I thought I’d pull together a little information on the Angoulême Sélection titles that have yet to be published in English.
La Chenille, by Suehiro Maruo and Rampo Edogawa, published by Le Lezard Noir. This is erotic-grotesque manga about a gravely wounded war veteran and his bride, with Maruo adapting Rampo’s 1929 novel, censored at the time of its publication. It was originally published as Imo-mushi (The Caterpillar) in Enterbrain’s Comic Beam. Another Maruo adaptation of a Edogawa novel, The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, is due from Last Gasp sometime in the near future.
Sabu & Ichi, by Shotaro Ishinomori, published by Kana. This is a 17-volume series about a detective and a master swordsman traveling the land, solving crimes, and righting wrongs. It ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic and Shônen Sunday. Kana is apparently publishing it in four big bricks.
La fille du bureau de tabac et autres nouvelles, by Masahiko Matsumoto, published by Cambourakis. Slice-of-life gekiga stories originally created in the 1970s that feature everyday people making sometimes difficult transitions into a more modern era. Top Shelf, who gave us the first volume of a fascinating collection of stories from AX this year, has announced that it will publish Matsumoto’s Cigarette Girl in English, though I’m not sure if there’s any overlap between the stories in that collection and the ones in La fille.
Ashita no Joe, by Asao Takamori and Tetsuya Chiba, published by Glénat. One of the best-loved sports manga of all time, this one follows a troubled but determined young man as he enters the world of professional boxing. It ran for 25 volumes in Kodansha’s Weekly Shônen, and I remember reading a great story about a well-attended public funeral that was held after the series concluded.
Which of these would you most like to see published in English?