Gegege no Kitaro page by Shigeru Mizuki

I love Mizuki-san's work and in particular the GeGeGe no Kitaro stories. They are so much fun and his playful macabre style lends itself perfectly to the themes and stories. For me this is a definitive piece such that I might not need my other pieces by him. This is a one and done kind of piece. It has been at least a decade I've been reading his manga and I've known the character for much longer as he is so distinctive. There was an excellent exhibition of his work one year in Angouleme but it was one of the years I didn't go but I do have the catalog so there is that. Going through that catalog I got a much greater appreciation for the breadth of Mizuki's career as for me it was mostly only about Kitaro. He is up there in the list of 10 most important mangaka of all time.

This page is from a 1968 story titled Kitaro Nai Nai Ondo. If you are not familiar with Kitaro, it is the story of Kitaro, the last surviving member of a ghost tribe and his adventures with yokai (traditional Japanese spirit monsters). Kitaro's extra eyeball is an independent living creature possessed by the spirit of his father. In addition to coming into conflicts with the Japanese spirits, Kitaro also encounters Chinese and Western monsters and spirits like Dracula. There a few recurring friends from the spirit world that help Kitaro in his adventure.

It is a very popular manga and has been adapted into several anime series and a movie.