Participating Fred & Yuki pg5 by Fumi Suenaga

Size 23.2 x 39 cm | Media : ink on paper

Originally published in 1972 & bundled in 'Nikaiya no Prostitute' Wise publication, 2007

Fumi Suenaga (1949-2018) a.k.a. Ayako Suenaga or Ayako Ito .
After dropping out of the Musashino Art University and the Chuo University, she started worked as a manga artist for 'Ribon Comic' (Shueisha)
It's hard to believe that the person that, in the 1960's, drew the most innocent Shõjo manga (as Ayako Suenaga) also, in the 1970's and 80's, drew such heartbreaking gekiga
Although never without a smile on her face, Fumi didn't have the easiest life and that reflects in her work ! The emptiness and loneliness a woman feels as she ages, and the feeling of heartbreak and loss, are feelings present throughout her stories.
Whilst her innocent stories of the 1960's were mainly published in Ribon, her adult gekiga material was published in the more renowned mangazines such as 'Young Comic', 'COMIC Baku', Comic VAN etc
In the late 1980's she found happiness in her profession as a 'Mental Health Social Worker' and only occasionally entered drawings for publication
Some of her best work is bundled by 'Wise Publishing' (2007) in 'Nikaiya no Prostitute' (Fumi Suenaga Art Collection) - including short stories such as 'Holding Dawn', 'Outside the Darkness', 'Expression Hell' & 'Fly Banai Night'