Dark Horse Comics brings the original Astro Boy to America for the first time in an English-language edition! In the wake of widespread critical acclaim for the Metropolis animated feature, interest in the work of master storyteller and cartoonist Osamu Tezuka, creator of Metropolis and the godfather of Japanese comics and animation, has never been greater, and Astro Boy is Tezuka's most beloved body of work, a visionary series that laid the groundwork for the international phenomenon that are the comics and animation industries of Japan. Innovative, exciting, and as fresh today as when it first appeared nearly half a century ago, Astro boy is timeless graphic fiction for readers of all ages. Translation by Frederik L. Schodt, author of America and the Four Japans and translator of Masamune Shirow's Orion.
Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. He originally intended to become a doctor and earned his degree before turning to what was then a medium for children. His many early masterpieces include the series known in the U.S. as Astro Boy. With his sweeping vision, deftly interwined plots, feel for the workings of power, and indefatigable commitment to human dignity, Tezuka elevated manga to an art form. The later Tezuka, who authored Buddha, often had in mind the mature readership that manga gained in the sixties and that had only grown ever since. The Kurosawa of Japanese pop culture, Osamu Tezuka is a twentieth century classic.
