Pleasant boy Gori Ippei | Katsumi Shimomoto | Weekly Shonen Magazine pg.4 (1968)

Size : 24,4 x 34 cm
Media : pencil & ink on paper
Very good condition

Shimomoto Katsumi (1941‑) is a Japanese mangaka who produced relatively few works and had only a short career as a commercial manga artist.
However, he is a prominent figure among gekiga artists, has influenced many mangaka, remains well-known within the Japanese manga community, and continues to maintain connections with other creators.

Shimomoto made his debut in 1965 with short stories published by Mebae Shobo (Osaka). He later published several kashihon (rental book) works through Central Publishing in Nagoya and Tokyo-sha in Tokyo. 
During this period, he was part of the Kokubunji gekiga artist scene and, although he was not a founding member, he was closely connected to Gekiga Kōbō, the group founded by Yoshihiro Tatsumi in 1959.
The Gekiga Kōbō was a small collective in which artists exchanged ideas and worked collaboratively in pursuit of gekiga as a distinct style from mainstream children’s manga.

Its founding members included Tatsumi, Takao Saitō, Masaaki Sato, Masahiko Matsumoto, Shōichi Sakurai, Fumiyasu Ishikawa, Kei Motomitsu, and Susumu Yamamori.

Shimomoto associated with Tatsumi, Takao Saito, Masaaki Sato, and Shintaro Miyawaki during this period.

In 1968, Shimomoto moved from rental books to mainstream magazines, serializing Pleasant Boy Gori Ippei in Weekly Shonen Magazine (Kodansha). He also published in Bessatsu Magazine and Shonen King, though he eventually paused commercial manga work, as weekly magazines did not suit his style.

Shimomoto regularly participates in manga-related events and exhibitions and is proud that, despite his age, he still has a large fanbase and many friends in the Japanese manga community. Kokichi Igarashi, Kora Mikijiro, Masakazu Sakurai, Masaaki Sato, Yoshihiro Tatsumi, Toshio Uchiki, Shigeru Mizuki, and Shintaro Miyawaki are just a few of the names easily linked to Shimomoto.