Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson

Legend has it that if you take your guitar and stand at a crossroads at the witching hour, the devil will appear. He'll grab your instrument, play a song, and hand it back to you. You'll walk away an expert bluesman, but you'll have to pay the price: your immortal soul. The year is 1929. Deep in the Mississippi Delta, a young man named R J dreams of becoming a bluesman. R J is a simple farmer who can barely play guitar, but when he takes a midnight stroll, his life is forever changed. A phantasmagoric reimagining of the life of legendary blues great Robert Johnson, Ore to Akuma no Blues follows the journey of a man who really did sell his soul to the devil. Why not come along for the ride? (Source: Del Rey, edited)

Ore to Akuma no Blues was previously serialized in Afternoon until it went on hiatus in 2008. It resumed in Young Magazine the 3rd on September 5, 2014. Del Rey published the series in English as Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson in two 2-in-1 omnibus from July 29, 2008 to December 30, 2008. A combination horror story and re-telling of the mythologies of the American South, Ore to Akuma no Blues (Me and the Devil Blues) features RJ, a man who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for the devil teaching him to play the blues. The story features many elements familiar to American readers but not much featured in Japanese comics, including the practice of lynching and the sharp racial divisions in the south around the time of the story.