Tadao Tsuge (Books)

Tadao Tsuge Books

Tadao Tsuge's work offers a raw, unflinching look into the lives of ordinary people, rendered with a distinctive artistic voice. A central figure in underground manga magazines during the 1960s and 70s, his artistic journey is deeply rooted in the counter-cultural movements of the era. Tsuge's narratives often draw from his experiences in blue-collar professions, notably his time working in a Tokyo blood bank, infusing his stories with a profound sense of authenticity and social commentary. His style, both expressive and stark, creates a powerful, enduring impact on the reader.

Slum Wolf

336 pages
12 hours of reading

3.8(359)Add rating

A gritty collection of graphic short stories by a Japanese manga master depicting life on the streets among punks, gangsters, and vagrants. Tadao Tsuge is one of the pioneers of alternative manga, and one of the world’s great artists of the down-and-out. Slum Wolf is a new selection of his stories from the late Sixties and Seventies, never before available in English: a vision of Japan as a world of bleary bars and rundown flophouses, vicious street fights and strange late-night visions. In assured, elegantly gritty art, Tsuge depicts a legendary, aging brawler, a slowly unraveling businessman, a group of damaged veterans uniting to form a shantytown, and an array of punks, pimps, and drunks, all struggling for freedom, meaning, or just survival. With an extensive introduction by translator and comics historian Ryan Holmberg, this collection brings together some of Tsuge’s most powerful work—raucous, lyrical, and unforgettable.

Slum Wolf

Boat Life Vol. 1