To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Weekly Shonen Jump, Shueisha ran a creator spotlight called “Great Jump!!” (すごい ジャン!!) to get some thoughts of their current artists about Jump. The creator spotlight started in the 1998 Weekly Shonen Jump issue 29 and continued through issues 33 with various different creators being highlighted.
The fourth part of this spotlight series continued with the 32nd Weekly Shonen Jump issue in 1998 with the following creators:
- Hirohiko Araki (Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure)
- Yuko Asami (Wild Half)
- Hajime Kazu (Meiryōtei Gotō Seijūrō)
- Shou Makura & Takeshi Okano (Hell Teacher Nube)
- Takehiko Inoue (Slam Dunk)
- Makoto Niwano (Base Boys)
This issue also featured 9 page timeline of the major milestones of the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine since 1968. It also featured a “Special Guest” interview with Hiroshi Motomiya and Go Nagai.
The manga series Base Boys, by Makoto Niwano (にわのまこと), would premiere in the next issue of Weekly Shonen Jump (1998 issue 33). The series would only run for a total of 18 chapters and conclude in issue 51 in 1998 and be their last serialization in the magazine. Prior to this serialization they had numerous other series :
- The Momotaroh (ザ・モモタロウ) – 1987-1989 for 109 chapters
- Libero no Takeda (リベロの武田) – 1991-1992 for 84 chapters
- Bomber Girl – 1994 for 11 chapters
- Majima-kun Suttobasu!! (真島クンすっとばす!!) – 1995-1998 for 140 chapters
- Tōshin Susanoo (闘神スサノオー) – 1998 – single volume
(Due to printing issues, the image is misaligned)
The article begins with asking the author about his memories of Weekly Shonen Jump, which have been roughly translated below:
『すすめ!パイレーツ』と『北斗の拳』は私にとってバイブルに近い作品でしたね。だから、影響を受けすぎないように自らコミックスを封印して、読まないようにガマンしてた時期もありました･･･(笑)。特に『パイレーツ」は実在のプロ野球選手やアニメ、特撮をテッテ―的にパロったのは最高でした!
“Susume!! Pirates” and “Fist of the North Star” were almost like bibles for me. To prevent being influenced by them too much, for a while I locked the series away and endured not reading them… (laughs). In particular, “Pirates” was great since it parodied a real profession baseball team, but integrated anime and tokusatsu-like elements which was awesome!
Susume!! Pirates (すすめ!!パイレーツ) by Hisashi Eguchi (江口寿史) ran for 151 chapters between 1977 and 1980 in Weekly Shonen Jump. Hisashi Eguchi would later go on to create Stop!! Hibari-kun! (ストップ!!ひばりくん!) in 1981.
Fist of the North Star (北斗の拳), by Tetsuo Hara (art) and Buronson (story) ran from 1983 through 1988 for a total of 245 chapters in Weekly Shonen Jump.
In the last part of the article, Makoto Niwano, discusses his brief thoughts on numerous series he had in Weekly Shonen Jump and published by Shueisha which have been roughly translated.
The Momotaroh
右も左もわからぬ九州から出てきた男が全身全霊をこめた作品だ(笑)
This is series about a man from Kyushu who doesn’t know his left from his right, but he still gives it his all (laughs)
Libero no Takeda
Jリーグが出来るらしいと聞いてルールも知らず始めた(笑)
I began this when the formation of the J-League was underway, so I didn’t even know the rules yet (laughs)
Bomber Girl
Hで外道なおねーさんを描きたいという下心だけで始めた(笑)
I only started this series with the ulterior motive of wanting to draw sexy and evil ladies (laughs)
Majima-kun Suttobasu!!
これがコケたら後がないと、背水の陣で挑んだ作品です
If this series failed, I’d be screwed, so I went into this series with some desperation.
Tōshin Susanoo
この短編集の表紙の『闘神スサノオー』はカッコいいぞ!
The cover design for the short story collection “Tōshin Susanoo” is just really cool!
Below are some of the opening color pages for Base Boys series which premiered in Weekly Shonen Jump issue 33 in 1998 along with the cover for that issue:
