末広丸尾

Born: 1956

Genre: Erotic Grotesque (エログロ)

Recommended work: The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (パノラマ島綺譚)

Language complexity: Very difficult.

Suehiro Maruo’s art is stunning. Self-trained after dropping out of high school, Maruo draws in bold style that references retro graphic design. Unlike many contemporaries, Maruo uses dynamic framing including silhouettes and transposed imagery. He has gained significant recognition in international art circles and publishes large art book-style works.

Unfortunately, the content of his work is rarely in line with his artistic abilities. Many of his most famous works revolve around grotesque money shots. They have plots like, “magician turns school girls into sex zombies for leper orgy,” or “family explores BDSM together.”

The great exception to this rule is Maruo’s adaptations of Edogawa Ranpo stories. Ranpo was a mystery writer in early 20th century Japan. Maruo has done two adaptions of his work, my favorite of which is The Strange Tale of Panorama Island. Here’s a page. It should be read right to left.

Panorama Island is the story of a struggling writer Hitomi, who is obsessed with Utopian fantasies. When he learns that wealthy industrialist Komoda has died, Hitomi decides to fake his death and steal Komoda’s identity. Once he does, he sets to work using Komoda’s fortune to build the utopia he has always dreamed of. Although he looks very similar to the dead magnate, he is possessed by fear that Komoda’s wife will discover his true identity. In the following page, he has a nightmare that she exposes him. Read right to left.

The book does an amazing job building the tension as Hitomi assumes more and more of Komoda’s life. The ending, it must be said, is insane. You have to read it for yourself.

Maruo has since gone on to do another Ranpo adaptation, The Catepillar (芋虫). it focuses on the relationship between a young beautiful woman and her limbless, disfigured husband who has just returned from war. It sounds like a return to traditional Maruo themes, but I haven’t had a chance to read it.

The writers of Same Hat are apparently working on a translation of Panorama Island for publisher Last Gasp. I’m so excited.