Uzumaki by Junji Ito (1997)
Uzumaki is a classic horror manga by Junji Ito, a grotesque, sprawling disaster epic with a very supernatural, cosmic horror spiraling down (no pun) from the outer rims of the storyline. It's often very sickening, and the mid-section, getting from the beginning of the story to its conclusion, seems to go the way of digressions and vignettes, some of which are shocking, some rather forgettable, but which seem presented in a confused, aimless manner. At first, we wonder: Is this building to something? Of course, in a graphic novel of this size, we know that it must. Some of Uzumaki is ridiculous, some of it sickening. All of it is fascinating and compelling. The artwork, rendered in beautiful black-and-white, is marvelous and full of hideous wonder.
