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Slum Wolf Paperback – August 28, 2018

by Tadao Tsuge (Author), Ryan Holmberg (Editor, Translator, Afterword)
4.5 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
A gritty collection of graphic short stories by a Japanese manga master depicting life on the streets among punks, gangsters, and vagrants.

Tadao Tsuge is one of the pioneers of alternative manga, and one of the world’s great artists of the down-and-out. Slum Wolf is a new selection of his stories from the late Sixties and Seventies, never before available in English: a vision of Japan as a world of bleary bars and rundown flophouses, vicious street fights and strange late-night visions. In assured, elegantly gritty art, Tsuge depicts a legendary, aging brawler, a slowly unraveling businessman, a group of damaged veterans uniting to form a shantytown, and an array of punks, pimps, and drunks, all struggling for freedom, meaning, or just survival.

With an extensive introduction by translator and comics historian Ryan Holmberg, this collection brings together some of Tsuge’s most powerful work—raucous, lyrical, and unforgettable.
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  1. Print length
    336 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    New York Review Comics
  4. Publication date
    August 28, 2018
  5. Dimensions
    6.4 x 0.97 x 8.7 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    168137174X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1681371740
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The Amazon Book Review
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.

From the Publisher

Slum Wolf, manga, Japanese, comics, postwar, alternative, art, illustration, short stories

"I'm not interested in heroes."

— Tadao Tsuge

Images from Slum Wolf

"[Tsuge] invites you to visit. He will even show you in. But do not expect him to make you feel at home." — Ryan Holmberg

Editorial Reviews

Review

“As a collection of stories, Slum Wolf presents a fully realized view of the persistence of defeat and occupation on the Japanese culture. As readers follow the disaffected and maladjusted characters through their worlds, Tsuge consistently prompts the reader to consider the feelings and circumstances by invoking the reader's empathy and fears.” —Gregory Smith, Pop Matters

"Tsuge’s art veers wildly from cartoon abstraction to painstakingly detailed drawings of shadowy figures and looming city streets, rendered in harsh, energetic linework that propels the eye from panel to panel. The stoic attitude of these excellent pieces is summed up in one  character’s reflection: 'Without receiving a dose of pain once in a while, it was hard to remember the point of staying alive.' This period piece holds lasting resonance.” —Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Tadao Tsuge is one of alternative manga’s cult stars. Debuting as a cartoonist in the rental kashi-hon market in 1959, he was a leading contributor to the legendary magazine Garo during its heyday in the late 1960s. He has drawn extensively for magazines like Yagyo and Gento, often pulling from his experiences growing up in the slums of Tokyo, working for ooze-for-booze blood banks, and daydreaming while fishing. He currently lives in Chiba Prefecture, north of Tokyo, where he splits his time between cooking for his family and drawing even stranger manga.

Ryan Holmberg is an arts and comics historian. He has taught at the University of Chicago, CUNY, the University of Southern California, and Duke University, is a frequent contributor to Art in America, Artforum, Yishu, and The Comics Journal, and has edited and translated books by Seiichi Hayashi, Osamu Tezuka, Sasaki Maki, and others.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ New York Review Comics; Main edition (August 28, 2018)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 168137174X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1681371740
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.4 x 0.97 x 8.7 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
45 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • wilco29
    5.0 out of 5 stars Another Masterpiece
    Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    This is a brilliant comic. I don't understand why a person feels it necessary to give a bad review because it doesn't display properly on a kindle. Shouldn't we be reviewing the content of the art not the format we're reading it on? Anyway, great gritty comic about the aftermath of World War 2. The art is stunning. Highly recommended.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • HE
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
    Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Big fan of Tadao Tsuge. Tsuge's art is sparse but deceptively intricate and lush. The collection of stories here are filled with very deep human subjects.

    If you're into it vintage manga with dark, mature themes then you'll find something to like here.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • kenneth
    5.0 out of 5 stars Worth your time
    Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Great compilation
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  • English Reviewer
    3.0 out of 5 stars Not the best gekiga mangaka
    Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2020
    I love manga and have quite the collection, especially of anthologies that pack together a writer/artists works from Garo in the gekiga style of the 60’s-70’s. Works are far and few between for each artist and it’s been only in the last decade that publishers like Drawn & Quarterly and Fantagraphics have begun to publish more of the genre. Unfortunately, Slum Wolf is at the bottom of the stack in terms of enjoyment and art. I am so open to this style of manga and totally go in with an open mind. Never mind that Tadao Tsuge is extremely racist (not the best time in modern history for such a title), I’m simply agitated at most of the works in this collection. I don’t find the stories to have be at all enjoyable and the artwork is not very good. There’s so many better collections lurking out there including anything by Seiichi Hayashi. I’m not going to be ruthless and write off Slum Wolf altogether as this is one of only two collections ever published in English by Tadao Tsuge so it still has historical importance.i can respect the admiration other reviewers have for him and while there is far worse in manga, I will settle the rating with a 3 out of 5.
    One person found this helpful
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  • D. Adler
    1.0 out of 5 stars Kindle Version Does Not Work At All
    Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I bought the Kindle version of this book, and once you get past the cover it consists of completely, utterly blank screens. Although they have nothing on them, the Kindle app still sees them as "pages", i.e. if I start at the cover and swipe right twenty times (seeing absolutely nothing) and then swipe left twenty times, on the last swipe the cover comes back into view. Will ask for a refund.
    3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • bpc
    5.0 out of 5 stars Very good
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    Very good
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  • Frank Abignale
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting historical snapshot of a time people want to forget
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 7, 2019
    Verified Purchase
    I wanted the stories to have some semblance of a pleasure plot line. That is the problem with independent comics, I understand that. The message behind his art of really good, but it serves more as a hostrical snapshot than anything else. The art is very inconsistent. I like the drawings at the epilogue way better than the rest of the book. A few moments stand out throughout the book and those moments deserve 5 stars (I know, it’s a reductive way to analyze anything) but the overall feeling is not anything to write home about.
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