The Complete 'Tomie' in One Big Book

Tomie: Complete Deluxe Edition (2016, Viz Media)
Story and Art: Junji Ito
Rating: Nine of Ten Stars

High school girl Tomie is found dismembered by an unknown killer. When she later shows up at school, alive and well and insisting she doesn't know anything about being murdered, it's the beginning of an ever-expanding web of madness, violence, and murder.

"Tomie" is the best known and most commercially successful work by Japanese horror comics writer and artist Juni Ito. It lasted for 20 installments in the magazines "Halloween Monthly" and "Namuki", running from 1987 to 2000, and has so far been adapted into seven live-action horror films (the first in 1999 and the most recent in 2011). It has been translated into English and published in collected volumes a number of times, most recently by Viz Media.

The series revolves around its title character, who, although she is mostly absent in a few of the stories, is always at the center of a maelstrom of lust and violent murders. Invariably, Tomie herself ends up murdered herself... but she never stays dead for long. (While I would normally consider that a spoiler that aspect of the series is given away on the cover of the collection this review is about.)

Whether she's a demon, the manifestation of an angry spirit, or some sort of evil parasitical creature that feeds off lust and homicidal violence, Tomie is both the beauty and the beast in this series. She uses her beauty to fill men and women with obsession and spur them onto committing murderous acts against each other and Tomie herself, all in an attempt to possess her, or to keep others from possessing her.

The latest English-language edition of "Tomie" collects all the stories that Junji Ito did with the character, in one big 700+-page book. They are a fascinating read, because you get to see how Ito's improved as an artist from his first professional work (which was also the first Tomie story) through to when he perfected his style. Reading all these stories also gives you a survey of the themes that are common in this writer/artist's tales--obsessions turning into madness, horrific bodily transformations, and mysterious terrible horrors that arrive unexpectedly and remain forever unexplained. This complete collection also lets readers see that the Tomie stories come full circle, in the sense that the series opened with a series of linked stories that mixed science and the supernatural, and it ends with a series of linked stories that mix science and the supernatural.

Sandwiched in between these are other multi-part stories, and many single episodes... all of which are deeply horrific. In some other reviews of I've done Ito's work ("Gyo" and "Uzumaki", the latter being his greatest work so far), I've stated that he is among the very few creators whose horror comics are actually scary on the level that a movie can be scary. That great talent is on display time and time again in this book. If you are a fan of well-made horror films, and you haven't experienced Junji Ito, you are missing out, big time. A few of the "Tomie" stories are the typical twist-ending, poetic justice type affairs that make up the bulk of horror comics, but the vast majority of them are far beyond that.

Some of the most chilling stories I've read from Ito are included in this volume, and my most favorite are "Revenge" (where a search-and-rescue team find a naked girl in a snow storm, and solve a mystery), ""Little Finger" and "Boy" (stories that show Tomie at her monstrous), "Gathering" (where Tomie tries to break a man who is immune to her powers), "Moromi" (where a pair of men try to dispose of a dismembered Tomie in a creative fashion... with disastrous results), and "Waterfall Basin" (where strange happenings in a village culminate in a bizarre nocturnal parade).

Another aspect that I've always liked to the Tomie stories, and which is front-and-center in a number of the ones in this book, is the way that pieces of Tomie will grow into a full-fledged Tomie who then goes out in the world to wreak havoc. She's almost like a virus that keeps spreading. ("Gathering" reveals that someone can resist the Tomie Virus... but that even those who fight it off will be impacted by it. It also shows that as long as there is vanity, lust, and greed in the world, Tomie will never be stopped.)

"Tomie" is a must-read for horror fans... and that includes those who otherwise might be put off by the art style that is usually associated with Japanese comics. Ito's visuals fall closer to what until the past decade or two was the standard story-telling techniques in American comics. The only drawback I see to the book is that it is presented to read from right-to-left and back-to-front--opposite with how Western books and comics read, but in keeping with the original Japanese version. I still don't care for such half-assed translations, but it's long since become the standard, and I'm willing to accept it when it gives me access to great works such as the stories in this collection.



One final note: Junji Ito's favorite Tomie story ("Painter") was one that I could take or leave. It contained almost all the elements that are found throughout the various tales--which is why it may be Ito's personal favorite--but I thought it was average for this book and way below average for Ito's output in geneal.