Yuichi Yokoyama makes comics in a unique language situated somewhere between the primal drives of William Blake and the elegant geometries of Sol Lewitt--they are works of philosophical complexity and stunning visual power, of which he has said, "I'm not trying to write stories that are set in the future, but rather to write stories which are delivered from references to any given epoch or time. If the history of the world had turned out differently from what we know today, men would live according to different sets of values and different aesthetics It would be a civilization completely alien to ours." This first U.S. book on Yokoyama's work combines two of the artist's central themes: fighting and building. One set of graphic stories, Public Works, details massive structures being erected across a landscape. Plot is pushed aside in favor of sheer formal verve as we watch buildings, about which we know nothing, come into being. The other set of stories, Combats, is one sequence after another of elegantly choreographed battles. Manga comics have never seen a talent that combines this level of formal ambition with such exquisitely drawn depictions of fashion, art and architecture.
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From Publishers Weekly
There is no other cartoonist like Yokoyama. The two dozen brief, deeply disquieting pieces collected here look like stories, but on examination, they're more like complicated, stylized diagrams of social, technical and ecological systems, dominated by Yokoyama's fascination with textures, costuming, repetition, landscaping and—above all—sound effects. Engineering 3, for instance, shows a mountain being built out of boulders, then covered with Astroturf, fake trees and hand-drawn simulations of more rocks. (The Japanese sound effects that appear everywhere in the book are translated at the bottom of each page, which is how Anglophone readers know that shuru shuru, for instance, is the high pitched sound of boulders being dropped from plane.) Occasionally, blank-faced figures appear on a panel to run around and scream—a couple of pieces, like the opening Book, even look like fight scenes—but Yokoyama disregards plot and character altogether in favor of atmosphere and technical details, which he draws with the kind of gusto and dramatic foreshortening other artists reserve for actual human interaction. Some of these pieces are nearly incomprehensible, as the author admits in his explanatory endnotes; he thinks of his work as serialized paintings, extending in time from single images. Yet everything is delightful on the level of pure, mad design. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Ekes Gonini
Format:Paperback
A series of extraordinary short comics which are unlike anything else out there. These are exercises in form, not content - Yokoyama is more interested in finding new ways to depict movement and action than in developing story. The effect can be breathtakingly beautiful, such as the scene in which a character slices a book in two with a sword, making the pages flutter down like leaves. You'll love it if you're interested in the extreme possibilities of comics, you'll hate it if you want to read a real story about real people.
And, contrary to what a previous reviewer said, the Japanese edition of the book was also published in black and white.
And, contrary to what a previous reviewer said, the Japanese edition of the book was also published in black and white.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Ky
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This manga is a very interesting read. It consists of a compilation of short stories by yokoyama. The art is amazing, all of the pictures use static lines to create a dynamic scene. Some of the Comics are hard to get through and figure out what is going on, but there is a list of sound effects at the bottom of each page describing what is happening. In the back of the book there is an insightful interview with yokoyama, as well as his summary of the comics. This summary helps a great deal in interpreting the comics.
As amazing as it is, this book is definitely not a standard manga; it is much larger(10" x 8") and concentrates on imagery rather than a multi-volume story. This is not bad, I bought it solely because I thought it would be different from other books I have read. I was very happy with this purchase and I recommend this book, it was a very fun read.
As amazing as it is, this book is definitely not a standard manga; it is much larger(10" x 8") and concentrates on imagery rather than a multi-volume story. This is not bad, I bought it solely because I thought it would be different from other books I have read. I was very happy with this purchase and I recommend this book, it was a very fun read.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I love how you can convey a character's feeling with a slight curve of the lip, or add wrinkle lines in between the brows. Such is what I found in this product here. At first, I was a bit taken back because there is hardly any dialogue, just patterns, waves, OCD like behavior sketching of repetitious lines, but once I got into it, I luv it for what it is.
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