Taiyo Matsumoto was born in 1967 in Tokyo. Beginning with his comic publishing debut in 1986 in the highly regarded manga magazine Afternoon, Matsumoto went on to become one of the most notable new manga talents of the 1990s. His work is often characterized as a unique mélange of European, American, and Japanese comics art styles. Citing Katsuhiro Otomo's Domu as the work that inspired him to become a comics artist, Matsumoto comments, "American comics are powerful and cool. European comics seem very intellectual. And Japanese comics are very light-hearted. If you could combine the best of all three, you could create some really tremendous work. That's my goal." Several of works have been translated into French, while he is best known to the Anglophone world for Black and White, published by Viz Comics.
Matsumoto's collected works include Zero (1990), Hanao ("Flower Man") (1991), Tekkonkinkurito (aka "Black and White") (1993), Aoi haru ("Blue Spring") (1993), 100 (1995), Ping Pong (1996), 101 (1999), Go Go Monster (2000), and No. 5 (2002).
Black & White vol. 1