Kitaro

The very first Drawn and Quarterly Kitaro collection, now back in print with a lush new cover

Kitaro seems just like any other boy. Of course, he isn’t--what with his one eye and jet-powered geta sandals, and the fact that he can shape-shift like a chameleon. It’s all a part of being a 350-year-old yokai, a Japanese spirit monster. Against a backdrop of photorealistic landscapes, Kitaro and his otherworldly cartoon friends plunge into the depths of the Pacific Ocean and forge the oft-unseen wilds of Japan’s countryside. The twelve stories in this special collection include more works published in the golden age of GeGeGe no Kitaro between 1967 and 1969. It is a must-have for Kitaro’s most devoted fans and features one of the earliest battles of monster versus giant robot battles seen in print. In another very special episode, our titular good guy even battles vampires, werewolves, and witches alongside creepy compatriots and occasional foes.

Kitaro, as seen on TV and played in video games, is now a cultural touchstone for several generations. This updated and newly released edition is a wonderful companion to the classic all-ages Kitaro series that blends the eerie with the comic. The Eisner-Award winner Shigeru Mizuki’s offbeat sense of humor and genius for the macabre make for a delightful, lighthearted romp where bad guys always get what’s coming to them.

Shigeru Mizuki (1922-2015) was one of Japan’s most respected artists. A creative prodigy, he lost an arm in World War II. After the war, Mizuki became one of the founders of Japan’s latest craze--manga. He invented the yokaigenre with GeGeGe no Kitaro, his most famous character, who has been adapted for the screen several times, as anime, live action, and video games. In fact, a new anime series has been made every decade since 1968, capturing the imaginations of generations of Japanese children. A researcher of yokai and a real-life ghost hunter, Mizuki traveled to more than sixty countries to engage in fieldwork based on spirit folklore. In his hometown of Sakaiminato, one can find Shigeru Mizuki Road, a street decorated with bronze statues of his Kitaro characters.