Horror manga continue to thrive in the present, not just because of high-profile adaptations of Uzumaki, but because of new and fascinating series coming to North America for the first time, like Manhole and Leviathan. As part of Abrams ComicArts’ new Kana imprint, two new horror series recently hit bookstore and comic book shelves: Tetsuya Tsutsui’s Biological Horror Mystery Manhole and Shiro Kuroi’s sci-fi thriller Leviathan. Courtesy of Kana and Abrams ComicArts, Screen Rant generously received a brief preview of Manhole volume #1.
Manhole is a three-volume horror mystery that follows Ken Mizoguchi and Nao Inoue, two detectives who investigate a series of deaths that unfold into a potentially deadly conspiracy. As the intrigue grows from murders to a potential global pandemic, the biological agent causing the infection continues to grow as Mizoguchi and Inoue pursue their leads. In Manhole volume #1, readers will immediately be treated to a thrilling and chilling start to a concise and tense story.
Kana’s Manhole Volume #1 Preview Teases an Intrusive Bio-Horror Threat
Tetsuya Tsutsui creates a skin-deep modern thriller
As shown in glimpses of several of the ManholeAn autopsy quickly takes a dark turn when Tadao Sugano, a medical examiner for the Sasahara Police Department, finds disturbing clues on a corpse. The pages highlight how the corpse was found with trace elements of trichloromethane, an anesthetic, as well as protruding blood vessels in the corpse’s head and eyes. But looking closer, Manhole takes an uncomfortable turn when the deceased’s eyelid opens independently, with Sugano extracting what looks like a large parasite from inside his eye, suggesting the man was more of a victim than a medical accident.
The fact that the eye is openly twitching, with the foreign worm-shaped body squirming between the doctor’s grasp, is enough to make readers curious about the extent of the threat from the biological agent in the Manhole.
Manhole takes advantage of the discomfort of such an autopsy scene, with touches of body horror associated with an intrusive biological agent. The fact that the eye is openly twitching, with the foreign worm-like body squirming between the doctor’s tweezers, is enough to make readers curious about the extent of the biological agent’s threat to the world. Manhole. But this isn’t the only series recently made available by Kana, with Leviathan simultaneously hitting book and comic book stores just in time for Halloween.
Manhole and Leviathan Manga hit shelves at the perfect time for Halloween
Sci-fi and body horror fans rejoice
Both Manhole and Leviathan the first volumes of the manga are available in North American markets from October 29, 2024, in bookstores and on October 30, 2024, in comic book stores. While Manhole features a more grounded mystery premise, Leviathan promises a sci-fi horror adventure that fans of Moebius, Star Wars, Katsuhiro Otomoand Foreigner you will like it. It becomes a grim story of survival when looters find the abandoned Leviathan ship in space, where student Kazuma’s diary tells a brutal account of his crew’s mental breakdown as the ship ran out of oxygen.
But the story is still ongoing, as the looters realize that a survivor may still be aboard the ship. Leviathanwhich is not to be confused with the eponymous apocalyptic horror manhwa, features the brilliant illustrations of Shiro Kuroi, a perfect complement to Manhole release. Both Manhole and Leviathan can be researched in more detail on the Abrams ComicArts pages.
Sources: Press Preview, Manhole at Abrams ComicArts, Leviathan at Abrams ComicArts