, also credited as Illustrator Unit Gurihiru and Gurihiru Studios, is a Japanese illustration duo, consisting of Chifuyu Sasaki (workplan design,

pencils A pencil () is a writing or drawing implement with a solid pigment core in a protective casing that reduces the risk of core breakage and keeps it from marking the user's hand. Pencils create marks by physical abrasion (mechanical), abrasi ...

inks Ink is a gel, sol, or solution that contains at least one colorant, such as a dye or pigment, and is used to color a surface to produce an image, text, or design. Ink is used for drawing or writing with a pen, brush, reed pen, or quill. T ...

) and Naoko Kawano (workplan design,

colors Color (or colour in Commonwealth English; see spelling differences) is the visual perception based on the electromagnetic spectrum. Though color is not an inherent property of matter, color perception is related to an object's light absorpt ...

, webdesign). Both originating from

Sapporo is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in Hokkaido, Japan. Located in the southwest of Hokkaido, it lies within the alluvial fan of the Toyohira River, a tributary of the Ishikari River. Sapporo is the capital ...

, Japan, they are currently based in Saitama, mainly working as artists for American comics. The two women are art school graduates who worked as web designers and art museum receptionists prior to their work in comics. After winning 2nd place in a

manga are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

competition, they were advised by the organizer of the contest that their art style didn't fit the Japanese market. They decided to try the American market and have since illustrated many American comics and graphic novels.

Work

The pair have worked on several

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

titles, such as ''

Power Pack Power Pack is a superhero team consisting of four young siblings appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Louise Simonson and artist June Brigman, they first appeared in their own series in 1984, which las ...

'', ''

Fantastic Four The Fantastic Four, often abbreviated as FF, is a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team debuted in '' The Fantastic Four'' #1 ( cover-dated November 1961), helping usher in a new level of realism i ...

'', ''Gus Beezer & Spider Man'', and '' The Unbelievable Gwenpool''. They have also worked on the '' Avatar: The Last Airbender'' comic series with writer Gene Luen Yang, beginning in 2012 with '' The Promise'' and ending their run in 2017 with ''North and South''. Their game credits include human character design for

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

's game ''

Sonic Unleashed is a 2008 platform game developed by Sonic Team and published by Sega. An installment in the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series, it follows Sonic as he attempts to restore the world after his nemesis Doctor Eggman shatters it with a powerful las ...

'' (2008) and its accompanying 3DCG short '' Sonic: Night of the Werehog'', and character design for

Bandai Namco Entertainment is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational video game video game publisher, publisher, and the video game branch of the wider Bandai Namco Holdings group. Founded in 2006 as it is the successor to Namco's home and arcade video game ...

's game ''Treasure Report: The Mechanized Legacy'' (2011). They were also in charge of illustrating flyers for the

Kansai The or the lies in the southern-central region of Japan's main island Honshū. The region includes the prefectures of Nara, Wakayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Hyōgo and Shiga, often also Mie, sometimes Fukui, Tokushima and Tottori. The metropoli ...

comedy troupe ''Gekidan HikoHiko''. In 2019, Gurihiru began illustrating the

limited series In the field of comic books, and particularly in the United States, a limited series is a comics series with a predetermined number of issues. A limited series differs from an ongoing series in that the number of issues is finite and determined ...

''Superman Smashes the Klan'', with writer Yang, which was loosely based on the 1946 '' The Adventures of Superman'' radio show's story-arc, "Clan of the Fiery Cross". ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' review of the ''Superman Smashes the Klan'' trade paperback stated, "Gurihiru's rendering is a mash-up that pairs contemporary Japanese manga, with its conventional large eyes, and clean-lined, charmingly retro figuration reminiscent of the

Fleischer Studios Fleischer Studios () was an American animation studio founded in 1929 by brothers Max and Dave Fleischer, who ran the pioneering company from its inception until its acquisition by Paramount Pictures in 1942, the parent company and the distri ...

Superman cartoons of the early 1940s, full of striking, often dreamy swaths of uncluttered color. Weirdly, it works. The vibrant visual world is controlled and inviting. Despite the hilarity of Superman's enormous, almost frame-breaking body, Gurihiru's cross-cultural artistic approach avoids the gimmicky". ''Superman Smashes the Klan'' was the 2020

Harvey Award The Harvey Awards are given for achievement in comic books. Named for writer-artist Harvey Kurtzman, the Harvey Awards were founded by Gary Groth in 1988, president of the publisher Fantagraphics, to be a successor to the Kirby Awards, which were ...

s winner for Best Children or Young Adult Book. It also won both Best Publication for Kids and Best Adaptation from Another Medium at the 2021

Eisner Awards The Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards, commonly shortened to the Eisner Awards, are awards for creative achievement in American comic books. They are regarded as the most prestigious and significant awards in the comic industry and often referred ...

. In December 2020,

Kelly Thompson Kelly Thompson is an American writer of novels and comic books. She is best known for the '' Jem and the Holograms'' comic with co-creator and artist Sophie Campbell, a modern re-imagining of the 1980s cartoon of the same name; the Eisner-nomin ...

teased a new 2021 Marvel project with Gurihiru by releasing an image of

Jeff the Land Shark Jeff the Land Shark (also known as Jeffrey) is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Kelly Thompson and artist Daniele di Nicuolo, the character First appearance, first appeared in ...

– Jeff was introduced in Thompson's ''

West Coast Avengers The West Coast Avengers is a fictional group of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The team first appeared in ''The West Coast Avengers'' #1 (Sept. 1984), created by Roger Stern and Bob Hall (comics), Bob Ha ...

'' (2018) as

Gwenpool Gwenpool (Gwendolyn "Gwen" Poole; colloquial: "GwenPool") is a fictional Character (arts), character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. A girl from the Reality, real world Isekai, transported to the Marvel Universe, Mar ...

's pet – created by the artists. ''It's Jeff!'' (2021), a silent humor comic by Thompson and Gurihiru, then premiered as part of the new '' Marvel's Infinity Comics'' program in September 2021; these digital comics are in the vertical scrolling format and are only available to Marvel Unlimited subscribers. Graeme McMillan, for ''

Polygon In geometry, a polygon () is a plane figure made up of line segments connected to form a closed polygonal chain. The segments of a closed polygonal chain are called its '' edges'' or ''sides''. The points where two edges meet are the polygon ...

'', commented that of the new ''Infinity Comics'', ''It's Jeff!'' "is pretty perfect from the start" and "an utter joy" unlike the rest of the line. Jim Dandeneau, for ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a UK and US-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a biannual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ' ...

'', wrote that ''It's Jeff!'' is "almost completely wordless, but the story, the emotion and the punchlines are all brilliantly conveyed by Gurihiru's art". It was nominated for Best Digital Comic at the 2022 Eisner Awards. A second season of ''It's Jeff!'' returned in September 2022. Jeff, with

Carol Danvers Carol Susan Jane Danvers is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Gene Colan, the character first appeared as an officer in the United States Air Force and a colleagu ...

, was featured on the

variant cover In comic books, a variant cover (sometimes variant edition) refers to an issue of a comic book printed with multiple covers, each with unique cover art. The first comic book marketed with a variant cover was the 1986 first issue of ''The Man of St ...

of ''Captain Marvel'' #39 with art by Gurihiru; this version was exclusive to Marvel Unlimited Annual Plus subscribers who attended

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...

in July 2022. Gurihiru then did two more variant covers, ''Captain Marvel'' #42 and ''Captain America: Symbol of Truth'' #6, which feature Jeff in October 2022. The first season was released in print in March 2023 as a one-shot issue. Hannah Rose, for '' CBR'', commented that "Gurihiru's sweet art style, with chalky, thin pencil-like lines, soft colors and papery textures, given depth by gentle lighting and subtle black placement, is allowed to speak for itself, making ''It's Jeff!'' #1 feel like a fulfilling and complete read". On their portrayal of

Loki Loki is a Æsir, god in Norse mythology. He is the son of Fárbauti (a jötunn) and Laufey (mythology), Laufey (a goddess), and the brother of Helblindi and Býleistr. Loki is married to the goddess Sigyn and they have two sons, Narfi (son of Lo ...

in the limited series ''Thor & Loki: Double Trouble'' (2021), Susana Polo, for ''Polygon'', wrote: "I love love love Gurihiru's rendering of Loki in this second issue of ''Thor & Loki: Double Trouble''. Incredible. Show-stopping. I could barely decide which panel was best". ''Comic Watch'' highlighted, "staying true to their style, Gurihiru's art is wholly exaggerated and energetic, deceptively simple, and on the whole incredibly cute. As with the previous ''Double Trouble'' title (and ''Superman Smashes the Klan''), the art from Gurihiru is a terrific fit for a book aimed at younger readers. ..The character designs for both Thor and Loki are delightful, perhaps even upstaging Gurihiru's designs for Spider-Man and Venom in the previous book". Also in 2021, Gurihiru once again partnered with Yang for the short story "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes" in the anthology ''DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration'' (2021). In May 2022, it was announced that Gurihiru were the artists, with writer Samuel Sattin, on an English-language

which is a reimagining of "The Cat on the Broomstick" story arc from

Osamu Tezuka Osamu Tezuka (, born , ''Tezuka Osamu'', – 9 February 1989) was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Considered to be among the greatest and most influential cartoonists of all time, his prolific output, pioneering techniques an ...

's ''

Unico is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's manga magazine ' from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. The series follows the titular unicorn as he uses his magi ...

.''

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the Astro Boy (1980 TV series), 1980 and Astro Boy (2003 TV series), 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and ''Black Jack ...

launched a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

that month to fund the project, which was fully funded within one day. The manga will be produced in both English and Japanese. On September 20, 2023, it was announced that the new Unico manga series would run for a total of 4 volumes with

Scholastic Corporation Scholastic Corporation is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, teachers, parents, children, and other educational institutions. P ...

publishing the series from its Graphix imprint label including a handbook. On October 27, 2023, Tezuka Productions announced the series to be given a worldwide release with De Fontein publishing the series in the Netherlands.

Awards and nominations

Bibliography

DC Comics

* ''

Superman Smashes the Klan ''Superman Smashes the Klan'' is a three-part superhero limited series comic book written by Gene Luen Yang with art by Gurihiru and published by DC Comics. It is a Superman story which is loosely based on the 1946 '' The Adventures of Superman ...

'' #1–3 (2019–20) ** ''Superman Smashes the Klan'' (TPB, 240 pages, 2020, ) * "The Monkey Prince Hates Superheroes", ''DC Festival of Heroes: The Asian Superhero Celebration'' anthology (2021)

Marvel Comics

* ''Marvelous Adventures of Gus Beezer & Spider-Man'' #1 (2004) * ''

'' #1–4 (2005) * ''X-Men and Power Pack'' #1–4 (2005-2006) * ''Avengers and Power Pack Assemble!'' #1–4 (2006) * ''Spider-Man and Power Pack'' #1–4 (2006–07) * ''Fantastic Four and Power Pack'' #1–4 (2007) * ''Iron Man and Power Pack'' #1–4 (2007–08) * ''Power Pack: Day One'' #1–4 (2008) * ''Wolverine and Power Pack'' #1–2, 4 (2008–09) * ''Tails of the Pet Avengers 1'' #1–2 (2009) * ''Thor and the Warriors Four'' #1–4 (2010) * ''Captain America: The Fighting Avenger'' #1 (2011) * ''A-Babies vs. X-Babies'' #1 (2012) * '' The Unbelievable Gwenpool'' #0–4, 7–10, 12–13, 16–20, 24–25 (2016–18) * ''Avengers and Power Pack Assemble!'' #1–8 (2017) * ''Fantastic Four and Power Pack'' #1–8 (2018) * ''

The Unstoppable Wasp ''The Unstoppable Wasp'' is an ongoing American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, A ...

'', vol. 2, #1–5, 8–10 (2018–19) * ''Power Pack: Grow Up!'' #1 (2019) * ''Spider-Man & Venom: Double Trouble'' #1–4 (2019–20) * ''The Rise of Ultraman'' #1 (2020) * ''Heroes at Home''

webcomic Webcomics (also known as online comics or Internet comics) are comics published on the internet, such as on a website or a mobile app. While many webcomics are published exclusively online, others are also published in magazines, newspapers, or ...

(2020) * ''Thor & Loki: Double Trouble'' #1–4 (2021) * ''The Trials of Ultraman'' #1 (2021) * ''Demon Days: X-Men'' #1 (cover; 2021) * '' It's Jeff! Infinity Comic'' – Season One (2021), Season Two (2022), Season Three (2023–2024), Season Four (2024–present) ** ''It's Jeff: Jeff-Verse'' (TPB, 128 pages, 2025, )

Dark Horse Comics

* '' Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise'' (2012) * '' Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Search'' (2013) * '' Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Rift'' (2014) * '' Avatar: The Last Airbender – Smoke and Shadow'' (2015–16) * '' Avatar: The Last Airbender – North and South'' (2016–17) * ''Disney / Pixar The Incredibles 2: Crisis in Mid-Life! & Other Stories'' #1–3 (2018)

Lucasfilm

* ''Star Wars English–Japanese Dictionary for Padawan Learners'' ( Gakken Marketing, 2014) * ''Star Wars English–Japanese Dictionary for Jedi Knights'' (Gakken Marketing, 2015) * ''Star Wars English–Japanese Dictionary for Jedi Masters'' (Gakken Marketing, 2016) * ''Star Wars: '' ("Star Wars: My Papa Became Darth Vader") (

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

, 2019)

Tezuka Productions

* (2024-ongoing) * ''Unico: Hunted'' (2025)

References

External links

* *
Gurihiru at Marvel Comics

Gurihiru at Dark Horse Comics
{{Authority control Japanese illustrators Comics studios Eisner Award winners Harvey Award winners Japanese female comics artists 21st-century Japanese women artists DC Comics people Marvel Comics people Comics duos