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Here’s what I’ve been reading:

Good-bye by Yoshihiro Tatsumi. Good-bye collects nine short manga from gekiga pioneer Yoshihiro Tatsumi. The stories all tend to be somewhat dark and pessimistic but somehow manage to avoid being overly depressing. Sex and sexuality seems to permeate the tales. The political commentary and social satire can be a bit heavy at times, but overall the stories are all very strong. I haven’t read much of Tatsumi’s manga, but Good-bye seems to be a fine introduction to his work. The storytelling is powerful and the narratives are engaging. Frederik L. Schodt contributes an excellent introduction to the collection. A brief interview with Tatsumi is included at the end of the volume as well.

Mangaman written by Barry Lyga and illustrated by Colleen Doran. Mangaman has a fun concept that, sadly, wasn’t executed as well as I was hoping. The basic premise is that Ryoko Kiyama, a manga character, has fallen through a rip between worlds and has landed in reality. Expect, he brings all the quirks of manga and comics along with him—people can see his thought bubbles, he literally transforms into a chibi, speedlines get in the way and fall to the floor making a mess, and so on. Unfortunately, the comic is hindered by a plot that barely exists and flat characters. There’s also a tendency to rely too heavily on stereotypical perceptions of manga. Still, Mangaman can be amusing and quite clever at times (especially visually) and I did like Doran’s high-contrast artwork.

Real, Volumes 7-9 by Takehiko Inoue. I think Real may very well be my favorite series by Takehiko Inoue. This surprises me a bit since while I enjoy sports manga, it’s not really my “thing.” But Real is phenomenal. Sure, there’s wheelchair basketball and it’s important to the story (and the athletes are amazing), but to me Real is more about its human elements and drama than it is about sports. The characters are confronted by their limitations and either have to overcome them and accept themselves as who they are or else fall into despair. The characters’ struggles aren’t easy ones—they make progress and they have their setbacks. I can’t help but wish the best for all of them. I’ll be picking up this series to own.

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror by Junji Ito. Uzumaki features some genuinely creepy and disturbing imagery. Kurôzu-cho is a small Japanese village that has become infected with spirals. This doesn’t sound particularly horrifying, but in Ito’s hands it absolutely is. People become obsessed and driven insane by the spirals they find in nature or by those that are man made. Bizarre and terrifying events unfold in the town that can all be traced back to spirals. The stories are fairly episodic, but they do all tie together in the end. Many of them are also somehow tied to a girl named Kirei who often serves as the narrator. I preferred the first volume before things get really weird, but I was thoroughly engaged for the entire series. I was seeing spirals everywhere long after I finished Uzumaki.