manga: 10. Bullet Tommy  『弾丸トミー』by Shige SUGIURA This is a classic, one of the earliest comics. It's a "gag manga" for kids and so pokes fun at the various Western movie tropes. The art resembles Shoney's Big Boy, doesn't it? 9.  The Cactus Kid  『サボテン君』by Osamu TEZUKA This is one of Tezuka's early Western manga when he had only seen a few westerns at the time. I like the idea of a guy who wants to turn his parents' saloon into a milk bar. 8. The Belle Starr Gang  『ベル☆スタア強盗団』by Akihiro ITO Ito is known for his Geobreeders  saga, but this is his take on the real-life outlaw Belle Starr and her gang. I like the art and the attempt to incorporate real-life events into the...
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Tokyo Akahon Manga “Gulliver’s Travels” by NAKAMURA Hiroshi

According to a post by akahon manga researcher Yuuzora Retro (pen name), the Tokyo-based publisher Taikōdō ( 泰光堂 ) created their Manga Classics series in response to the PTA backlash against manga contributing to delinquency in Osaka. This is Gulliver’s Travels by NAKAMURA Hiroshi (中村ひろし), a B6-sized 3-color akahon* printed with red ink fills on either blue or green lines costing 85 yen. NAKAMURA seemed to be the main artist for Taikōdō as evinced by the ad pages at the back. There is no publishing date, but it probably wasn't too far from 1951 when "Cinderella" and "Snow White" from the same series were published. Looking at the stamps on the endpapers on the back, we can see that this particular book was rented out at a kashihon-ya (rental comic shop) in Saga, Kyushu called Imazato Neo Shobō. It was lent to me by a Mr. Fujita, a collector heavy into Showa-era items. I will continue to introduce the books I was able to borrow from his...
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Werewolf Kings - Chaney and Naschy

[Note: Check This $#!% Out was originally a seperate blog but is now a feature of patokon blog ] Since I was a little, little kid, I was fascinated by monsters. I don't know what touched it off, but being scared was one of my favorite pastimes. I realized early on that of all the classic monsters, The Wolfman was my favorite. Lon Chaney, Jr. , son of make-up master "Man of a Thousand Faces" Lon Sr. , played Larry Talbot, a poor sunovagun who... you know the story. He gets all hairy and loses all reason, acting only on primal urges. Hey! Just like puberty ! Frankenstein's monster was butt-ugly , Dracula was evil (and old ), but Wolfie was a sympathetic character much like the Hulk , who struggles with the awful realization that he might be a vicious blood-thirsty killer. Also, he was cool!! If I had to choose which character to play, would I want to be stoo-pid monster, aloof and snooty vampire, or wild animal-man? Let me think... oh yeah, WILD MAN!!!!! But that...
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