King of the Hill may have given conservative parents nightmares in the ’90s, but this Junji Ito crossover from Woodrow White hits different.
Existential horror and creeping dread probably aren’t the first things that come to mind when someone mentions King of the Hill, but that doesn’t mean they don’t make interesting bedfellows. TMNT artist Woodrow White has created a bizarre crossover that places the characters of Mike Judge’s iconic animated series into a Junji Ito manga.
For those that don’t already know the name, Juniji Ito is kind of like the Stephen King of Japanese manga. While less known to a mainstream audience, Junji Ito has a cult following amongst fans of horror, dark fantasy and manga. Hell, horror master Guillermo del Toro even had him working on the now infamous Silent Hills video game, alongside Hideo Kojima.
So as you can see, an odd choice for a King of the Hill crossover. Nonetheless, that’s exactly what Woodrow White has done; combining lovably daft characters with imagery and story scenarios that will send a shiver up your spine.
Woodrow White is currently working as a visual artist on the upcoming (and untitled) TMNT film, which is due for release in 2023. His style isn’t particularly reminiscent of Junji Ito, or manga in general. Nonetheless, he does appear to have a knack for creating unsettling imagery with a pop culture twist.
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Woodrow made the King of the Hill Junji Ito crossover using Photoshop, and remarked that he might “have created a new genre“. And while I’m not sure I’d go that far at this stage, I’d like to see more of these visual experiments.
Junji Ito didn’t have any involvement with this King of the Hill mash-up, as he’s been hard at work on his own material. Netflix is releasing an animated series called Junji Ito Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre. The series is set for release in 2023.
