Comic Thoughts: Junji Ito (3 titles)
It's been a while since I've read any Junji Ito stuff, despite having loved Uzumaki and the Amigara Fault (the later turned me into a permanent fan). On a trip today I picked up 3 of his novels: Remina, Sensor, and Black Paradox.
Remina didn't do much for me. It lacked any real depth and didn't give me that twinge of dread I want when reading cosmic horror. It did have a couple of memorable horrific scenes that were truly deranged (in the good Junji Ito way), but was overall a disappointment.
I enjoyed Sensor much more. The story beats were more substantial and it had some really great chapters. There was a bit with bugs that was really good stuff, and the story had good overall weird vibes to it. Still, it wasn't great -- I started questioning whether I was just viewing his stuff through rose-tinted glasses.
However, Black Paradox was fantastic. Really good stuff, twisted in the right ways, strange as hell and dark. It's the shortest of the three, but the best by strides. The setup was great, the development was great, and the characters were interesting.
Black Paradox is a real gem, and definitely belongs on the shelf next to Uzumaki and Tomie; the other two just get to go there because of alphabetical ordering.