Gothic Monsters from Tatsuya Morino

Artist Tatsuya Morino puts a unique twist on the great monsters of Gothic literature in a series of illustrations featured in the book Kaibutsu Gensō Gashū. You can definitely see similarities to great (and strange) American comics artists like Basil Wolverton and many of the underground artists from the 60's. See all the images here at Pink Tentacle.

JAPANESE ARTISTS FACING INDIFFERENCE AT HOME

  From the Wall Street Journal:

Last year, leading Japanese auctioneer Shinwa Art Auction Co. decided to sell contemporary art, so it set up shop—in Hong Kong. With demand very weak in Japan, Shinwa's Yoichiro Kurata says, "It's really hard for young Japanese artists to survive."

Read the full article

"Extreme Sex" Manga Under Scrutiny in Tokyo

From The Sydney Morning Herald


TOKYO - Japan's capital city is to restrict the sale of manga comics and anime films with extreme depictions of rape, incest and other sex crimes, a plan that has brought cries of censorship.

The bill before the Tokyo assembly would require publishers and shops to sell only to readers aged over 18 any material that depicts "virtual sex crimes" if the images are "unjustifiably glorified and exaggerated".
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Note that the comics are not being "banned" but merely subjected to age restrictions.