Mansect by Koga Shinichi

Mansect by koga shinichi

Published by Living the Line Smudge Imprint 2025

Initially published in 1975, this is a shonen horror classic. I had never heard of him, my manga knowledge is not excellent, nor the company that has republished it, Living the Line imprint Smudge, until Ryan Holmberg was interviewed on the excellent awesome comics podcast.

Honest, this was a revelation. The art is wonderful, reminiscent of creepy black-and-white horror movies from the fifties but with all-out 80’s body horror.

Here is the blurb!:

“Humans grow and age. They change. But always we are the same person, the same creature. Not so with insects, whose powers of metamorphosis alter not only their shape and size but also their very beings. And now, because of one young man’s unhealthy obsession with bugs, humans also find themselves transformed into disgusting, decrepit, bloodsucking insect monsters!”

Honestly, this blew me away. Shinischi spent 5 decades drawing horror manga and he was a star in Japan. His most famous manga was “Eko Eko Azarak” running from 1975 to 1979 and expanding into films, TV dramas, and an OVA, showcasing the story of Misa, a witch who uses black magic to enact brutal justice.

Mansect is a masterclass in black-and-white creepy, horror-infused art. It has an almost Quatermass meets Cronenberg feel to it. It starts with a creepy young man’s unhealthy obsession with bugs that sets off a series of events that start turning other humans into disgusting, creepy decrepit bloodsucking monsters. Some of the artwork is incredibly gruesome and detailed. It also leaves a mystery and never fully answers what’s going on, which gives it a wonderful sense of dread.

High five to Living the Line to bringing this into the West. They have a couple more titles under the Smudge imprint that I will be checking out.

Even if you are not into Manga. I highly recommend getting this on your shelf, especially if you are a horror fan. You won’t be disappointed.

You can see more examples of Shinischie work here:

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