Vagabond Comics & Books

The Strange Tale of Panorama Island by Suehiro Maruo

276 pages. 7.5 x 10.25 x 1.2 inches. Color Covers. Black and white interior art work. $24.99 Cover Price.

Set in 1920s Japan, The Strange Tale of Panorama Island follows the twisted path of failed novelist Hitomi, who bears an uncanny resemblance to the son and heir apparent of a rich industrialist family.



Hitomi learns of the rich man's sudden passing and creates a desperate plan. He fakes his own death, digs up and hides the other man's body, and then washes himself up starving on a beach near the home of the dead man's family. After successfully impersonating the now-dead son, Hitomi takes over all aspects of the man's life, including his company, his fortune, and eventually his wife. The failed author soon redirects the family's wealth to his own perverse aims.



A graphic novel based on the revered novella by Edogawa Rampo. Rampo was the godfather of Japanese pulp mysteries. Stunning artwork by master manga artist Suehiro Maruo deftly illustrates this Japanese pulp classic in fine detail.



* 13th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize for New Artist



Background:

Japanese mystery and suspense author Edogawa Ranpo originally serialized his novella The Strange Tale of Panorama Island in the October 1926 issue of Shinseinen...



Hitomi Hirosuke, a struggling novelist, writes a story titled "The Tale of RA" about a protagonist who suddenly gains wealth and constructs a paradise. His editor informs him that his wealthy boarding school friend, Genzaburo Komoda, has died. Hitomi forms a plan to impersonate the dead Genzaburo, who looks exactly like him, to gain his fortune. He fakes his suicide and exhumes Genzaburo's corpse, hiding it and pulling out his own tooth to match Genzaburo's false one. When Hitomi is discovered in Genzaburo's hometown, a doctor attributes his resurrection to catalepsy and Hitomi successfully passes for Genzaburo. Hitomi convinces his family advisor, Tsunoda, of his plan to build an amusement park on the island of Nakanoshima, relocating the fishermen living there. He finances the construction by selling the Komoda family treasures, and appeases his business associate by giving him their kiln. Genzaburo's widow, Chiyoko, learns about his deception after he has sex with her.



Near the completion of the amusement park, Hitomi takes Chiyoko to the island on a tour. He shows her extravagant manmade landscapes dotted with statues and frolicking attractive people, an aquarium tunnel, and portions of the island made to look larger optically like a panorama. Chiyoko is overwhelmed, fainting, and Hitomi chokes her to death. Later, Hitomi is visited by a detective named Kogoro Kitami who had read "The Tale of RA" and discovered Hitomi's act. Hitomi commits suicide by launching himself in a firework.