At long last, from the creator of The Walking Man comesJiro Taniguchi's tale of the small quotidian pleasures of Edo era Japan, and which is likely the book that comes closest to capturing similar moments ofmono no awareto those providied byThe Walking Man. It has finallybeen released in English translation by Ponent Mon in this solid hardcover edition. Taniguchi, one of the greats, passed away earlier this year (2017).
Now out of print, BUT, we managed to dig up a couple copies of this Taniguchi masterwork that effectively and movingly captures both an era and a state of mind... ONE left!
Here's an item that we've had in stock at the store for awhile now, but failed to give it the attention that it deserves. And so now, in emulation of this fine work's protagonist, Takeshi Shiga, we are coming down from our mountain refuge to set things straight. This work is as excellent a piece of craftmanship as you are likely to find anywhere in comics today. Let's just come right out and say it: Jiro Taniguchi is the man. Divided into a meticulously planned and expertly paced thirteen chapters, this book presents a classic story arc involving an archetypal man of honor repaying a debt. The archetype to which Shiga belongs falls into...
This 160-page french-flapped softcover volume collects eighteen zen-like tales of the "man who walks." Reflective, insightful meditations on the modern, suburban condition, these stories embody the soul of manga. While the landscape through which our hero walks is indisputably Japanese, the stories told and the lessons learned on his brief treks are indisputably universal. Taniguchi has managed a unique feat here. The comics work in The Walking Man is stripped of all extraneous elements. There is a near total absence of narrative in the pieces collected in this volume. With extraneous temporal distractions removed, the pure essence of...
Well, if you're only going to read one comic book this year... then you are going to have to steer clear of this one! That's becauseBuilding Storiesis a box set offourteenseparate comics pieces, including two hardcover books, pamphlet style comics, accordion fold-outs, newspapers, flip books,a gameboard-esque piece,and more (check out the accompanying illustrations to get an idea). In his relentless quest to up the ante of what comics are capable of pulling off, Mr. Ware has pulled out the stops, called in the reserves, and put the Acme Novelty Company on a wartime footing to forge thismassive meditation on the parallelsbetween the...
Now's your chance to get – or give – the two works upon which rests Jason's US reputation – "Hey, Wait!" and Ssshhhh – along with the long out of print and up-until-now-mega-pricey, The Iron Wagon. All three works in an attractive hardcover omnibus for significantly less than the retail cost of the original softcovers. If there is still anyone reading this who has yet to discover the pleasures of Jason, this is the perfect place to start.
(Book Two of the New Edition of the collected Love and Rockets) Most frequenters of this space are hep to the wonder of Love and Rockets. However, there are still those who have yet to see the light. Are you someone who still hasn't managed to get around to reading the greatest comics ever produced? If so, all we've got to say is: if you haven't read the original run of Love and Rockets (in any one of its extant formats) and you are trawling the web looking for exciting new releases and looking through back issue bins at your friendly neighborhood comics shop for classics of the days of yore, then you are simply wasting your time -- the...
At last, the good news has arrived!
The Offical Breakdown Press Release sayeth:
223 x 312mm -- 240 pages --offset printed -- softcover
"Read any GOOD BOOKS lately, punk?"
For the first time ever,Good News Bible: The Complete Deadline Strips of Shaky Kanecollects Shaky Kane's complete comic strips and illustrations from the ground-breaking British counter-culture magazine, Deadline, which between 1988 and 1995 spawned Jamie Hewlett's Tank Girl and launched dozens of cartoonists' careers.
Drenched in wry wit, Kane's politically charged, hallucinatory, Jack Kirby-infused punk cartoons crackle with intensity and bombast, remaining as relevant...
A whirlwind of Zeitgeist & Synchronicity has resulted in the nearly simultaneous arrival of a half dozen volumes that together collect over 2500 pages of Tezuka’s work, almost all from the key, fraught period of 1968 - 1971 (and that also include a few short pieces from 1972 - 1973). Vertical Publishing has at long last reissued the mega-classic manga masterpieces that fully realized Tezuka’s ambition to create thematically complex novel-length works that dealt with mature and weighty themes through a science fiction lens: APOLLO’S SONG and ODE TO KIRIHITO. Then, Digital Manga Publishing has released an onslaught of collections of thematically and narratively linked short works, most produced on a monthly schedule and at fixed lengths, primarily in the 20-30 page range: UNDER THE AIR, RECORD OF THE GLASS CASTLE, CLOCKWORK APPLE and the massive THE CRATER.
Tezuka's powerhouse creativity is in full effect here. During this period he is churning out in the neighborhood of ten fully completed pages every DAY – with the help of his studio assistants, who were generally responsible for the finishes and details. One idea after another flow out in these pages. Tezuka gets an idea and runs with it! Readers can feel the story coming together on the fly; the narrative coalescing as it goes. The thematically linked short works are in some ways hyperbolic descendants of the classic EC shorts, often concluding with an unexpected twist (and sometimes with a WTF? ending).
Read here in 2022, these 50 year old works may come across to some as ridiculous and/or straining credulity, but… they’re not! Along with demonstrating Tezuka's dazzling and dynamic artistry, these stories delve deeply into hidden recesses of the human psyche.
The Copacetic Comics Company
3138 Dobson Street – Third Floor
Pittsburgh, PA 15219 (map)
(412) 251-5451
Summer 2022 HOURS
Mondays: 11am - 4pm
Tuesdays: CLOSED
Wednesdays: CLOSED
Thursdays: 11am - 4pm
Fridays: 11am - 4pm
Saturdays: 11am - 5pm
Sundays: 11am - 5pm
PLEASE NOTE: Masks continue to be required in the shop. Free masks available upon entry.