Big Comic

Big Comic
Cover of April 25, 2008 issue
Editor in ChiefMasaichirō Kurashina
CategoriesSeinen manga[1][2]
FrequencySemimonthly on the 10th and 25th
Circulation302,333[2]
(July–September, 2016)
First issue18 February 1968
CompanyShogakukan
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese
Websitebigcomicbros.net/bigcomic/

Big Comic (ビッグコミック, Biggu Komikku) is a semimonthly seinen manga magazine published since 18 February 1968 by Shogakukan in Japan.[3][4] It was originally launched as a monthly magazine, but switched to twice monthly on the 10th and 25th beginning in April 1968. It is paired with sister magazine Big Comic Original, going on sale in the weeks Big Comic Original does not. Circulation in 2008 was reported at slightly over a half-million copies.[5] but by mid-2015 had declined to 315,000,[6] as part of an industry-wide trend in manga magazine sales.

The magazine has published works by a number of well-known manga artists, including Osamu Tezuka, Shotaro Ishinomori, Sanpei Shirato, Takao Saito, Fujiko Fujio A, Fujiko F. Fujio, and Tetsuya Chiba. Big Comic also serializes Saito's Golgo 13, which is the oldest manga series still in publication.

The front cover of the magazine featured a caricature of a famous individual by manga illustrator Shūichi Higurashi for more than forty years.[7] Higurashi's drawings were featured on the cover of Big Comic from 1970 until 2011.[7] Higurashi retired in the autumn of 2011 due to failing health.[7]

List of works

Currently serialized

These series appear according to a regular schedule in the magazine.

  • Golgo 13 (ゴルゴ13) by Takao Saito
  • Hinemosu no Tari Nikki (ひねもすのたり日記) by Tetsuya Chiba (since 2015)
  • Deep3 written by Mitsuhiro Mizuno and illustrated by Ryosuke Tobimatsu
  • Ōgon no Rafu: Sōta no Stance (黄金のラフ〜草太のスタンス〜) by Tsuyoshi Nakaima
  • S - Saigo no Keikan (S エス‐最後の警官‐) by Yoichi Komori and Yutaka Toudo
  • Shin C-Kyu Salaryman Koza (新C級さらりーまん講座) by Keisuke Yamashina
  • Sōmubu Sōmuka Yamaguchi Roppeita (総務部総務課山口六平太), written by Norio Hayashi and illustrated by Ken'ichirō Takai
  • Sekuhara-kachō no Tsubuyaki (五月原課長のつぶやき) by Tōru Nakajima
  • Gallery Fake (ギャラリーフェイク) by Fujihiko Hosono (continued from Big Comic Spirits)

Irregularly serialized

These series are currently serialized, but have no specific schedule for when each chapter appears in the magazine.

  • Uchū Kazoku Nobeyama by Jirō Okazaki

Formerly serialized

References

  1. ^ Jason Thompson (2007). Manga: The Complete Guide. Del Rey Books. p. 327–239. ISBN 978-0-345-48590-8.
  2. ^ a b "Men's Manga" (in Japanese). Japanese Magazine Publishers Association. September 2016. Retrieved November 6, 2016.
  3. ^ ビッグコミック. AD Pocket (in Japanese). Shogakukan. Archived from the original on 5 March 2009. Retrieved 14 July 2022.
  4. ^ Frederik L. Schodt (1996). Dreamland Japan: writings on modern manga. Stone Bridge Press. p. 97. ISBN 1-880656-23-X.
  5. ^ Japan Magazine Publishers Association Magazine Data 2008 Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine,
  6. ^ Japan Magazine Publishers Association Magazine Data June 2015. Retrieved Oct. 28, 2015.
  7. ^ a b c "Big Comic Cover Artist Shūichi Higurashi Passes Away". Anime News Network. April 19, 2012. Retrieved May 3, 2012.