Heaven's Door, this 200-page collection of Keiichi Koike's eye-popping, psychedelic, science fiction manga will have readers reaching for superlatives to describe the artwork on display. We're going to start the ball rolling in that direction with, "It's Moebius meets Otomo!" To the best of our knowledge, only one of the eleven stories collected here – almost all of which were originally published in the 1980s & '90s – has been published before in North America and/or in English (and that was over thirty years ago). In other words, most American readers will be experiencing Koike's work for the first time here in the pages of Heaven's Door, just released by Last Gasp.
To help give you a better idea of what we're talking about we've posted some spreads from the book on Instagram, HERE.
Finally! Here's Keiichi Koike's long-awaited follow up to Copacetic's best selling manga of 2022, Heaven's Door. Get ready for dreamy drug states translated to paper that mind-melds Otomo and Moebius and channels it through Koike's pyrotechnic technique. And, the original Japanese release of the collected Ultra Heaven ran three volumes, so it looks like there's more in the pipeline. Hold onto your hats.
Translated by Ajani Oloye
Edited by Colin Turner
In the future, any mood you want is just a pump away. People flock to legal “pump bars,” where licensed medical professionals, known as bar doctors, prescribe their customers the perfect pharmaceutical blend.
But when the standard dosage isn’t enough, our protagonist, Cub, turns to an unauthorized source. The results have to be seen to be believed.
Rendered in a richly-detailed, clear-line style, this psychedelic sci-fi manga tears apart the basic fabric of reality. What is the truth and what is a dream?
192 pages, paperback with jacket, 6 x 8.25"
ISBN: 9780867199291
Author Biography
Born in Tokyo, Keiichi Koike won the prestigious Tezuka Award in 1976, when he was 16. His style, similar to Katsuhiro Otomo and Moebius, is marked by vivid representations of psychedelic experiences.
Drugs are an important part of his inspiration: "Except peyote, I have tried almost everything: hashish, heroin, cocaine, acid, magic mushrooms... From a strictly graphical point of view, however, LSD is most important by far..."
NOW ON SPECIAL! (for a limited time, natch')
The second volume of Keiichi Koike's mind-bending, drug-inspired comics has arrived.
Here's what its US-publisher, Last Gasp has to say:
Cub is feeling the effects of a new psychedelic he scored from a strange guy in the park. It’s been hours but the “P” hasn’t worn off and he's still seeing things, like his spaghetti dinner trying to grab him. As the hallucinations become stronger, he turns to his friend for help.
Sally's an advanced user of a new technology called an “amp” which modulates brain waves so users can enter new realms of consciousness. Can Cub use the amp to find the source of his hallucinations? The amp could be his salvation, or will Cub get lost in his own mind?
“Must-Read Manga” – Publishers Weekly
“I will be back for more.” – The Comics Journal
In the future, any mood you want is just a pump away. People flock to legal “pump bars,” where licensed medical professionals, known as bar doctors, prescribe their customers the perfect pharmaceutical blend.
But when the standard dosage isn’t enough, our protagonist, Cub, turns to an unauthorized source. The results have to be seen to be believed.
Rendered in a richly-detailed, clear-line style, this psychedelic sci-fi manga tears apart the basic fabric of reality. What is the truth and what is a dream?
Ultra Heaven Volume 2
By Keiichi Koike
Translated by Ajani Oloye
Edited by Colin Turner
216 pages, paperback with jacket, 6 x 8.25"
ISBN: 9780867199307
Author Biography
Born in Tokyo, Keiichi Koike won the prestigious Tezuka Award in 1976, when he was 16. His style, similar to Katsuhiro Otomo and Moebius, is marked by vivid representations of psychedelic experiences.
Drugs are an important part of his inspiration: "Except peyote, I have tried almost everything: hashish, heroin, cocaine, acid, magic mushrooms... From a strictly graphical point of view, however, LSD is most important by far...
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