San Francisco-based publisher Last Gasp has acquired the license to Suehiro Maruo’s manga adaptation of Edogawa Rampo’s chilling 1929 short story, The Caterpillar, slated for release in both hardcover and paperback editions in 2026. This marks another addition to Last Gasp’s catalog of distinctive and often provocative works, further cementing their commitment to underground and counterculture art.
Bringing The Caterpillar to Western Audiences
The forthcoming release will introduce Maruo’s unique artistic vision to a broader English-speaking readership. The Caterpillar manga, originally serialized in Enterbrain’s Comic Beam magazine from May to August 2009, was compiled into a single volume in October 2009. It garnered international recognition, including a nomination for Best Comic at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2010.
The Macabre Source Material
Maruo’s manga is a direct adaptation of Edogawa Rampo’s unsettling short story of the same name. Rampo, a renowned Japanese author celebrated for his detective and suspense fiction, penned “The Caterpillar” in 1929. The narrative delves into the dark psychological space of a war hero, Lieutenant Sunaga, who returns from World War I severely disfigured, having lost all four limbs and his ability to speak. The story primarily focuses on his wife, Sunaga, who initially provides care but eventually succumbs to a mixture of loathing and mistreatment toward her completely dependent husband, who is described as resembling a human caterpillar.
The original short story explores profound themes of war’s lingering trauma, societal neglect of veterans, and the deterioration of human dignity and relationships under extreme duress. Maruo’s adaptation is noted for its “ero-guro” (erotic grotesque) style, employing crisp, clear lines to depict erotic body horror, which aligns perfectly with the story’s disturbing elements.
Suehiro Maruo’s Distinctive Style
Suehiro Maruo is celebrated for his dark, often shocking, and visually striking works that frequently blend themes of the erotic, the grotesque, and the bizarre. His artistry is considered a masterful representation of the “ero-guro” movement in manga. Prior to The Caterpillar, Last Gasp also published Maruo’s manga adaptation of Rampo Edogawa’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island in 2013, which was nominated for a Will Eisner Comic Industry Award in 2014. Last Gasp plans to release a paperback edition of The Strange Tale of Panorama Island in October 2025.
Last Gasp’s Legacy in Publishing
Last Gasp, founded in 1970 by Ron Turner, has a long history as a San Francisco-based publisher, distributor, and wholesaler, particularly known for its focus on underground comix, lowbrow art, and counterculture literature. The publisher has been instrumental in bringing unique and often challenging voices to print, initially with titles like Slow Death Funnies and later expanding into art books, graphic novels, and fiction. This upcoming release of The Caterpillar continues Last Gasp’s tradition of offering compelling and unconventional narratives to a dedicated readership.
