Are you ready for one of the most comprehensive anthologies of Japanese gay manga available in the English language?
“Massive: Gay Erotic Manga And The Men Who Make It” is an effort from Graham Kolbeins and Anne Ishii that documents the work of nine different artists operating within the world of gay manga. Published by Fantagraphics Books and designed by Chip Kidd, “Massive” is a groundbreaking work that immortalizes an often over-looked corner of the queer art world.
In order to better understand “Massive,” The Huffington Post chatted with Kolbeins.
The Huffington Post: Why did you decide to embark on this project?
Graham Kolbeins: Way back when I was a high school student in the early 2000s, stumbling across images of gay manga online was a watershed moment for my budding queer identity. It felt like a wall had been broken down between the concept of gay culture I was used to — the limited representations of homosexuality presented by American mass media — and the wide world of possibilities implied by these images coming out of Japan. Whether it was a mischievous smile on Jiraiya’s hulking pin-ups or a tender picture of robust, big-bellied men cuddling in Seizoh Ebisubashi’s manga, these artists were picturing unique visions of gay desire that resonated deeply with me.
I sought out all the Japanese-language gay magazines and manga I could find, figuring that eventually some publisher would put out English translations of these works. A decade went by and not a single translation of had been published. It’s crazy — our book represents only nine artists, but there are dozens more making gay manga in Japan, and their work has been criminally underrepresented in North America.
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