Returning home after a class trip, Teru Aoki takes the most frightening ride of his life aboard the shinkansen. Inside a mountain tunnel, the train runs off the tracks, killing nearly everyone aboard. In his horror at seeing so many of his classmates and teachers dead before his eyes, Teru finds one of his classmates-Ako Seto-tugging on his leg, despite her being barely conscious. Nobuo Takahashi, another classmate, has also survived the disaster but has emerged, somewhat deranged, as a "Master of the Darkness." When Ako finally regains her strength, Teru and Ako attempt to travel home but instead must dodge Nobuo and his spear. Eventually, Teru and Ako begin their long and lonely journey home - and their quest to figure out exactly what happened that afternoon in the mountain pass.

Teru Aoki       
A young man whose world comes off its tracks when the train he's riding on derails in a dark tunnel.

Ako Seto      
One of Teru's classmates. When Teru finds her, she's barely conscious.
   
Nobuo Takahashi      
Nobuo Takahashi, another classmate, has also survived the disaster but has emerged, somewhat deranged, as a "Master of the Darkness."

Imagine you're riding on a train, coming home after a class trip. The cabin is dark, since you've just entered a long, winding tunnel. You're sharing laughs with your friends, making fun of your teacher, trying to impress the classmate you have a crush on...

THEN SUDDENLY THE TRAIN VIOLENTLY BUCKLES AND ROCKS!! IS IT AN EARTHQUAKE?!! Before you even have time to ponder such a question, the train derails, knocking you unconscious...

When you wake up, the train is in ruins, it's pitch-black, and all your friends and teachers are dead, their bodies bloody and broken. You crawl over the debris and the bodies in search of survivors...and a way out. Eventually you see a beam of sunlight shining through the wreckage of the crumbling tunnel. You joyfully make your way outside...only to shockingly discover that the world has mysteriously become a post-apocalyptic nightmare...

Simply put, Dragon Head is the best "survival horror" manga I've ever read. It knocked me on the floor. It's gripping, intense, and loaded with suspense. Our protagonist, Teru Aoki, leads readers through a twisting tunnel full of carnage, despair, and madness...

No wonder Publisher's Weekly named it one of the best graphic novels of 2006!

- Paul Morrissey, Editor