On Their Frontlines Vol. 1

On Their Frontlines is a profound and powerful exploration of emotion, desperation, sexuality, morality, and humanity, highly recommended for both personal and public library graphic novel collections.– “Midwest Book Review”
It’s a very powerful work.– “Near Mint Condition”
It looks lush and complicated in all the right ways.– “AIPT Comics”
What a heartbreaking and poignant title this is.– “Bright and Shiny Shiny”
Through her panels and words, Komiya interweaves the characters’ stories with that of a Japan finding its footing after defeat and destruction, and the different ways individuals experienced the same historical moment.– “Broken Frontier”
The poignant, intimately told debut by interdisciplinary artist Komiya imagines the tangled inner lives of Japanese women who married occupying American soldiers after WWII… Komiya’s sweet-faced, doll-like figures contrast achingly with scenes of wartime devastation and postwar squalor.– “Publishers Weekly, Starred Review”
A poignant debut that affirms the everyday women who survived Japan’s postwar years.– “Kirkus, Starred Review”
Interdisciplinary artist Komiya debuts her first manga, showcasing hauntingly intense, emotionally meticulous black-and-white panels about a quartet of vastly different WWII survivors bound together by the need to rebuild broken lives.– “Booklist”
As I became captivated by its raw immediacy, the pain of those erased from existence overwhelmed me with its sheer weight. I was so overpowered by its fierce expressiveness I had to close my eyes repeatedly.–Yukari Takinami
This work depicts the turbulent lives of four individuals whose paths unravel and intertwine within the complex postwar relationship between Japan and America, all rendered with quiet precision. I prayed that each might find happiness, even amidst their difficult circumstances.–Takako Shimura (author of Wandering Son)

Marina Lisa Komiya is an interdisciplinary artist based in Tokyo. Komiya’s work explores new methods of reproduction through a queer perspective with various mediums such as biotechnology, performance, video works, manga, and more. They are also a host of a queer artists platform, “FAQ?” and the collective “Reproductive Garden Project.”

Diana Taylor is a queer Japanese-English localizer and writer of color based in Washington, D.C. They have translated and edited nearly one hundred and fifty volumes for North American manga publishers, including artist commentary for The Art of Rumiko Takahashi: Colors 1978-2024.

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