Released on the same day as AKIRA 1 ( Young Magazine serialized edition – read my review here ) and kicking off phase 2 release of Otomo The Complete Works is “G…..”, a collection of 10 manga short stories by Katsuhiro Otomo, drawn from the period around 1979-1980 when the artist was around 26 years old.

“G…..” is a 4 chapter manga short that centers on the civil war of a small African country and has never been released in tankobon form until now. Otomo fans who own a copy of the largely out of print Memories ominbus comic collection will also recognize 2 stories included here, Flower & Sound Of Sand, as well as a piece found in Hansel & Gretel, which is also out print. Publisher Kodansha is surely doing fans a good service by collecting them in this volume, and what’s more they are now published in a neat chronological order of their release date & year.

This period of artistic work is a seminal time for Otomo as he is on the cusp of achieving greatness in his manga career, for shortly after he would embark on creating 2 of his most renowned pieces, DOMU and AKIRA.

(above & below) Even at a relatively young age of 26, Otomo’s drawing skills are already immense; just check out the incredibly detail and complexity of these panels. Bear in mind that this was way before the age of digital tools and all the drawings are completely traditional, with no UNDO button.

(above) Another indicator of Otomo’s drawing skills; his ability to draw distinctive human faces of different ethnicity, a skill not easily acquired without plenty of study and keen observation.

(above & below) These gorgeously colored pages are definitely the highlight of the book; it’s so pleasing to see the artistic influence of legendary French artist Moebius on Otomo’s work, but giving it a spin of his own.

Just like some of the manga releases from phase 1 including Gun Report, Highway Star and Goodbye Japan, this collection of Otomo’s work that predates AKIRA gives fans a chance to discover his lesser known but equally fascinating manga pieces. My highest recommendations.

“G….. ( Otomo Complete Works ) Manga 大友克洋全集 コミック” details :

Dimensions – 17.6 x 2.4 x 24.8 cm
Softcover with dust jacket, 320 pages
B&W with color on select pages, In Japanese language

  
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