The Copacetic Comics Company Jiro Taniguchi

Jiro Taniguchi

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
A Zoo in Winter	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$21.75 ($23.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Fans of Taniguchi's singular work, from the now-out-of-print Walking Man (which the cover image at left meaningfully evokes) to his ongoing Summit of the Gods, can now rejoice with the release of this new hardcover release (which is, amazingly, priced less than his last few softcover releases!). Originally released fairly recently (2008) in Japan, A Zoo in Winter's 231 pages amply display Tanuguchi's mature skills as he combines all of his interests - meditative scenes of walking outdoors, detailed urban landscapes, animals and snow, all in the service of a complex, deftly constructed narrative involving the intricacies of the human heart. The story is an autobiographical roman á clef recounting Taniguchi's early years, beginning in the winter of 1966, at the point when he had recently moved to Kyoto to follow his dream of being a textile designer. Events there lead him to takie up a friend's invitation to move to Tokyo to work as a mangaka assistant... but we don't want to give too much away here! And as always with Taniguchi, that's just one layer of the complex weavings of the story, there's plenty more going on, all skillfully rendered and deftly paced. Recommended!
Summit of the Gods #2	Jiro Taniguchi, Yumemakura Baku	Fanfare/Ponent Mon	Summit of the Gods	$22.75 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	All right! It may have taken longer than expected, but the second volume of the massive five volume epic that is destined to be the last word in mountaineering manga is now out at the front of the Copacetic table of new arrivals. Jiro Taniguchi is simply one of the best visual story-tellers out there, and with the help of scripter Yumemakura Baku he has here managed to produce his longest sustained narrative. Thrills, suspense, intrigue – it's all here. Read more about this work in our listing for the first volume.
The Life and Times of Botchan, Volume Four	Jiro Taniguchi, Natsuo Sekikawa	Fanfare/Ponent Mon	The Life and Times of Botchan	$17.77 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Long suffering readers of the extremely drawn out release schedule of this collaboration between manga masters Jiro Taniguchi and Natsuo Sekikawa that chronicles the life and times of renowned Meiji era writer, Soseki Natsume now have reason to rejoice with the release of this looooong awaited fourth volume (of ten! - will we live long enough to make it to the end?).
A Distant Neighborhood, Volume 2	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$20.75 ($23.00 list)
Read more and comment...	A mere month after the first volume finally found its way to our humble shelves, here it is, the concluding second volume! Who would've believed it? Taniguchi herein puts his own personal twist on that staple of the autobiographical comics genre, the high school reminiscence. Instead of the employing the standard autobio method whereby the author simply relates their high school memories, Taniguchi takes this narrative out of the mundane and into the fantastic by having his protagonist spiritually travel back in time to his high school years and physically occupy the body of his own high school self and thereby actually relive a crucial year of his life, but with the mind and memories of his adult self still intact. It might sound zany, but, in a way, this method simply introduces into the diegesis (in other words, makes explicit) what is normally left outside it (in other words, kept merely implicit), for the author of any autbio comic does, of course, travel back in time and relive earlier years from the point of view of their adult self, through memory. This award winning work helped cement Taniguchi's reputation when it was originally published in Japan in 1998, and now at last American readers have the chance to enjoy this engaging and entertaining "what-if" tale, courtesy of the fine folks at Fanfare/Ponent-Mon.
The Summit of the Gods, Volume 1	Yumemakura Baku, Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$22.22 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	While this is, evidently, an adaptation of an adventure novel of the same name by Yumemakura Baku, it is a match made in heaven, as it reads like pure Taniguchi. In many respects this is an ideal follow-up to Quest for the Missing Girl. Summit of the Gods is an exploration into the mechanics of masculinity, male-bonding, identity formation and the competitive instinct in the guise of a mountain climbing epic. It is also an artistic tour de force as Taniguchi pulls out all the stops and goes for page after page of stunning art that deftly parallels the urban environs of Tokyo, wherein the skeins of the story unwind and the haunting mountain peaks that are the story's central focus. Readers are drawn into this work through a fairly sophisticated use of narrative bracketing technique – somewhat reminiscent of Joseph Conrad – that quite successfully contextualizes these ruggedly manly atavistic adventures in the world of men doing business in modern Japan. The story starts off with a photographer in Nepal having just finished covering a failed attempt at scaling Mt. Everest. His nagging feelings of let down lead him to linger longer in Kathmandu wherein he stumbles into the tale that makes up Summit of the Gods and which we are subtly led to see from his point of view. It is a story that presents many of the tropes we associate with the superhero genre of comics here in the USA – a rugged, musclebound, loner driven by the inner demons of having his parents die tragically while he was still a child to become obsessed with achievement to the point of alienating his peers yet through his achievements attracting the adulation of a teen sidekick who had a similarly tragic loss of his parents (beginning to sound familiar?) – yet with a spectacularly greater degree of realism than what we associate with American superhero comics. This is a story that is set in the real world and, while there is an element of escapism present in the mountain climbing theme, the material is entirely devoid of the fantastic fantasies that are essential to superheroes by their very nature, yet it nevertheless manages to provide the same quintessential frisson-filled catharsis. This makes it an ideal comics work for those long-suffering comics fans who pine for that long-ago thrill that they once enjoyed in the pages of superhero comics but that is now denied them by the reality principle that has been imposed upon them as responsible adults. Taniguchi is without peer in his ability to create a sense of place and in setting the pace, and this work is a real page turner if ever there was one (except for the fact that some readers will want to pause to lavish their attention on the amazingly detailed urban and mountain landscapes). And this 320 page epic is only the first of FIVE volumes. For lovers of pen & ink adventure, it's almost too good to be true...
A Distant Neighborhood, Volume 1	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$20.75 ($23.00 list)
Read more and comment...	There is an embarrassment of riches in the Taniguchi department this month as we have – unbelievably – two new (to American readers) works. A Distant Neighborhood is a two volume work, and we are told that we won't have long to wait for the conclusion. It is a work of the interior, a what-if sort of tale. Specifically, it graphically asks the question: what if you could go back and relive the critical years of your adolescence over again, while still retaining your adult memories? We don't have anything further to say about this one right now (but we will!) other than, "Hey, it's Taniguchi. What more do you need to know?" Well then, how about checking out this brief preview (look to the left hand side of the page and click on the thumbnails of the cover image for this book [and the next] to get to the preview and then click on the thumbnails of the pages for full size images).
The Comics Journal #298	Trevor Von Eeden, Jiro Taniguchi, Gabrial Ba, Fabio Moon and more ...	Fantagraphics	The Comics Journal	$10.75 ($11.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The Comics Journal #298 Fans of tell-all interviews can't afford to miss this issue's with long neglected comics ace, Trevor Von Eeden (and after you read it, we sincerely hope you spend the time and money to track down his amazing Batman Annual #8). Also on hand this issue are interviews with Brazilian comics stars, Gabriel Bá and Fábio Moon, as well as with Perry Bible Fellowship creator, Nicholas Gurewitch. Then there's the sneak preview of manga maestro, Jiro Taniguchi's new multi-volume serial, A Distant Neighborhood and 32 pages of classic Skippy strips by Percy Crosby. Yes, it's another issue of TCJ.
The Times of Botchan, Volume Two	Natsuo Sekikawa, Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$17.95 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...
The Times of Botchan - Volume One	Natsuo Sekikawa, Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$17.99 ($19.99 list)
Read more and comment...	The first of a multi-volume saga by the artist best known here at Copacetic for his amazing Walking Man. One of the first things long time comics readers might note is the uncanny resemblance that certain aspects of Taniguchi's art for this series bears to the work of both Jerry Ordway and Dave Sim. It's hard to say who's influencing who here, but it's hard not to suspect that Ordway and Sim got a hold of the Japanese edition of this work when it was originally published in 1987. Taniguchi is a true comics master. Anyone who knows quality work when they see it will be sure to be glad they got a hold of this excellent volume published the English-Spanish enterprise, Fanfare/Ponent Mon.
The Walking Man	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$15.29 ($16.99 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	This 160-page french-flapped softcover volume collects eighteen zen-like tales of the "man who walks." Reflective, insightful meditations on the modern, suburban condition, these stories embody the soul of manga. While the landscape through which our hero walks is indisputably Japanese, the stories told and the lessons learned on his brief treks are indisputably universal. Taniguchi has managed a unique feat here. The comics work in The Walking Man is stripped of all extraneous elements. There is a near total absence of narrative in the pieces collected in this volume. With extraneous temporal distractions removed, the pure essence of comics remains and we are left face to face with a direct, graphic communication of the here and now. These are comics that dig deep into the mind and trigger a panoply of sensations: the heat of the sun on one's back, a cool breeze along the side of one's face, the smell of flowers, the cold, creamy taste of ice-cream, the hard exertions of a fast run, the overall feel of the encroaching darkness, the sounds of children laughing, water flowing, a passing train... all these sensations and more are triggered by the series of images that the reader is presented with as the pages are turned and the walking man goes on his way. To get a better idea, check out this preview. Recommended. And then, at any time before, during or after reading The Walking Man, we also recommend that you read the essay that laid the foundation for the philosophy (or, at the very least, its American branch) that suffuses this work, "Walking" by Henry David Thoreau.
Japan as Viewed by 17 Creators	Frédéric Boilet, Jiro Taniguchi, Joann Sfar, Kan Takahama and more ...	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$22.50 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Our friends at Fanfare/Ponent Mon -- who brought us that understated masterpiece, The Walking Man -- now bring us a fresh treat. Initiated by the powers that be at the French Institutes and Alliances in Japan, who, along with the French Embassy, bankrolled the visits of nine French comics creators to Japan in order that they be inspired to create eight of the works we have here. The other half -- eight more pieces -- were supplied by Japanese natives (one of whom, the editor, Frédéric Boilet, is a French ex-pat residing in Japan). Together, these sixteen pieces provide a kaliedoscope of views of Japan today; and not just Tokyo. This project was designed with a geographically broad view: the entire country, from the southern tip at Amakusa to the northern metropolis of Sapporo, is on display here. Creators include manga master Jiro Taniguchi (author of the aforementioned masterwork, The Walking Man), Joann Sfar, of The Rabbi's Cat fame, François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters, Kan Takahama, Fabrice Neaud, Little Fish, Aurélia Aurita and nine others. This is an excellent anthology of comics work at the same time as it is an engaging cultural survey. Of equal interest to readers of contemporary comics work and students of Japan, this is a sure fire must have for anyone who is both.
The Quest for the Missing Girl	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$22.22 ($25.00 list)
Read more and comment...	Here's an item that we've had in stock at the store for awhile now, but failed to give it the attention that it deserves. And so now, in emulation of this fine work's protagonist, Takeshi Shiga, we are coming down from our mountain refuge to set things straight. This work is as excellent a piece of craftmanship as you are likely to find anywhere in comics today. Let's just come right out and say it: Jiro Taniguchi is the man. Divided into a meticulously planned and expertly paced thirteen chapters, this book presents a classic story arc involving an archetypal man of honor repaying a debt. The archetype to which Shiga belongs falls into the same category as Wolverine™ and The Punisher™: that of the emotionally wounded male unable (or unwilling) to commit to a loving, reciprocal, sexual relationship but ready, willing and able to commit everything to a heroic task to compensate for this lack and so close the wound. Shiga's character, abilities and environs are, however, endowed with a far, far greater degree of verisimilitude than those of any character on display in corporate-owned American comics; not to mention the fact that his actions show him to be possessed of a significantly greater moral acuity and personal virtue. The narrative follows the well worn path – defined by Raymond Chandler sixty years ago, when he wrote, "(D)own these mean streets a man must go who is not himself mean, who is neither tarnished nor afraid" – of the virtuous civilian soldier, personally above reproach, who pushes his way through the morass of a contemporary urban environment, wherein he must make his way over, under, around and/or through a wall of lies – erected by the inevitably corrupt powers-that-be with the self-serving purpose of maintaining their unjust and clearly exploitative control of the society they share with the hero – and thereby reach the truth and bring justice. The Quest for the Missing Girl is so close to a perfect realization of this particular form that we might want to consider it a material manifestation of its Platonic ideal in comics. Taniguchi's attention to detail is such that gaijin readers will receive the added bonus of being taken on what amounts to a guided tour through a cross section of Japan that will provide them with a greater understanding and appreciation of its topography, society and character. We're not in the business of spoiling the immense reading pleasure afforded by a work such as this, so we will refrain from revealing any of the plot particulars, prefering instead to offer our assurances that you will not be disappointed. And, while we would be the first to concur that today the term "graphic novel" primarily serves to promote the marketing of comics in bookstores, should this term ever manage to cohere into an actual literary form, we feel confident that The Quest for the Missing Girl will fit the bill. Anyone wanting to know how it's done need look no further, this is quest's end.
The Ice Wanderer and Other Stories	Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$19.75 ($21.99 list)
Read more and comment...	Oh, happy day! 240 pages of new (to non-Japanese readers) work by the manga master, Jiro Taniguchi, whose one-of-a-kind The Walking Man, is one of our all time favorites here at Copacetic. Of the six stories contained in this volume, all but one deal with variations on the "man vs. nature" theme. The first two, the titular lead off and "White Wilderness", are both derived (although, in the case of the former, it seems possible that the derivation is apocryphal) from the work of Jack London, and take place in the deep Yukon wilderness of a century ago. "Our Mountains" is also a tale of winter, snow, mountains and predatory animals, but his one takes place in pre-WW II era Japan and involves a one-on-one with a bear. After these three rugged and manly tales, the collection takes a surprising turn with "Kaiyose-Jima," a tale of a lonely 9 year-old boy summering in a quiet fishing village in the middle of the Showa era (late 1950s) Japan. He is befriended by a teenage girl who was left orphaned after her parents perished at sea, but is herself fearless, in contrast to the boy's fearfulness. "Shôkarô", is the lone story not set in the great outdoors. It is, in fact and intriguingly, the exact opposite, taking place almost entirely indoors, in the claustrophobic atmosphere of an odd apartment block that was a converted brothel. It is the (autobiographical?) tale of a budding manga artist working on getting his start, and contrasts the artist's cramped domicile with his vivid imagjnation, his neighbors to himself, and ultimately his life and his art. The collection closes with "Return to the Sea", which is less a tale of man vs. nature than an attempt of man to conect to nature in the form bowhead whales. We are filled with awe at the amazing level of artistry demonstrated in this tale, including what must be the greatest pen & ink renderings of whales in the history of comics. This tale takes back across the Bering Straight to the coast of Alaska and brings us once again into contact with an ancient legend dealing with death and rebirth, and makes for a fitting and hopeful conclusion to the collection. You don't come across ones this good very often, Recommended!
The Times of Botchan, Volume Three: Autumn's Ballerina	Natsuo Sekikawa, Jiro Taniguchi	Fanfare/Ponent Mon		$17.95 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...	And speaking of classics, the third volume of this excellent manga adaptation of Seigai Ota's novel has at last arrived. Taniguchi's clean, assured yet understated artwork is a perfect fit with this tale of Meiji period Japan.

Mon - Thu	11 - 5
Fri & Sat	11 - 7
Sun	12 - 4