Comic Connections: Urasawa Naoki Talks with Top European Artists

From left: Schuiten and Peeters, with their interpreter seated between them; Urasawa; and BD translator Hara Masato, who chaired the panel.

Urasawa Naoki. Born in 1960. Since his 1983 debut he has produced hits including Yawara! (a popular judo-themed manga), Master Keaton (scripted by Katsushika Hokusei and Nagasaki Takashi), Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto (scripted by Tezuka Osamu, produced by Nagasaki Takashi, and supervised by Tezuka Makoto). Winner of the Japan Cartoonists Association Award, two Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prizes, and three Excellence Awards from the Agency for Cultural Affairs’ Japan Media Arts Festival. His ongoing series Billy Bat (co-credited to Nagasaki Takashi) in the magazine Morning reached its 100th installment in May 2013.

A scene from the Japanese translation of Les Cités Obscures (Shogakukan-Shueisha Production; translated by Furunaga Shin’ichi, Hara Masato). Les Cités Obscures © 2009 Casterman, Bruxelles. All rights reserved.

François Schuiten. Born in Brussels, Belgium, in 1956. Debuted at the age of 16 with Mutation. In addition to drawing BDs, he has also applied himself to the design of film backgrounds and public spaces including subway stations and World Expo pavilions.

Benoît Peeters. Born in 1956 in Paris; lived in Brussels from childhood, when he became friends with Schuiten. In addition to his collaboration with Schuiten, Peeters has teamed up on BD projects with Frédéric Boilet and Taniguchi Jirō. Has also written widely as a cultural critic, covering contemporary philosophers like Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida in addition to BDs by Hergé and other artists. Active in diverse fields, including visual art.

Urasawa took pen in hand as he asked Schuiten about his shading style (left); Schuiten illustrated his response (right).

Panels from the Japanese translation of Les Cités Obscures. © 2009 Casterman, Bruxelles. All rights reserved.

Japanese-Spanish manga artist Ken Niimura won the fifth International Manga Award grand prize (presented by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) for his work “I Kill Giants.” (Photo taken in the Cervantes Cultural Center booth at the International Manga Fest.)

Javier García took the grand prize in the first Comic Competition held by the Cervantes Culture Center and Bunsei University of Art (Photo taken in the Cervantes Cultural Center booth at the International Manga Fest.)