Amazing Heroes Issue # 118 Cover

Amazing Heroes Issue # 118 Cover

Periodical
Comics Strips

This cover of Amazing Heroes features a large red border encompassing a more detailed, painterly piece of artwork. The title of the periodical, “Amazing Heroes” is white with a black shadow, and the details of its release are written in white above, separated by solid circles: “No. 118,” “June 1,” and “$2.50 ($3.75 in Canada)”. The art in question features two characters drawn in a more distinctly Japanese aesthetic and wardrobe, both of whom are leaping towards and away from the viewer. Also inside this enclosed border of art are the black captions, “Special focus on the world of Japanese comic books!” and “Behind the Scenes of Lone Wolf and Cub, Area 88, Kamui the Ninja, and more!”

There is no environment, aside from some orange painterly strokes resembling dim fire, wrapping around and highlighting the characters. Their outlines are not thick or well-defined, and the character artwork as a whole is much looser and roughly colored than their American counterparts. The character in the foreground is a young man with medium-length black hair, tied partially in the back, leaping towards the viewer but making eye contact somewhere in the lower-right. His outfit, which is orange in the light but purple in the dark, is ragged, leaving most of his arms and legs uncovered, aside from some bandages near the extremities. His anatomy is realistically thin and muscular without being exaggerated and highlighted, and his leaping pose is angled counterclockwise. His expression is serious and determined, and his left hand is gripping an era-appropriate Japanese sword, this time angled perpendicular to the character.

The background character is leaping as well, appearing, like the foreground character, ready to initiate an attack on some unseen targets, although he is facing the opposite direction. His outfit, which featured a yellow robe fastened over loose, black under-clothing, is worn, but not to the same degree as the foreground character. His attacking is directed outwards, with his leg and arm extended fully and his sword extended further, while the foregrounded man is more focused, bending his limbs and overall constricting his body. His head is barely visible, receding behind his shoulders, but a mane of black hair can be seen peeking out from behind.

The artist of this piece is Sanpei Shirato, a well-regarded manga artist and social critic whose career in the field began in 1957. One of his works featured in this edition are Kamui the Ninja (also known as Kamui-den, or The Legend of Kamui), a manga series set in Japan’s Edō period that ran from 1964 to 1971. The series featured heavy social commentary that espoused Shirato’s Marxist leanings, as well as the characters depicted on the front cover.

Editor: Kim Thompson
Cover Artist: Sanpei Shirato
Art Director: Dale Crain, Doug Erb
With Some Help From: Michael Adams
News Correspondent: J. Collier
Production Assistant: Teresa Moore
Typesetting: L. M. Gorell & Ariene Easter
Circulation: Rachel Enger

MSU Special Collection Comic Art, PN6725.A47

Fantagraphics Books, Inc.

1987-06

Colin Corcoran

Right Restrictions Apply

6 5/8 x 10 1/4 in.
Color

English

Periodical

1981-1992

Comic book

6-5/8 x 10-1/4 in.