The announcement, back in 2008, that Top Shelf would be publishing an American version of the alt-manga anthology Ax created a frisson of excitement in the manga world. The 400-page book, which includes stories by Yoshihiro Tatsumi (The Push Man), Imiri Sakabashira (The Box Man), Kazuichi Hanawa (Doing Time), was originally scheduled to be published in December but encountered some delays. The long wait is over, however, and Ax is now available for preorder (and listed in Previews). The timing is rather fortuitious: Ax is the spiritual successor to Garo, the gekiga manga anthology that is the subject of an exhibit at the Center for Book Arts in New York and has gotten lots of people talking about alternative manga.