New Additions to the Teahouse

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Shiver: Selected Stories (2015) by Junji Ito

‘This volume includes nine of Junji Ito’s best short stories, as selected by the author himself and presented with accompanying notes and commentary. An arm peppered with tiny holes dangles from a sick girl’s window… After an idol hangs herself, balloons bearing faces appear in the sky, some even featuring your own face… An amateur film crew hires an extremely individualistic fashion model and faces a real bloody ending… An offering of nine fresh nightmares for the delight of horror fans.’

I’d heard about Junji Ito’s horror manga, but never read any. I recently watched a video about the Japanese artist on ComicPop‘s Youtube channel. It made me want to check out his work. Here’s a link to the video. (Discussion of this book starts from 25:43)

One Billion Years to the End of the World (1974) by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky

‘This mordantly funny and provocative tale from Soviet Russia’s leading science fiction writers is the story of astrophysicist Dmitri Malianov. As he reaches a major breakthrough, he finds himself plagued by interruptions, from a mysterious crate of vodka to a glamorous woman on his doorstep. Is the Universe trying to tell him something?’

I’ve been meaning to read the Strugatsky brothers’ Roadside Picnic for a while. I have never read any Russian science fiction before, so I wanted to try something by them. After hearing about the latest Penguin Science Fiction series, I ordered this book by the authors. I like the synopsis and the book design is cool. The reviews make it sound like something I would enjoy. I’ll be starting this fairly soon. 

Reckless (2020) by Ed Brubaker & Sean Phillips

‘Sex, drugs, and murder in 1980s Los Angeles, and the best new twist on paperback pulp heroes since The Punisher or Jack Reacher. Meet Ethan Reckless: Your trouble is his business, for the right price. But when a fugitive from his radical student days reaches out for help, Ethan must face the only thing he fears…his own past.’

After recently enjoying Brubaker & Phillips’ graphic novel Pulp, I heard that they had just released this new OGN. As I mentioned in my glowing review of Pulp, a new release by this creative team is an automatic buy from me. The art looks suitably moody and you can rely on Brubaker to pen some killer dialog.

Any of these catch your eye? Have you read any of the authors? Do you detect any tremblings in the temptation zone?

Thanks for reading.
-Wakizashi

52 thoughts on “New Additions to the Teahouse”

  1. “After an idol hangs herself, balloons bearing faces appear in the sky, some even featuring your own face” – Yikes! It looks promising . . . reminds me of The Babadook. And, that face on the cover with all the holes in it. THAT’s scary. 😱

    Seriously though, the first two are really catching my eye. I wouldn’t have known about them if it wasn’t for you, Wakizashi. Thank you.

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  3. I could never get into Strugatsky brothers’ books… with the exception of “Roadside Picnic”, their most famous and one I rather liked.
    Lem, on the other hand, I like, and not only because he lived in my city, my neighbourhood really 😉 “Cyberiad” that Penguin included in their new series is great (although I cannot vouch for the translation), and completely different in tone from “Solaris”, much more fun!

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  6. That artwork for Shiver, besides being disturbing, seemed oddly familiar. Then I realized it was from the creator behind Uzumaki, which you’d talked about before. I still want to rewatch that movie, and perhaps one day try some of his manga. This is the year I want to add manga to my regular reading but I need to start with those I already own before buying any new ones. 🙂

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      • I bought one of those ebook bundles late last year that had a bunch of titles: Ajin: Demihuman, Battle Angel Alita, Can You Just Die My Darling, Dissolving Classroom, Dolly Kill Kill, Dragon Head, Fort Apocalypse, Ghost in the Shell, Gleipnir, Happiness, In Spectre, Inuyashiki, Junji Ito’s Cat Diary, Kasane, Museum, NOiSE, Princess Resurrection, PTSD Radio, Sankarea, Starving Anonymous, The Seven Deadly Sins, To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts, and Until Your Bones Rot. Some of them only came with a single volume, but for others there were many. I’ll likely read Battle Angel Alita first to compare to the anime and movie, and then Ghost in the Shell because I’ve loved the various anime series/movies. Many of the others I’m completely unfamiliar with.

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        • Oh, wow! That’s a good dose of manga. I read Ghost in the Shell a while back and loved it. The first animated film of Ghost is one of my favourite animes. I haven’t read any of the other titles. I’m not really a manga reader; just a few titles over the years. Alita is intriguing, as you say to compare it with the movie. And I see you have a Junji Ito title in your bundle 😀

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          • Yeah, I was happy to find the bundle deal. Figured even if I hate the rest I’d likely enjoy Ghost in the Shell and possibly Alita. I don’t think I’ve actually read any manga yet. I agree with you about the first Ghost animated film, absolutely loved that one. And I’m glad you pointed out I had one from Junji Ito. It was right there in the title and I didn’t even notice! 🙂 It looks a little odd, but I guess that’s to be expected from him. Appears to be about some house cats.

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