The second in a seven volume series of the best of Shigeru Mizuki's Kitaro comics, designed with a kid-friendly format and price point! Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon is the second volume in the adventures of Shigeru Mizuki’s bizarre yokai boy Kitaro and his gaggle of otherworldly friends. These seven stories date from the golden age of Gegege no Kitaro, when Mizuki had perfected the balance of folklore, comedy, and horror that made Kitaro one of Japan’s most beloved characters. In “Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon,” Kitaro and his father Medama Oyaji face off against one of their most powerful enemies—the self-styled Yokai Supreme Commander known as Nurarihyon. Over the course of this volume, Kitaro takes on the swamp-dwelling Sawa Kozo, the mysterious Diamond Yokai, the sea giant called Umizato, and wages a double-feature of battles against the bizarre Odoro Odoro. Finally, Kitaro journeys to hell itself in the infamous and surreal story “Hell Ride.” In addition to more than 150 pages of Mizuki’s all-ages monster fun, Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon includes bonus materials: “Yokai Files” that introduce Japan’s folklore monsters and a “History of Kitaro” essay by translator Zack Davisson. If you found the world of yokai fascinating in The Birth of Kitaro, you will find even more to love in Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon! Translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson.

Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time—Kitaro, the one-eyed monster boy Meet Kitaro. He’s just like any other boy, except for a few small differences: he only has one eye, his hair is an antenna that senses paranormal activity, his geta sandals are jet-powered, and he can blend into his surroundings like a chameleon. Oh, and he’s a yokai (spirit monster)! With all the offbeat humor of an Addams Family story, Kitaro is a lighthearted romp in which the bad guys always get what’s coming to them. Kitaro is bestselling manga-ka Shigeru Mizuki’s most famous creation. The Kitaro series was inspired by a kamishibai, or storycard theater, entitled Kitaro of the Graveyard. Mizuki began work on his interpretation of Kitaro in 1959. Originally the series was intended for boys, but once it was picked up by the influential Shonen magazine it quickly became a cultural landmark for young and old alike. Kitaro inspired half a dozen TV shows, plus numerous video games and films, and his cultural importance cannot be overstated. Presented to North American audiences for the first time in this lavish format, Mizuki’s photo-realist landscapes and cartoony characters blend the eerie with the comic. Translated from the Japanese by Jocelyne Allen.

Brit-pop meets Japanese folklore, Shigeru Mizuki summons equal parts humour, spookiness and sheer absurdity Kitaro the Vampire Slayer is the fifth volume in Shigeru Mizuki’s bizarre stories about a yokai boy and his entourage of otherworldly friends. One of the most popular Kitaro tales, the title story pits Kitaro and his family against a Beatles-inspired mop-topped, guitar-playing vampire named Erit and his castle of horrors. In an unexpected twist—spoiler alert!—Kitaro meets his demise, but even death is hardly enough to keep our favorite yokai boy down. Along with the villainous vampire, Kitaro faces a trio of monsters straight from Japanese folklore. Mizuki often pulled from classic Japanese folk tales for inspiration, as shown in these three stories. A certain serpent and temple bell appear in “The Phantom Steam Engine,” then it’s onto a bird-like creature with a big beak in “Ubume,” and Kitaro had better not look behind him when the Ushiro Gami comes to town. The four stories in this volume are collected from the late ’60s golden age of Gegege no Kitaro. Appearing in English for the first time, this kid-friendly edition is translated by Mizuki-scholar Zack Davisson and includes bonus features like “Yokai Files,” where we are introduced to Japan’s folklore monsters, and the fifth installment of the “History of Kitaro” essay by Davisson. For fans of quirky horror, Kitaro the Vampire Slayer is not one to miss! Translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson.

Meet one of Japan's most popular characters of all time-Kitaro, the One-Eyed Monster Boy The Birth of Kitaro collects seven of Shigeru Mizuki's early, and beloved, Kitaro stories, making them available for the first time in English, in an all-new, kid-friendly format. These stories are from the golden era of the late 1960s, when Gegege no Kitaro truly hit its stride as an all-ages supernatural series. Mizuki's Kitaro stories are both timelessly relevant and undeniably influential, inspiring a decades-long boom in stories about yokai, Japanese ghosts, and monsters. "Kitaro's Birthday" reveals the origin story of the yokai boy Kitaro and his tiny eyeball father, Medama Oyaji. "Neko Musume versus Nezumi Otoko" is the first of Mizuki's stories to feature the popular recurring character Neko Musume, a little girl who transforms into a cat when she gets angry or hungry. Other stories in The Birth of Kitaro draw heavily from Japanese folklore, with Kitaro taking on legendary Japanese yokai like the Nopperabo and Makura Gaeshi, and fighting the monstrous recurring villain Gyuki. With more than 150 pages of spooky and often funny comics about the titular yokai boy, The Birth of Kitaro is the perfect introduction to the award-winning author Mizuki's most popular series, seminal comics that have won the hearts of Japanese children and adults for more than half a century.

A daring foray into the groundbreaking genre of autobiographical fiction Sad Old Faggot is the absorbing, sometimes embarrassing, always entertaining story of a lonely, self-obsessed, selfish, deluded, impotent 62-year-old gay man named Sky Gilbert who „ despite his best intentions „ cannot help but become a stereotype. SkyÍs main claim to fame is founding Buddies in Bad Times Theatre in 1979. But since leaving Buddies, heÍs fallen on hard times. Sky Gilbert is no longer even remotely famous. He has to fight off his own bitterness as audiences for his plays steadily dwindle. Theatre people dismiss his work as old news and point to the fact that he teaches at the University of Guelph as proof: his descent into academia clearly signals his failure as an artist. All along the way, the book questions our truths and celebrates their mutability. What is really true about each of us? What do we actually know about ourselves? And how much, it asks, of our own personal truth is based on fact „ and how much is rooted in fiction?

Poetry. Women's Studies. Sara Sutterlin's I WANTED TO BE THE KNIFE picks at the bones of modern romance by exploring the disappointments of intimacy and the loneliness of dissolving relationships. Her poems are brutal, funny and full of tender, ugly details that remind us of the compromises we make with ourselves and each other when in love. Originally published as a small booklet by Metatron in 2015, I WANTED TO BE THE KNIFE by Sara Sutterlin took the poetry world by storm, selling over 500 units in its first 8 months of publication. This brand new, expanded edition features the initial booklet, plus 28 new poems which both complement and challenge the originals.

The spooky yokai boy Kitaro is back for his sixth book, and this time he has a pile of monsters to beat! Featuring seven stories by Japan’s beloved monster master Shigeru Mizuki, Kitaro’s Yokai Battles features some of Kitaro’s strangest foes yet—including his good pal Nezumi Otoko who decides that he should be the star of the comic! With friends like these...who needs enemies? But enemies seem to be all Kitaro has. He faces off against villains like the yokai Hoko—who has an evil scheme to corner the market on pickled daikon radish—and the Amifuri Tengu, who always brings the rain. Things get hairy in “The Great Hair Battle,” when Medama Oyaji’s friend Kemedama begs for Kitaro’s help against an attack of giant wigs. The massive mud monster Dorotabo gets down and dirty with Kitaro, and the red-tonged Akashita swoops down from above. These are just a few yokai from the hilarious cast of characters in Kitaro’s Yokai Battles! The seven stories in this 150+ page volume are collected from the late-60s golden age of Gegege no Kitaro. The stories appear in English for the first time in a kid-friendly edition; uncut and unedited, with translations by Mizuki-scholar Zack Davisson. In addition to all these pages of fun, there are bonus features like “Yokai Files,” which introduces the folklore of Japan’s monsters; and the sixth installment of the “History of Kitaro” essay by series translator Zack Davisson. Kitaro’s Yokai Battles is the perfect blend of humor and horror! Translated from the Japanese by Zack Davisson an award-winning translator, writer, and folklorist. He is the author of Yurei: the Japanese Ghost, Yokai Stories, Narrow Road, and Kaibyo: The Supernatural Cats of Japan and translator of Shigeru Mizuki's multiple Eisner Award-winning Showa: a History of Japan and famous folklore comic Kitaro. He also translated globally renowned entertainment properties such as Go Nagai's Devilman and Cutie Honey, Leiji Matsumoto's Space Battleship Yamato and Captain Harlock, and Satoshi Kon's Opus. In addition, he lectured on manga, folklore, and translation at colleges such as Duke University, UCLA, and the University of Washington and contributed to exhibitions at the Henry Art Gallery, The Museum of International Folkart, Wereldmuseum Rotterdan, and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.