Title: PalepoliAuthor: Usamaru Furuya
First Published: May 20, 2003
Publisher: IMHO
Pages: 160
Genre: Comedy, Dark Comedy, Seinen
Format: Web
Source: Web
Rating:
Synopsis:
A serial killer bear, a Lilliputian Jesus Christ, a man capable of changing sex thanks to superpowers, Usamaru Furuya creates with Palepoli a series of surrealist gags with intelligent and transgressive humor that call for reflection and imagination. Inventive and playful, these four-panel sketches do not hesitate to mock the great symbols of our contemporary societies, whether religious, artistic or popular, to turn them into absurd characters. Parody, mise en abyme, wordplay and self-mockery characterize this avant-garde manga where Inspector Columbo rubs shoulders with Michelangelo and the Beatles. Like this heterogeneous narration, Usamaru Furuya multiplies the graphic registers by going from pointillism to trompe l'oeil, while readapting cubist paintings or Renaissance masterpieces. A true literary and artistic gem, Palepoli revolutionizes manga and takes an amused look at past and present generations. An original work that will seduce even those most reluctant to the genre.
Buy the Book: AmazonReview
Palepoli is a collection of four panel comics that verges into surreal and obscene territory. While there is a lot of variety many of the characters and plots carry over into multiple comic strips, converging and blending together the further you get. The art was shockingly good, displaying a range of styles from silly cartoons to highly detailed pieces.
There comics are darkly comedic and filled with obscene content and at times disturbing punchlines. The quality of the humor I think could be hit or miss, it will definitely offend some, gross out others, but it was also at times laugh out loud funny. Some of my favorite recurring characters were Takashi, the hapless child, and the questionably helpful Goddess of the Lake. There were a few that went over my head, even as a reader who has been consuming Japanese media for decades. The humor dabbles with the type of highly exaggerated chaos that can commonly be found on variety shows, compelte with Manzai duos.
Given the content, only a fraction of the comics were ever translated and published in English. It’s not a manga you want to binge through else it will feel repetitive, but it was an okay time waster. I’m glad to have read more of Usamaru Furuya’s work, though this is definitely not a work that I’d rush back to ever re-read.
Quote
“I’ll pretend I don’t know about it. But I wish he wouldn’t use my merchandise… That’s all I wish. I mean, look how creepy they make it look.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Usamaru Furuya
Usamaru Furuya is a Japanese manga artist. He graduated from Tama Art University, where he majored in oil painting and developed an interest in sculpting and Butoh dance.
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