Boat Life by Tsuge Tadao

Cover design for Boat Life by Tsuge Tadao, translated by Ryan Holmberg, published by Floating World Comics. Published in December 2022, available for preorder now from your favorite bookseller or local comic book shop thru your local comic book shop (Diamond Code JUN221577).

Based loosely on manga pioneer Tsuge Tadao’s own daily life, Boat Life follows novelist Tsuda Kenta on his hapless pursuit of reprieve and reverie on a homely houseboat on the Tonegawa River near Tokyo. Across a series of magical-absurdist quests, this charming graphic novel stars a panoply of personable characters, including a drunkard fisherman, a pervy monk, a talking corpse, and the protagonist’s loving yet wary wife and son.

A late-career classic from the cult creator of Trash Market and Slum Wolf, Boat Life offers a relaxed take on aging and the grind of work and family, and a philosophical elaboration of themes Tsuge Tadao has been exploring since his debut in the legendary alt-manga magazine Garo in the late 1960s.

Features a 27-page essay section including: Garo Gone Fishin’ by translator Ryan Holmberg, Days Fishing and Cartooning by Tsuge Tadao and Boat Dreams by Tsuge Tadao.