Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection

Another of Junji Ito’s classics, the sci-fi masterwork Remina tells the chilling tale of a hell star.

Something is rotten in Okinawa…the floating stench of death hangs over the island..What is it? A strange, legged fish appears on the scene…so begins Tadashi and Kaori’s spiral into the horror (and stench) of the sea. Here is the long-awaited new horror manga series from the Eisner-nominated creator of Uzumaki, Junji Ito.

A vengeful family hides an army deserter for eight years after the end of World War II, cocooning him in a false reality where the war never ended. A pair of girls look alike, but they’re not twins. And a boy’s nightmare threatens to spill out into the real world…

This hauntingly strange story collection showcases a dozen of Junji Ito’s earliest works from when he burst onto the horror scene, sowing fresh seeds of terror.

Author Biography

Junji Ito made his professional manga debut in 1987 and since then has gone on to be recognized as one of the greatest contemporary artists working in the horror genre. His titles include Tomie and Uzumaki, which have been adapted into live-action films; Gyo, which was adapted into an animated film; and his books Fragments of Horror, Frankenstein, Lovesickness, No Longer Human, Remina, Shiver, Smashed, and Venus in the Blind Spot, all of which are available from VIZ Media.

Ito’s influences include classic horror manga artists Kazuo Umezz and Hideshi Hino, as well as authors Yasutaka Tsutsui and H.P. Lovecraft.

He is a three-time Eisner Award winner. In 2019 his collection Frankenstein won in the “Best Adaptation from Another Medium” category, and in 2021 he was awarded “Best Writer/Artist,” while Remina received the award for “Best U.S. Edition of International Material (Asia).”