I would have intercourse with Osamu Tezuka.

hughtron

Tezuka is the bestivez.

I mean, obviously he created Astroboy, so he has that going for him. But he also made about a thousand other things just as awesome and just as crazy. I read on some blog somewhere (I think it was Bryan Lee O'Malley's) that until the day he died he averaged about ten pages of comics every damn day. Holy crap.

Osamu Tezuka is not just the Jack Kirby of Japan. He is the Osamu Tezuka of the world. Where Kirby made some completely insane and awesome and innovative superhero comics, Tezuka just made completely crazy and insane and awesome comics about everything.

Like Black Jack, which is to quote Wikipedia about "a talented surgeon who operates illegally using radical and supernatural techniques to combat rare afflictions." That quick popping sound you just heard was my brain exploding with delight.

Or Mitsume ga Tooru, which is about "a junior high school student who must always wear a bandage over his forehead which conceals a third eye. When the third eye is covered Hosuke remains a normal boy. When the eye is exposed his evil side takes over and he becomes a sorcerer of enormous power with a desire to conquer the world." Oh damn son, that's hot.

Or Fushigi na Merumo, which details the stirring story of a young orphan. "The ghost of her dead mother visits her and gives her a bottle of candy given to her by God. The blue candy turns Melmo into a 19-year-old version of herself, while the red candy turns her back into a child. Combining the two turns her first into a fetus, then into an animal of her choosing. "

In this thread we talk about how I just got volume two of Phoenix and it's completely crazy and I am in love with it.

Also: I love Astroboy more than pretty much anything else.

hughtron

And I don't just love Tezuka ironically, because his stories are insane. I really, really enjoy his art and his books, and I wish more were available in English.

Also: Someone should buy me Ode To Kirihito.

Conditional_Axe

I have read a bit of Phoenix and really enjoyed it. I am familiar with his visual style, at least the style he uses in Astroboy and Metropolis, but haven't delved much deeper than that. However, the stuff you list sounds insane, and I may be compelled to investigate it.

hughtron

Not much of his work has come out in english, other than the obvious ones. Hopefully Vertical, who put out Buddha are going to start releasing more of his work. It deserves the 'Bookstore This Is Art and Very Important' treatment.

hughtron

Last night I discovered Pluto. It's by Naoki Urasawa, creator of Monster and some other famous manga.

It's basically 'Ultimate Astro Boy.' Urasawa has taken the 'World's Strongest Robot' storyline from Astroboy (you all remember, the two-parter where the robot with the giant horns and tornado powers kills all kinds of robots) and turned it into this huge, fleshed out detective murder mystery.

The art is amazing, and the story takes the original's silly premise and runs with it, creating this hypermelodramatic storyline. It's low on action, but big on suspense and character work. Plus it was all done with the blessing of Tezuka's family.

It's pretty much just glorified Astroboy fan-fiction writ large, and it's not available in English unless you use nefarious means, but it doesn't look like it'll ever actually be released here, so scanlations might be your only chance. It's well worth it, especially if you're a fan of Monster.

elevature

I tried to read Buddha but the translation put me right off. I somehow don't think Tezuka used the phrase "my peeps." I want to try it again, though, because I know he's awesome and a shitty translation isn't his fault.

Peas

Black Jack!