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A review by thisisstephenbetts
A Drunken Dream and Other Stories by Moto Hagio
4.0
Surreal, wistful short-stories, often with fantasy/sci-fi & romance elements.
This is a really fascinating selection of work by pioneering cartoonist Moto Hagio, from the mid-70s (only a few years after her career began) to the present day. Her work was always aimed at girls, and when she started it was unusual for women to be creating comics.
The stories are refreshingly creative, and often really funny. There are some recurring themes (isolation, lost love, conflicted siblings, absent (for some reason) family members...), although the plots and setting are incredibly diverse. I believe that Hagio is more famous in Japan for her longer serials; based on the shorter stories here, I'm going to look our for them.
There's a long interview with Hagio from The Comics Journal included in this volume. In TCJ I often find these interviews a little too long, but really enjoyed this one in this context. It really added a lot to the enjoyment of the book, and had some fascinating insights into Hagio's work. Read it before, or (as I did) after - but skip it at your peril!
This is a really fascinating selection of work by pioneering cartoonist Moto Hagio, from the mid-70s (only a few years after her career began) to the present day. Her work was always aimed at girls, and when she started it was unusual for women to be creating comics.
The stories are refreshingly creative, and often really funny. There are some recurring themes (isolation, lost love, conflicted siblings, absent (for some reason) family members...), although the plots and setting are incredibly diverse. I believe that Hagio is more famous in Japan for her longer serials; based on the shorter stories here, I'm going to look our for them.
There's a long interview with Hagio from The Comics Journal included in this volume. In TCJ I often find these interviews a little too long, but really enjoyed this one in this context. It really added a lot to the enjoyment of the book, and had some fascinating insights into Hagio's work. Read it before, or (as I did) after - but skip it at your peril!