PART 33 of 52 ONESHOTS in 52 WEEKS
小池桂一の『ラザロ・フランコの午前4時』 “Lazaro Franco’s 4 A.M.” by KOIKE Keiichi
Keiichi Koike is an exciting mangaka, whose surreal works often explore the psyche and perception. Although Japan is renowned for strict anti-drug laws, author Koike is very open about his experiences with drugs and the inspirations they have on his manga. He is best known for the series Ultra Heaven, which is set in a future where drugs are legally sanctioned, and follows a young man’s world-altering experiences with a particularly intense substance.
Another of the author’s acclaimed works is a 2003 anthology titled Heaven’s Door, which collects a series of creative and psychedelic oneshots. It is Keiichi Koike’s first complete manga to receive an official English publication, with U.S. publisher Last Gasp releasing a translated version at the beginning of 2022. One of the collection’s longest pieces, and the one I’ll be looking at today, is a oneshot titled Lazarus Franco’s 4 A.M., which was first published in Comic Sukora in 1985. The eponymous title is sometimes referred to by the more direct translation of Lazaro Franco.
Set in Manhattan, Lazarus Franco’s 4 A.M. follows a Japanese tourist named Koji, whose New Yorker friend takes him for a night of drug-fuelled partying. Following the party, Koji makes the acquaintance of Lazarus Franco, a Brazilian dealer who has an uncanny recollection of Koji. The two become entwined in a tribal ceremony where, under the influence of a legendary substance known as ‘Deathweed,’ Koji must guide Lazarus through a psychedelic retribution for his past sins.
It is a fascinating tale of excess and spiritualism, that does well to capture the seduction and ‘reality’ of drug-induced hallucinations, where the more spiritually-minded pay great heed to their visions. The plot is well-paced at 32 pages, with a particularly frenetic and spectacular crescendo. The unlikely character pair play well off of one another, acting as unlikely shepherd and ill-fated sheep within a shared psychoactive state, with author Koike’s exemplary art envisaging the surreal with impressive fidelity.
His bold lines and character designs are similar in guise to Katsuhiro Otomo, although it is Keiichi Koike’s shading which gives his artwork its unique flavour. With a multitude of dots and dashes, Koike produces a dramatic portrayal of shadow and definition. This outstanding detail extends also to the author’s background subjects. The party scene in particular is notable for its bustle and attentiveness, where the characters in the background are active and present participants, not only in their actions and movements, but also their dialogue, with intersecting conversations helping to form a genuine and lived-in environment.
The artwork continues to impress through its latter psychedelic imagery, which is aided by creative panel arrangement, with repeating and over-lapping panels, and a mixture of first and third person perspectives, shaping a spectacularly bizarre journey into the sub-conscious. Lazarus Franco’s 4 A.M. is a brilliant encapsulation of the distinctive quality of Keiichi Koike’s manga, where his art supplements a wonderfully rich imagination, fashioning some truly indelible scenarios which grip through their ingenuity and astonishing detail. Sadly, Keiichi Koike hasn’t produced any new manga since 2011, but Heaven’s Door is flush in inventive and experimental stories, of which the oneshot format hosts so well.
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Morning, Roo 