October 1990 Pt. 8b Manga

Hotel Harbour View (GN)

Story by Natsuo Sekikawa, Illustrated by Jiroh Taniguchi (96 pages, b&w, vinyl slip-cover, $9.95 USA/$14.25 CAN ISBN 0-020279-40-9) VIZ Spectrum Edition published in 1990 - Translation by Gerard Jones & Matt Thorn – First published by Futabasha Inc. Japan

{This title is intended for mature readers and will sometimes contain adult situations and strong language.}

 The cover art from VIZ's 1990 printing.

This Crime genre blends French new wave, and film noir of the forties and fifties, as well as detective fiction, and, Japanese Yakuza films of the 1960's

Springing from this is a new philosophical depiction of death in this gritty underworld of femme-fatales and their targets, in a mundane line of work that knowingly will not end well for those engaged to organised crime. The portrayal both in story and in art flow together, drawing the reader in to this world.

When the pivotal action takes place the inclination is of an assassination dual, both parties are caught in the moment for in those vital seconds, in remembrance of facing death in the eye, a desire to honour the Gunslinger of the old Wild-West, that movies portrayed if only for a heartbeat.  

 a thin transparency over the title. 

An example of Jiroh Taniguchi's artwork. 

 An example of Jiroh Taniguchi's artwork. 

 An example of Jiroh Taniguchi's artwork. 

 An example of Jiroh Taniguchi's artwork. 

The back cover.

[NOTE: before the penultimate pages, we have a two page article entitled DEATH CHECKS IN TO THE HOTEL HARBOUR VIEW. Written by Fred Burke. Fred Burke's work at the time of printing with VIZ was to include, co-translations of; Xenon, Fist of the North Star, Boah, and 2001 Nights.]

[NOTE: on the last page were the creators profiles; “Viz Communications is honoring the request from Mr. Dekikawa that his profile not be included in this book”.]

[NOTE: Jiroh Taniguchi's profile is as follows; Jiroh Taniguchi was born in 1947 in Tottori, Japan. After his high school graduation, he became an assistant to a professional comic artist, Kyota Ishikawa, in 1966. In 1976 he met Natsuo Sekikawa and together they created Unprotected City and Rindra, two unique series that engendered a new style in Japanese comics storytelling.

His other major works include Trouble is My Business, a hard-boiled detective comic with a touch of humor; and The Aga of Bocchan: Part 1 & Part 2, a compilation of biographies of Japanese literary greats from the turn of the century. Both these stories were written by Sekikawa, though Taniguchi has writing credits himself.

Blanca is the story of a a bionic super-dog escaping from Russia and travelling across Alaska and Canada.]

[NOTE: as a collector of translated (in to English) manga from the late 80's to mid 90's, this one-off example of crime genre has taken me 29 years to finally add it to my collection (18^th. July 2020), and is well worth the effort to locate it, ]