I have lots of new readers who may have never heard of Felipe Smith, the brilliant cartoonist behind MBQ, one of my favorite graphic novels, and his new manga PEEPO CHOO that he's been working on since he relocated to Tokyo in 2008. Adding to the avalanche of dope comics hitting the planet this summer, the English language version of Peepo Choo drops next month, and Felipe recently told me he would be at San Diego Comicon promoting it.
For those who are not familiar with him, Felipe is one of a kind! He's a Jamaican-Argentinian-American (now living in Tokyo),who speaks English, Spanish and Japanese fluently (as you can see in this video of him moving the crowd at some kind of Japanese comics talk show), and is committed to making comics his own way. Unlike many other manga-heads, happy to knock off Appleseed like there's no tomorrow, Felipe combines American, European, and Japanese influences, into a totally unique gestalt that is way better than the sum of its parts. His comics combine the mundane and the surreal in ways that will continue to impress you after multiple readings.
And besides the fact that his pages are awesome, he smashes them out at a breakneck clip! While we are just now getting the first volume of Peepo Choo over here, the THIRD and final volume is set to drop in Japan. In other words, there's over 750 pages of Peepo Choo in print...
His previous book MBQ had a wonderful hip hop influence to it, and was almost a love letter to Los Angeles, so it will be very interesting to see how he handles Peepo Choo, a book he created with a Japanese publisher, intended for a Japanese audience. thankfully, we are gonna get to peep it here in America now. Peepo Choo drops on July 13th, but feel free to preorder that joint by clicking here. In the meanwhile, you can read my initial review of Felipe's previous book here. holla!
After peeping your reviews for MBQ I finally purchased all 3 books. Felipe is definitely the truth. He proved many people wrong and was able to do what many could not, create a very unique manga title that is accepted in Japan. I know he has some detractors but the work ethic and what he's produced speaks for itself.
@ Vee- yeah... his work is brimming with energy. His work is so aggressive that it's obviously not for everyone, but I hope he reaches his audience, which I think is potentially pretty sizable.
@ Steelo- yeah, you and me both. I need a Sponsor!
had a wonderful hip hop influence to it, and was almost a love letter to Los Angeles, so it will be very interesting to see how he handles Peepo Choo, a book he created with a Japanese publisher, intended for a Japanese audience. thankfully, we are gonna get to peep it here in America now. Peepo Choo drops on July 13th, but feel free to preorder that joint by clicking here
. In the meanwhile, you can read my initial review of Felipe's previous book here. 
3 comments:
After peeping your reviews for MBQ I finally purchased all 3 books. Felipe is definitely the truth. He proved many people wrong and was able to do what many could not, create a very unique manga title that is accepted in Japan. I know he has some detractors but the work ethic and what he's produced speaks for itself.
Yeah, I plan on reading MBQ again some time soon.
I would really like to go to Wondercon and Comicon
@ Vee- yeah... his work is brimming with energy. His work is so aggressive that it's obviously not for everyone, but I hope he reaches his audience, which I think is potentially pretty sizable.
@ Steelo- yeah, you and me both. I need a Sponsor!
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