Suehiro Maruo

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Suehiro Maruo (丸尾 末広, Maruo Suehiro) (born January 28, 1956 in Nagasaki, Japan) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter.

Biography[]

Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15, he moved to Tokyo and began working for a bookbinder. At 17, he made his first manga submission to Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it was considered by the editors to be too graphic for the magazine's format and was subsequently rejected. Maruo temporarily removed himself from manga until November 1980 when he made his official debut as a manga artist in Ribon no Kishi (リボンの騎士) at the age of 24. It was at this stage that the young artist was finally able to pursue his artistic vision without such stringent restrictions over his work’s visual content. Two years later, his first stand-alone anthology, Barairo no Kaibutsu (薔薇色の怪物; Rose Colored Monster) was published.

Maruo was a frequent contributor to the legendary underground manga magazine Garo (ガロ).

Like many manga artists, Maruo sometimes makes cameo appearances in his own stories. When photographed, he seldom appears without his trademark sunglasses.

Though most prominently known for his work as a manga artist, Maruo has also produced illustrations for concert posters; CD jackets; magazines; novels; and various other media. Some of his characters have been made into figures as well.

Though relatively few of Maruo's manga have been published outside Japan, his work enjoys a international cult following.

His book Shōjo Tsubaki (aka Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show) has been adapted into an animated film (Midori) by with a soundtrack by J.A. Seazer, but it has received very little release. In Europe and North America, it was marketed under the name Midori, after the main character. It was recently released on DVD in France by Cinemalta (the DVD includes English subtitles).

Style[]

Many of Maruo's illustrations depict graphic sex and violence and are therefore referred to as contemporary muzan-e (a subset of Japanese ukiyo-e depicting violence or other atrocities.) Maruo himself featured in a 1988 book on the subject with fellow artist Kazuichi Hanawa entitled Bloody Ukiyo-e (江戸昭和競作無惨絵英名二十八衆句), presenting their own contemporary works alongside the traditional prints of Yoshitoshi and Yoshiiku.

Maruo's nightmarish manga fall into the Japanese category of "erotic grotesque" (エログロ; "ero-guro"). The stories often take place in the early years of Showa Era Japan. Maruo also has a fascination with human oddities, deformities, birth defects, and "circus freaks." Many such characters figure prominently in his stories and are sometimes the primary subjects of his illustrations. Two of his most recent works are adaptations of stories by Edogawa Rampo, such as "The Strange Tale of Panorama Island" and "The Caterpillar". An English translation of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island work was published by Last Gasp in July 2013.[1]

John Zorn's Naked City[]

Composer John Zorn used Suehiro illustrations for the liner art of his band Naked City's albums. Zorn has contributed the foreword to Suehiro's latest collection of works (published in 2005).

Bibliography[]

  • 薔薇色ノ怪物 ()
    • 1982, July 25 – Seirindo
    • 1992 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0105-3
    • 2000, February 25 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0310-2 (new edition)
  • 夢のQ-SAKU ()
    • 1982, December 25 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0110-X
    • 2000, April 14 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0311-0 (new edition)
  • DDT
    • 1983, November 25 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0122-3
    • 1999, January 25 – 青林工藝舎 ISBN 4-88379-020-7 (new edition)
  • 少女椿 (Shōjo Tsubaki)
    • 1984, September 25 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0129-0
    • 1999, August 25 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0306-4 (revised edition)
    • 2003, October 24 – 青林工藝舎 ISBN 4-88379-141-6 (2003 revised edition)
  • キンランドンス ()
    • 1985, September 1 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0143-6
    • 2000, June 20 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0319-6 (new edition)
  • 丸尾末広ONLY YOU (maruo suehiro ONLY YOU)
    • 1985, December 25
  • パラノイア・スター ()
    • 1986, January 31
    • 1994, September 25 – 秋田書店 ISBN 4-253-10379-0
  • 江戸昭和競作無惨絵英名二十八衆句 ( (Bloody Ukiyo-e in 1866 & 1988))
    • 1988, January 20
  • 丸尾地獄 ()
    • 1983, November 25
    • 2001, October 2
  • 国立少年 (ナショナルキッド) ( (National Kid))
    • 1989, August 1 – Seirindo ISBN 4-7926-0191-6
  • 犬神博士 ()
    • 1994, September 25
  • 風の魔転郎 ()
    • 1995, April 25 – 徳間書店 ISBN 4-19-950011-1
  • 丸尾地獄2 ()
    • 1995 – Seirindo
    • 2001 December 12 – Seirindo
  • 丸尾画報1 () (Maruo Gahō 1)
    • 1996, September 1 – トレヴィル
  • 丸尾画報2 () (Maruo Gahō 2)
    • 1996, November 1 – トレヴィル
  • ギチギチくん ()
    • 1996, December 1 – 秋田書店 ISBN 4-253-10318-9
  • 月的愛人LUNATIC LOVER'S
    • 1997, February 25 – Seirindo
    • 1999, December 20 – Seirindo
  • マルヲグラフ (Maruograph)
    • 1999, March 1 – パロマ舎
  • 新ナショナルキッド () (Shin National Kid)
    • 1999, November 25 – 青林工藝舎 ISBN 4-88379-044-4
  • 笑う吸血鬼 ( (Laughing Vampire))
    • 2000, March 15 – 秋田書店 ISBN 4-253-10310-3
  • マルヲボックス 特装版 ()
    • 2000, August 1 – パロマ舎 (limited edition of 50)
  • マルヲボックス 普及版 (Maruo Box)
    • 2000, August 1 – パロマ舎 (limited edition of 100)
  • 新世紀ＳＭ画報 ()
    • 2000, August 20 – 朝日ソノラマ
  • ハライソ 笑う吸血鬼２ ()
    • 2004 – 秋田書店 ISBN 4-253-10311-1
  • 丸尾画報EX1 () (Maruo Gahō EX 1)
    • 2005, June 11 – Editions Treville Pan-Exotica ISBN 4-309-90640-0 (new expanded edition of 丸尾画報1)
  • 丸尾画報EX2 () (Maruo Gahō EX 2)
    • 2005, August 11 – Editions Treville Pan-Exotica ISBN 4-309-90641-9 (new expanded edition of 丸尾画報2)
  • The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (パノラマ島綺譚, Panorama-tō Kidan)
    • 2008, February 25 – Enterbrain ISBN 4-7577-3969-9 (adaptation of an Edogawa Rampo story)

Translations[]

  • Shōjo Tsubaki (少女椿) published by Blast Books. ISBN 0-922233-06-3
  • (selected short works) published by Creation Books. ISBN 1-84068-039-3
  • (anthology including Maruo's story "Planet of the Jap") published by Blast Books. ISBN 0-922233-16-0
  • The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (パノラマ島綺譚) published by Last Gasp. ISBN 978-0867197778
  • published by Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 1-880656-07-8
  • published by Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 0-9628137-9-6

Figures and toys[]

  • 人間豹と少年探偵 (ningenhyō to shōnen tantei) The Leopard-man and the Young Detectives produced by Eastpress (イーストプレス) of Japan
  • 少女椿 (shōjo midori) Young Girl Midori 18 cm figure produced by Artstorm (アート・ストーム) of Japan

Notes[]

  1. ^ Cha, Kai-ming (2009-08-24). "Last Gasp Finds Beauty in The Strange Tale of Panorama Island". Publisher's Weekly. Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved 2015-11-17.

Sources[]

  • Ing, Eric van den & Schaap, Robert (1992). Beauty and Violence. ISBN 90-70216-04-3.

External links[]


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