Just in time for Christmas, Karl Marx is finding a new audience among Japanese comic book fans.
A "manga" version of his masterpiece, "Das Kapital," hit bookstores this month and sold about 6,000 copies in its first few days, said Yusuke Maruo of EastPress Co.
"I think people are looking to Marx for answers to the problems with capitalist society," Maruo said. "Obviously, the recent global crisis suggests that the system isn't working properly."
Maruo said he hopes the comic will provide an enjoyable introduction to the German political philosopher's original work, written in 1867. The targeted readers are office workers in their 30s. Christmas and New Year's are a prime time for publishers, as many people have vacations and more time to read.
The fictionalized Vol. 1 of "Das Kapital" chronicles a cheese factory run by protagonist Robin, who rebels against his father's socialist principles and becomes a slave driver after teaming up with a coldblooded capitalist investor. But Robin struggles between his capitalist ambitions and his sense of guilt over the exploitation of his workers.
Maruo said the manga "Das Kapital" had been planned earlier this year after a revival hit of the 1929 communist novel "The Crab Factory Ship," which portrays a ship's crew forced into harsh labor under a sadistic captain. Several annotated editions of "Das Kapital" were also released this year.
