In one instance, her victims join a cult to worship her. Men fall under her sway instantly, leaving their wives and girlfriends. In tale after tale, a mysterious girl with a distinctive mole upends the lives of everyone around her. While Ito’s art in this inaugural tale is cruder than his modern contributions, and his characters occasionally difficult to differentiate, the unrefined creativity and urban-legend tone make the original Tomie iteration a highlight among the 20 stories collected here. Created in 1987 while Ito was working as a dental technician, the first Tomie story earned its author an honorable mention in a contest judged by horror legend Kazuo Umezu. Tomie Complete Deluxe Edition, released last week in a stunning hardcover from VIZ Media, corrects one of the most glaring absences in English-language Ito libraries by bundling the manga-ka’s saga about the irresistible titular girl into one massive collection. Modern American fans of Japanese horror auteur Junji Ito likely know him best from Uzumaki and Gyo, as well as various short chillers ( “The Enigma of Amigara Fault”) that became popular online as illegal, creepypasta-like “scanlations.” While Dark Horse, ever a pioneer in horror and manga, translated some of Ito’s short stories over a decade ago, his work didn’t crack the wider American comic-reading consciousness until recent years, and Dark Horse’s volumes had fallen out of print by the time Ito began to receive credit in the English-speaking world. As American readers, our perceptions of foreign artists-and even foreign art forms-are shaped by what is imported and when.

Junji ito's tomie