Suehiro Maruo

Manga artist, illustrator and painter

Suehiro Maruo (丸尾 末広) is a Japanese manga artist, illustrator, and painter.

Maruo graduated from junior high school in March 1972 but dropped out of senior high school. At the age of 15, he moved to Tokyo and began working for a bookbinder. At 17, he made his first manga submission to Weekly Shōnen Jump, but it was considered by the editors to be too graphic for the magazine's format and was subsequently rejected. Maruo temporarily removed himself from manga until November 1980 when he made his official debut as a manga artist in Ribon no Kishi (リボンの騎士) at the age of 24. It was at this stage that the young artist was finally able to pursue his artistic vision without such stringent restrictions over his work’s visual content. Two years later, his first stand alone anthology, Barairo no Kaibutsu (薔薇色の怪物; Rose Colored Monster) was published. Maruo was a frequent contributor to the underground manga magazine Garo (ガロ). Like many manga artists, Maruo sometimes makes cameo appearances in his own stories. When photographed, he seldom appears without his trademark sunglasses. Though most prominently known for his work as a manga artist, Maruo has also produced illustrations for concert posters; CD jackets; magazines; novels; and various other media. Some of his characters have been made into figures as well. Though relatively few of Maruo's manga have been published outside Japan, his work enjoys an international cult following. His book Shōjo Tsubaki (aka Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show) has been adapted into an animated film (Midori) by Hiroshi Harada with a soundtrack by J. A. Seazer, but it has received very little release; In Europe and North America, it was marketed under the name Midori, after the naive twelve year old protagonist. The movie was banned all over the world, including Japan for its extreme use of physical, psychological and sexual abuse against children and small animals. Recently released in France.

Maruo's nightmarish manga fall into the Japanese category of "erotic grotesque" (エログロ; "ero guro"). The stories often take place in the early years of Showa Era Japan. Maruo also has a fascination with human oddities, deformities, birth defects, and "circus freaks." Many such characters figure prominently in his stories and are sometimes the primary subjects of his illustrations. Maruo also adapted to manga stories by Edogawa Ranpo, such as "The Strange Tale of Panorama Island" and "The Caterpillar". An English translation of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island work was published by Last Gasp in July 2013. The illustrations throughout several of his works show grotesquely dark imagery, strange sexual acts / rituals, as well as sexual violence towards minors. It is referred to as contemporary "bloody prints" muzan e (a subset of Japanese ukiyo e depicting violence or other atrocities.) Maruo himself featured in a 1988 book on the subject with fellow artist Kazuichi Hanawa entitled Bloody Ukiyo e (江戸昭和競作無惨絵英名二十八衆句), presenting their own contemporary works alongside the traditional prints of Yoshitoshi and Yoshiiku.

Composer John Zorn used Suehiro illustrations for the liner art of his band Naked City's albums. Zorn has contributed the foreword to Suehiro's latest collection of works (published in 2005).

Shōjo Tsubaki (少女椿) published by Blast Books. Ultra Gash Inferno (selected short works) published by Creation Books. Comics Underground Japan (anthology including Maruo's story "Planet of the Jap") published by Blast Books. The Strange Tale of Panorama Island (パノラマ島綺譚) published by Last Gasp. How to Rake Leaves published by Stone Bridge Press. How to Take a Japanese Bath published by Stone Bridge Press.