365 Days of Manga, Day 85: Cat-Eyed Boy

CAT-EYED BOY (Nekome Kozô, “Cat-Eyed Boy”)（猫目小僧) • Kazuo Umezu • VIZ (2008) • Shonen Gahôsha/Shogakukan (Shonen Gahô, Weekly Shonen King, Weekly Shônen Sunday, 1968-1976) • 2 volumes • Horror • 16+ (mild language, graphic violence)
The Cat-Eyed Boy, a curious-looking creature who can speak to cats, roams Japan with his knapsack, living in people’s attics and observing (and sometimes getting involved in) the horrifying situations that seem to follow him wherever he goes. “Meatball monsters” that turn out to be the incarnation of cancer, deformed children, flesh-eating Buddhist idols with hundreds of arms…these and other grotesque things stalk through the stories, which have retro art and a generous definition of “logic” but deliver in terms of disturbing imagery. The monster-boy main character is reminiscent of GeGeGe no Kitaro, and some Japanese mythological monsters likewise make an appearance, but Umezu goes for horror and (possibly unintentional) absurdity where Mizuki goes for Bradbury-esque whimsy. Umezu’s art and themes evolve notably over the Viz collected edition, from the kooky kiddy stories of volume 1 to some truly terrifying moments in volume 2, a foreshadowing of Umezu’s ’80s splatter period. These later sting-in-the-tail stories, and the profusion of interesting monsters, make Cat-Eyed Boy a little more substantial than Umezu’s Scary Book and Reptilia.

It’s a little late, but here is today’s entry for 365 Days of Manga! And today, due to a computer error a few days ago which resulted in no winner being chosen for that day, we have *two* winners — Maria W. of Texas and Krista M. of Geogia! Congratulations, you guys! You are manga comrades just for this moment!
And now, I am going to make a shocking announcement… an announcement so major it deserves its own blog entry. So stay tuned for a few minutes as I fiddle with Moveable Type and announce the unbelievable, the dramatic…