MANHOLE Volume 1 was a gripping read, a first volume that served as an excellent teaser for a horror comic that promises to be gory and disturbing but also to contain real-world discussions of ethics in psychiatry, justice-minded cultures, and who gets to decide whether a person is good or bad, deserves to live or die. As someone deeply interested in topics of abolition, collective good, and crime theater, I was drawn to the themes in MANHOLE that I hope continue to be explored as the story in the series progresses. I also loved the classic visual style. More than the body horror we can expect from parasites and pandemics, the motivations of the villain introduced at the end of MANHOLE Volume 1 truly terrify. Fully certain in his belief that he is doing a bad thing for the greater good.

I'm looking forward to more from this series and Mr. Tsutsui.

Thanks to NetGalley and Kana for the advance review copy.

The first volume of Manhole introduces us to a mysterious event that sets the stage for, a global pandemic? A race against time for parasitic overlords in a way? When a naked man emerges from a manhole to walk the street, he seems to leave a sort of infection in his wake and it's up to two detectives to find the source and stop the spread as it were.

While this book was published in 2004 originally, it really could be set in any age, especially the post-2020 world era, and we're left with a cliffhanger to show that there's even more coming than the detectives, or we as readers, were previously aware of.

I'll probably keep an eye on this one, and while I understand that the version uploaded to NetGalley was only an ARC, WHEW it was rough between the poor image quality and the type/lettering issues. I'll look forward to seeing how volume 2 shakes out in normal print.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kana/Abrams Books for the eARC in exchange for review!

As expected, Tsutsui delivers another page-turner, complete with mystery, suspense, and expertly drawn and laid out panels.

If you love Junji Ito, you'll love Tetsuya Tsutsui's Manhole. In this graphic novel, we follow an infectious disease as it begins to take over people's bodies and leads them to die in horrible ways.
The art was great and very much helped with the horror vibe of the story. We follow the police as they try to solve a very confusing case after what looks to be a strange death, and as they begin to unravel more they discover that it's being created by someone.
I really enjoyed the protagonist, and when we discovered a few more reasons about the 'why' I thoroughly enjoyed that too.
What I wasn't keen on were some of the logical jumps and plot holes in the story.
Anyway, I enjoyed this story and would read the next. I hope to see a bit more reasoning in the story and I thoroughly enjoy the villain.

Part noir-esque police procedural, part absolutely disgusting body horror, all gripping story; Manhole is a horror comic that will be quite unlike anything you’ve ever read even if you’re a veteran of the genre.

If Junji-Ito decided to write a detective / horror story mash up, the result might be something like this. From the first I was arrested and put off balance by the unique art style of the manga, a grainy, almost blurry pin point style I’d never seen before. Next I was struck by how this remarkable feature seamlessly blended into the background as I read. The sensation is difficult to describe but it’s almost like this specific art style makes you visualize the action of the comic in a misty, archaic feeling perspective. It’s really quite remarkable.

The story is basically this. Called to the scene of an accidental death, two detectives begin to uncover a deep rooted and viscerally upsetting conspiracy to unleash a heinous contagion upon the population. The more answers they get, the more questions arise, and the more danger they find themselves in.

This story was ably told and the characterization, despite being a short read, was really solid. I felt like the detectives on the case, their boss, and every other player in this drama was a real flesh and blood person with a history and motivations.

Overall I can’t wait to see where the story goes and what happens to these characters and their world. Volume two can’t arrive soon enough.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Abrams ComicArts-Kana for an advance copy of this graphic novel work of horror, which mixes are still fresh fears of a global pandemic, with a bit of body horror, and the evil that men do, when they think they are in the right.

I was never much for horror comic stories growing up. Warren stories never did anything for me, I was too young for the feelings that Vampirella hoped to instill, and even the classic stuff from Marvel never really did anything for me. I came to horror later, through books, and movies discovering Hammer films, Clive Barker and Gene Colan Dracula about the same time. Japanese horror was something unknown to me. House the movie I knew, along with a few Takashi Miike films, and some odd tentacle films, but it wasn't till this century that I started to really have an interest, or even a knowledge of Japanese horror, on film, in anime and manga. And what a genre I have been missing out on. The stories, the art, the atmosphere. A lot of very unsettling works. Themes this story has, with a lot of icky body horror. Manhole is written and illustrated by rising star Tetsuya Tsutsui and is a story about loneliness, control, body autonomy, and lots of bugs, and of course control.

A man walks down the street, ignored for he looks like a street person, a person there but not there. However this person is naked, and bumps into a college student texting his girlfriend. The naked man falls and splits his head open, getting blood on the college student who keeps walking, not knowing he has dropped his phone, nor killed a man. And has blood on his face. The police investigate and an autopsy finds three roundworms behind the suspects eye. The college student comes to the police, but soon wanders away, sick, hot confused and not sure of where he is going, only to be run over by a car. With worms in his eye. The police are at a loss, until they find their original body was supposed to be getting treatment for his gambling problems. Under the earth where, the person was last scene, the police find an operating theater, and a possible contagion. One that could infest the city, but in what no body knows.

A dark story of alienation, selfishness, being alone, not fitting in, and of course body horror, and the acts that some people will commit to make a society they think is beneficial. The story is easy to follow, with a plot that slowly expands into something much bigger than one expects. The horror is subtle, the body horror is not gratuitous, nor is it overly bloody. Yet. The horror is building slowly, and more about the loss of control. And in the police, having a boss that makes you climb down manholes to see what is down below. The ari is really good, with great character design, backgrounds and disgusting creatures. What I liked most about the art was that so much of it took place in open spaces, with full light. This seems more unsettling to me, then something underground. The story does a very good job of complimenting the art, and vice versa.

An enjoyable story with a lot of potential. Hidden conspiracys, mosquitos, roundworms, operating theaters under manholes. There is a lot of scary stuff here, and quite a good story to enjoy. I look forward to further installments in this series.

One of my worst nightmares is having worms crawling under my skin, so this was a creepy book! I liked the setup of the mystery as the main characters investigate a strange new parasite. There's some gruesome scenes for horror and slasher fans. However, felt like the volume petered out with so much of the story left for later issues. Needed some closure to round out the volume.

I love horror manga and this was a good fun read. I liked the mystery and I felt investigation had a good pace and sense of development. I liked how it cut between the investigation and the spreading infection, it did a lot to build tension. The ARC I was given had some quality issues regarding the artwork (looked like a scan issue), so I cant offer any good judgement on that aspect of the manga, but I can say that the design and idea behind the parasite creatures was phenomenally gross and disturbing. When this does get released, I would love to come back and see how everything looks. Overall: great read, I will be on the lookout for the next volume.

Thank you netgalley for the free ebook in exchange for a honest review.

Oof, this is CREEEEPY. Two of my least favorite things, lobotomies and parasitic worms. This is only the beginning of a very messed up plague. Shudders.

First off, I could barely read this and I want to be up front and say I did not finish this. The art style instantly hurt my eyes and I could only read for a minute or two before I would need to stop, otherwise I'd get a terrible headache. That being said, the story was an instant banger. If I could have read for longer, I think I could have finished this story in one go. I'm interested to see how this turns out physically, and if it will be easier on the eyes.

Manhole was actually interesting, even though I'm not that into horror manga. Manhole is three books long, so short, and that's good. The story is quite realistic, but disgusting. Japanese detectives start to investigate these weird deaths that end up being caused by a worm that lives in the eye and ends up eating brains in the process. The culprit wants to clean the world from bad intentions and infects people with the worms, since they take away people's wants and needs. The whole story is too realistic even and becoming a pandemic. I would've wanted to know more about the culprit and his motives from way back, since his journeys seemed interesting. The story moves fast once again and we know so much already by the end of the book that I have hard time believing there's gonna be that much new stuff in the latter parts.

The art looks stiff and manly, which eats some of the pleasure from reading. The female police seems jaded and the man is surely the man. This bothered me. Also, there's quite a lot blood and gore in the series. This could work, but fails to serve a greater purpose. Otherwise surely interesting and I was afraid of manhole even before this, but now I need to avoid them completely.

Manhole is graphically deranged and is the start of an intriguing mystery!

Manhole follows two detectives as they work to solve a terrifying death. These two detectives each are working towards different angles of the story and I loved getting to see how they mingled together at times and also had their own piece of the puzzle to work towards. Additionally, this story is just gruesome and gory. It just took me by surprise at exactly how dismal this story could be at times. I think that Tetsuya Tsutsui is just such a fantastic storyteller and I cannot wait to see how this story develops.

The one thing that I didn't exactly enjoy in this story, was how long it took to understand what was going on. It took it just a bit too long to understand exactly what was going on. I did love it when I started to piece it together, however the exposition is building to something great and I cannot wait to see what happens next.

Perfect for fans of the Strain, and Resident Evil!