Baron Yoshimoto Gekigacore with Special Guest Katsuya Terada

Born in China, growing up in Japan and later moving to the United States, Yoshimoto helped build and strengthen the graphic novel as an art form. From the graphic novel boom in the 1960s and 1970s and well into the 80's Yoshimoto contributed his innovative style including Gekiga art (for a mature audience with cinematic style). Yoshimoto has created works for Marvel comics and became close friends with Stan Lee. In the 1990s, he actively produced many artworks and did countless exhibitions under the pseudonym Ryu Manji. In the 2000s, his work moved to canvas. To his most recent exhibition at the Yayoi Museum in Tokyo Yoshimoto continues to be a legend and active participant in the history and future of graphic novel and the art world in general.