the drifting classroom, vols. 1 & 2

the drifting classroom, vol. 1
the drifting classroom, vol. 2
kazuo umezu
graphics/horror/scifi
viz media
published 1974

In the aftermath of a strange earthquake, an entire elementary school vanishes, leaving nothing but a hole in the ground.  While parents mourn and authorities investigate, the students and teachers find themselves somewhere far away...somewhere cold and dark...a lifeless, nightmarish wasteland in which their school stands like a lone fortress.  As panic turns to terror, as the rules start to fall apart, a sixth-grade boy named Sho and his friends must fight to survive in an alien world....

These books are terrifying!!  The first book merely sets up the story.  A huge earthquake lasting three minutes rips through the town and when it's all over an entire school and everyone in it has disappeared, leaving a giant hole in the ground.  When we next see the students and teachers the school is surrounded by sand with nothing else as far as they can see.

As reality sets in the adults seem to go nuts while the kids hold it together and try to save each other.  By the time the second book comes around it's just simply madness!  Complete edge of your seat, disbelief and horror.  Quite fantastic!