A tattoo artist finds himself amidst a Yakuza feud in this graphic novel
A graphic novel about tattoo-artists! How come no one had thought about it before? A perfect fit, and a great story that has had me hooked since the first page. It’s a tight but lyrical narrative about Yoshi, a young man who comes to study under one of the greatest masters of Japanese tattoo and becomes entangled in Yakuza business. Torn between his dedication to the art and his master, the danger of dealing with the mafia, as well as the beguiling image of a mysterious bird with fiery eyes and the red-haired beauty who is on a tattoo-collecting mission, Yoshi has to make some difficult choices to protect himself and others.
Beautiful but gritty and grim, much like a Takeshi Kitano film, this is one of those books about the meaning of art that never becomes didactic or self-indulgent. Instead, it is packed with action and mesmerizing.
Tebori by Jose Manuel Robledo (author) and Marcial Toledano (illustrator)
Published by Europe Comics in 2016
For more content like this sign up for our weekly newsletter
