Massive: Gay Erotic Manga
and the Men Who Make It
and the Men Who Make It
The first English-language anthology of gay manga as a genre, featuring original interviews, photos, and translations.
2014 • Published by Fantagraphics Books • Co-Edited by Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, and Graham Kolbeins
The anthology Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make it showcases Japan’s most talented and influential gay manga artists, including Gengoroh Tagame, Jiraiya, Seizoh Ebisubashi, Kazuhide Ichikawa, Gai Mizuki, Takeshi Matsu, Fumi Miyabi, and Kumada Poohsuke. In Massive, many of these artists’ works are featured in English for the first time; this collection offers an intimate, in-depth look at a criminally overlooked component of Japanese queer culture. In addition to comics and illustrations, Massive features photographs of the artists and their workspaces; cultural and historical context; and interviews with the creators about what it’s like to be a gay erotic artist in Japan.
Edited by Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins, and designed by Chip Kidd, this unprecedented survey of manga "made by gay men for gay men" is an essential addition to the queer comics canon; it will introduce the genre often referred to as "bara" (a misnomer for gay manga that has taken on new meanings online) to a new, international audience.
Nominated in the category "Best Anthology" at the 2015 Will Eisner Awards.
WHAT IS OBSCENITY?
The Story of a Good For Nothing Artist and her Pussy
A graphic novel memoir by artist Rokudenashiko about her arrest and imprisonment on obscenity charges.
2017 • Published by Koyama Press • Co-Edited by Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins • Cover by Chip Kidd
What Is Obscenity? is the manga memoir of feminist artist, mangaka, and notorious contrarian Rokudenashiko. Detailing her arrest on obscenity charges stemming from the production of a life-size, 3D printed manko (pussy) kayak, Rokudenashiko's memoir questions the misogynist double standards that deem the female body obscene and details the kafkaesque injustices of the Japanese legal system.
Anne Ishii and I co-edited the English-language adaptation of this hilarious and incisive manga for Koyama Press, supplementing the original comics with additional context, full color photography, and footnotes on the pop culture references sprinkled throughout Rokudenashiko's work. Cover by Chip Kidd.
Nominated for a 2017 LA Times Book Prize in the "Graphic Novel/Comics" category.
THE PASSION OF GENGOROH TAGAME
THE MASTER OF GAY EROTIC MANGA
Iconic gay manga artist Gengoroh Tagame's first collection of stories published in English.
2013 • Published by PictureBox Press/Bruno Gmuender • Co-Edited by Anne Ishii, Chip Kidd, and Graham Kolbeins
The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame is the first English-language collection of legendary Japanese gay erotic manga artist Gengoroh Tagame's work. Tagame is a virtuoso as both an artist and a writer and a trailblazer in his field. The book offers a smorgasbord of Tagame's most titillating short-to-medium length comics, including "Arena" and "Country Doctor." The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame also offers insight into the backstory of these works, a peek into his process with sketches from the book's original story, "Class Act," and essays providing context for Tagame's artistic legacy.
Description from the publisher, PictureBox:
Provocative to say the least, Japanese comic master Gengoroh Tagame’s gay BDSM stories are legendary for both their virtuosic drawing and their unparalleled passion. PictureBox’s oversized omnibus includes ten English editions of short stories dating from the late 1990s to 2012. This book not only brings Tagame’s work to an English auduence, but includes an essay by Chip Kidd and an introduction by Edmund White.
Translated, edited and designed by Anne Ishii, Graham Kolbeins and Chip Kidd, who also commissioned a brand new story for this book.