Garo (magazine)

Garo (ガロ, Garo ^?) was a monthly manga anthology magazine from Japan founded in 1964 by Katsuichi Nagai. He specialized in underground, alternative and experimental manga. His project was based on editing aspiring authors without paying in exchange for total creative freedom. Its publication was monthly with 266 pages for 550 yen, and its audience was the margins of society: the proletariat, youth and the elderly.

History

Katsuichi Nagai founded Garo in July 1964 with the help of Sanpei Shirato. His project was based on editing aspiring authors without paying in exchange for total creative freedom. The first series published in Garo was Shirato's ninja drama called Kamui, which dealt with themes such as class struggle and anti-authoritarianism, which made it a hit among school students. Garo attracted several influential gekiga artists such as Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Yoshiharu Tsuge, and on the other hand discovered and introduced many new artists. It came to be published monthly with 266 pages for 550 yen, and its audience was the margins of society: the proletariat, youth and the elderly.

The circulation of Garo reached its peak of popularity in 1971 with over eighty thousand publications during the rise of punk, where it was shaken by a new radical generation led by Kazuichi Hanawa and Suehiro Maruo. After the death of its founder, it was bought by a publishing house that marketed it and ended up closing it. However, during the 1970s and 1980s popularity declined to the point that by the early 1980s an average of 150 copies were published per year. In the mid-1980s circulation was barely around 5,000 and it was rumored that Garo's demise was imminent. Nagai managed to keep it in circulation independently until 1991, when it was acquired by a gaming software company. In addition, a new, young president had advertisements for computer games published (based on the stories featured in Garo). Nagaki remained part of Garo until his death in 1996.

After Garo had been acquired, it was alleged that the anthology had taken a more commercial direction. Eventually the authors who published regularly in Garo took their own paths and founded other similar anthologies such as Ax. Garo is currently not published but its influence on alternative and even commercial manga is immense.

Styles and influences

For much of its existence, Garo was the main means of representing manga art in Japan. It was popular enough to inspire imitators such as COM, founded by manga legend Osamu Tezuka, and Comic Baku.

Over the years, Garo had many artistic phases, including Shirato dramas, abstract art, surrealism, grotesque eroticism, and punk culture. Unlike many other anthologies, the magazine never maintained a theme that needed to be followed, its only requirement was that it be interesting and that its content be more important than its superficial form.

Although never considered a 'mainstream' magazine, Garo's influence on both the manga business and Japanese society as a whole was considerable. Many mangakas that started in Garo contain a higher profile of quality work compared to others, and many films were produced based on the stories that originally appeared in Garo. Contemporary graphic design in Japan owes much to the Garo artists, particularly King Terry, Seiichi Hayashi, and Shigeru Tamura. Retrospectives of the magazines have appeared in commercial magazines not related to manga, and in 1994 the Kawasake City Museum had a special exhibition of the works of artists who once participated in Garo.

Garo in the world

To a large extent, many publishers that translate manga have ignored the works shown in Garo in favor of the market and opt for more traditional genres such as action, adventure and romances. The same is true for most work that has an experimental approach. However, some of Garo's works are available in other languages.

Early in the 1990s, VIZ Comic (Now VIZ Media) published some of Sanpei Shirato's Kamui under the name "Legend of Kamui". More recently, Blast Books published some experimental manga books that included some pieces from the pages of Garo. Even more recently The Comics Journal published the work of Yoshiro Tsuge.

Mangakas associated with Garo

• Masumura Hiroshi
• Carol Shimoda
• Hinako Sugiura
• Muddy Wehara
• Ryoichi Ikegami
• Sanpei Shirato
• Shoichi Sakurai
• Tadao Tsuge
• Suehiro Maruo
• Suzy Amekane
• Shungicu Uchida
• Seiichi Hayashi
• Shigeru Tamura
• King Terry
• Yoshiharu Tsuge
• Yoshiharu Ebisu
• Yoshihiro Tatsumi