Astro Boy, Vol. 1 (Paperback)

~ Osamu Tezuka (Author), Osamu Tezuka (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Created by the late Osamu Tezuka, a revered animator and cartoonist - creating over 150,000 pages of comics in his career! - and considered the Walt Disney of Japan, his Astro Boy was the first manga series to be adapted to animation and became a worldwide phenomenon, making Astro Boy the Mickey Mouse of anime - a jet-powered, super-strong, evil-robot-bashing, alien-invasion-smashing Mickey Mouse, that is! Exciting, whimsical, and touching, ASTRO BOY hearkens back to the classic era of comics and animation, featuring stories that readers young and old will enjoy. Don't miss the opportunity to experience this landmark series, never before available in America, each volume featuring over 200 pages in an affordable and convenient pocket-sized format as currently collected in Japan!

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Dark Horse (March 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569716765
• ISBN-13: 978-1569716762
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #443,453 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #14 in	Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Authors, A-Z > ( T ) > Tezuka, Osamu
  #16 in	Books > Comics & Graphic Novels > Manga > By Series > Astro Boy
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• This is item 1 in The Astro Boy Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Introduction to a Manga Classic, January 4, 2003

By	Peter Tulupman (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

I haven't picked up a comic book in quite a few years, and read the inside cover of one of the later volumes of Astro Boy, which piqued my interest.

Astro Boy Vol. 1 is the background story of how Astro Boy was created. However, when Tezuka-san put together these volumes, he mixed and matched different stories, created in different times, to best tell the story. For example, Tezuka-san created the series in 1951, but the first story in the volume was published in 1975. It also has Tezuka-san, interject some of his own personal insights into the book, so the reader better understands the story.

There are three stories about AstroBoy, who is the epitome of all that is good. The first, describes how Astro was created. The second, called Hot Dog Corps, is a strange story of how an army of robots, created from dogs, are ruled by a Princess who is ardent about keeping anyone from coming to the moon. The underlying story, is that good prevails.

The drawing, which is simple, yet interesting, is no too destracting.

I loved this Manga, and can't wait to read all of them. Like candy, they are little treats, that don't take a very long time to digest or consume.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mighty Atom!, December 26, 2003

By	Zack Davisson "All Good Things" (Seattle, WA, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Astro Boy Vol. 1" is a great introduction to Tezuka Osamu's famous flying boy robot. Included is the origin story of Mighty Atom/Astro Boy, a longer tale which takes up 2/3's of the book, about cyborg dogs called the Hot Dog Corps, and a third tale about living plants. The stories are in no particular chronological order, and are selected more for feel and quality than anything else. Tezuka has included a few self-introductions featuring himself as a cartoon character.

Of good interest also are an introduction to the series, including notes on translation and selection. The translator attempted to preserve the Japanese names as much as possible, including nicknames, keeping only the Americanized Astro Boy instead of the direct translation Mighty Atom, as Astro Boy is the more familiar name.

Astro Boy is a lot like the Mickey Mouse of Japan, and his good-natured adventures are as much fun to read as the early Mickey Mouse comics. The difference comes in social issues, as Tezuka clearly uses his character to tackle ethical/political issues that interested him at the times, raising the comic up several notches.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over fifty years old, but still wonderful, April 24, 2002

By	Daitokuji31 (Black Glass) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

I love old anime and manga. When asked what my favorite manga are I readily say Lone Wolf and Cub, Urusei Yatsura, and the like. Now that I have finished reading Astro Boy, Tetsuwan Atom, it must be added to the list also.

Astro Boy is a simple story of a robot boy with a heart of gold who wants to bring peace to the world. Simple, but very fun to read. Astro Boy is brought to us by Osamu Tezuka the God of Manga. In his wonderful cartoonish style Dr. Tezuka weaves a world where virtually anything can happen. In this book for instance we see a group of cyborgs with dog brains and nervous systems ruled bt a Russian Duchess who wants to keep anyone from going to the moon. Very odd, but fun to read.

Also the supportingcharacters are something else. Dr. Ochanomizu is your typicall caring but lost in the clouds scientist, and there is Mr. Mustachio a great man, with one of my favorite quotes ever. "What do you want with me, anyway? You trying to sell me something, or kill me, or do you just want my autograph?" page 103.

Also interesting is that we get manga commentary by Tezuka. Thty really adds something to the strip. Also this book does not start back with the first strip that was produced back in 1951. Instead it starts with a strip from 1975. The first real story arc is from 1961. Mr. Schodt and the Japanese publishers say that this oreder will make the series easier to understand we will see, but anyway: "Here ta meet ya!"