<DIV><P><B>Dark and funny comics from a <I>Garo </I>magazine manga-ka<BR></B><BR>Tadao Tsuge was one of the key contributors to the legendary avant-garde Japanese comics magazine <I>Garo</I> during its heyday in the late 1960s and early 1970s, renowned for his unpretentious journalistic storytelling and clear, eloquent cartooning. <I>Trash Market </I>brings together six of Tsuge’s compelling, character-driven stories about life in post–World War II Japan.<BR> “Trash Market” and “Gently Goes the Night” touch on key topics for Tsuge: the charming lowlifes of the Tokyo slums and the veterans who found themselves unable to forget the war. “Song of Showa” is an autobiographical piece about growing up in a Tokyo slum during the occupation with an abusive grandfather and an ailing father, and finding brightness in the joyful people of the neighborhood. <I>Trash Market</I> blurs the lines between fiction and reportage; it’s a moving testament to the grittiness of life in Tokyo during the postwar years.<BR> <I>Trash Market </I>features an essay from the collection’s editor and translator, Ryan Holmberg, who is a specialist in Japanese art history. He explores Tsuge’s early career as a cartoonist and the formative years the artist spent working in Tokyo’s notorious for-profit blood banks.</DIV>