""Showa" is literature, illustrated or not, at its finest: a story that sweeps you off your feet only to find, when you return to Earth, that nothing looks quite the same."--"Los Angeles Times" "Drawn & Quarterly's translation of Shigeru Mizuki's historical epic "Showa" is perhaps the great achievement in American manga publishing this year...Mizuki's canny, self-excoriating memoir draws the reader close and into the intimate heart of the 20th century's worst conflict."--"AV Club" Best Comics of 2014 "There's just something uncannily, well ... wise about Mizuki. In one segment he'll be an icy judge, in another a cynical gadfly, then a daffy outcast. His drawing style varies wildly: He'll lavish detail on a jungle backdrop, then put two overtly cartoony soldiers in front of it. But he depicts Japan's military leaders with more realism, and his re-creations of actual photos of dead bodies -- both during and after the war -- are utterly somber."--"NPR " "There's just something uncannily, well ... wise about Mizuki. In one segment he'll be an icy judge, in another a cynical gadfly, then a daffy outcast. His drawing style varies wildly: He'll lavish detail on a jungle backdrop, then put two overtly cartoony soldiers in front of it. But he depicts Japan's military leaders with more realism, and his re-creations of actual photos of dead bodies -- both during and after the war -- are utterly somber." --NPR"Drawn & Quarterly's translation of Shigeru Mizuki's historical epic Showa is perhaps the great achievement in American manga publishing this year...Mizuki's canny, self-excoriating memoir draws the reader close and into the intimate heart of the 20th century's worst conflict." --AV Club Best Comics of 2014"Showa is literature, illustrated or not, at its finest: a story that sweeps you off your feet only to find, when you return to Earth, that nothing looks quite the same." --Los Angeles Times There's just something uncannily, well ... wise about Mizuki. In one segment he'll be an icy judge, in another a cynical gadfly, then a daffy outcast. His drawing style varies wildly: He'll lavish detail on a jungle backdrop, then put two overtly cartoony soldiers in front of it. But he depicts Japan's military leaders with more realism, and his re-creations of actual photos of dead bodies -- both during and after the war -- are utterly somber. NPR Drawn & Quarterly's translation of Shigeru Mizuki's historical epic Showa is perhaps the great achievement in American manga publishing this year...Mizuki's canny, self-excoriating memoir draws the reader close and into the intimate heart of the 20th century's worst conflict. AV Club Best Comics of 2014 Showa is literature, illustrated or not, at its finest: a story that sweeps you off your feet only to find, when you return to Earth, that nothing looks quite the same. Los Angeles Times" There's just something uncannily, well ... wise about Mizuki. In one segment he'll be an icy judge, in another a cynical gadfly, then a daffy outcast. His drawing style varies wildly: He'll lavish detail on a jungle backdrop, then put two overtly cartoony soldiers in front of it. But he depicts Japan's military leaders with more realism, and his re-creations of actual photos of dead bodies -- both during and after the war -- are utterly somber. "NPR" Drawn & Quarterly's translation of Shigeru Mizuki's historical epic "Showa" is perhaps the great achievement in American manga publishing this year...Mizuki's canny, self-excoriating memoir draws the reader close and into the intimate heart of the 20th century's worst conflict. "AV Club Best Comics of 2014" "Showa" is literature, illustrated or not, at its finest: a story that sweeps you off your feet only to find, when you return to Earth, that nothing looks quite the same. "Los Angeles Times"" ""Showa 1926-1939" . . . is a beautifully rendered overview . . . of Japan's strife-filled Showa period . . . through the goofy eyes of a growing boy with insatiable hungers." --"Los Angeles Review of Books ""Legendary manga artist Mizuki draws an exaggerated, hyper-cartoony version of himself amid some of the grimmest realities of twentieth-century Japan." --NPR

Shigeru Mizuki, born on March 8, 1922 in Sakaiminato, Tottori, is a specialist in stories of y?kai and is considered a master of the genre. In Japan, the life of Mizuki and his wife has been made in an extremely popular daily television drama. Mizuki is the recipient of many awards, including the Best Album award for NonNonB? at the Angouleme International Comics Festival, the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Special Award, a Kyokujitsu Sh? Decoration, a Minister of Education Award, Shiju H?sh? Decoration, and the Kodansha Manga Award. His works have been published in Japan, South Korea, France, and Spain.