In terms of horror in comics very few, if any body could top Junji Ito. His first well known manga that cemented his reputation in horror was Tomie, but reading the manga I can tell he was in the growing pain stage of his career. The art was wonky, the story while interesting was surprisingly bland, and it lacked atmosphere, but even in his early work is sowed the seeds of what he would produced later in his works. As the series went on it becomes more twisted with more creative visuals and becoming more psychological. In the later chapter his style begins to develop.
His most well known manga "Uzumaki" would became a good representation of Ito as a creator. The story is literally about a town becoming obsessed with spirals to the point that it would envelop the town and lead to it's demise. It is such a far fetch idea, yet it works so well. You see the madness unfold and we don't know why. Why did the spiral curse happened? We don't know and quiet frankly it doesn't matter.
Ito's bibliography consists mainly of one shot that begins, takes us on a wild ride, and then ends without bothering to answer some questions. He takes ludicrous concepts like spirals, or head shaped balloon, or land walking sharks and somehow gives it weight. Some of my favorite stories would have to be "The Whispering Woman", "Scarecrows", "The Enigma of Amigara Fault", My Dear Ancestors", "Falling", and "The Red Turtleneck". I remember hearing someone once describing Ito's stories as ones that never have a happy ending, there are only people who never survived or survivors who are doomed to misery. It's depressing, strange, and can be too much for a lot of people, but anyone who is interested in horror should take a look at Ito.
There is a video created by Youtuber Eyepatchwolf who went over Junji Ito amazingly well and I highly recommend watching his analysis.
No comments:
Post a Comment