Ashita no Joe #2

The second volume of Tetsuya Chiba and Asao Takamori's celebrated boxing saga arrives in this Glénat edition, its cover centered on a bare-chested Joe locked in a fighting stance, fists raised and eyes burning with quiet intensity. Surrounding him against a vivid red background are four figures — a scarred, weathered trainer, a smiling older man, a young woman with a composed gaze, and a smaller boy in a Winning helmet and red boxing gloves — painting a vivid portrait of the world pressing in around this scrappy young fighter. This 2010 French edition is a fine entry point into one of manga's most enduring portraits of ambition and grit.