#picross 2

Top: the demo mode of Picross 2, the Japan-only sequel for Mario's Picross on the Game Boy, shows a puzzle titled "Picross 2" that depicts a realistic man with a mustache, explorer hat and hammer.

Bottom: how Mario appears in the game. Due to being called "Picross 2" and wearing the same hat, holding the same hammer and having a mustache, it is almost certain that this man is supposed to be a realistic rendering of Mario himself.

More rare Benimaru Itoh comics for you, this time from Shogakukan’s Wonder Life Special guidebooks for the first three Picross games from Jupiter (Mario’s Picross (GB), Mario’s Super Picross (SNES), and Picross 2 (GB)). Again they are in full, vibrant colour and read left-to-right and with sound effects in English already, so they’re very accessible. Also I translated all the text from Japanese into English.

Also included are all the unique artworks that Itoh drew for the books, collated and cleaned up. I love his style! I also love Peach’s outfits, Wario’s absurd villain portrayal, and Picross puzzles being an integral part of the comic’s plot.

Thanks again to Ragey for the scans, and it’s worth checking out the raws because these books also contain a wealth of unique Picross puzzles in their pages. There are solvable puzzles during the comic, but some of them had been filled in already by the book’s previous owner. And I didn’t bother translating any text explaining how to solve Picross that appeared in the comic sections.

Read at Flickr

Read at Mangadex