On 08/25/2016 01:14 PM, Bobbie Sellers wrote:

Hi typers and readers,

One of my other friends on a mailing list pointed
this out to me.
This is a manga and it is about the creator of Astro Boy
so I posted to raam as well as ram.

I have ordered a copy from Amazon and hope to
post a few lines about once I have it in hand but I
figured that if others know about it they might
be interested in this really big 1000 page manga.

bliss

Well the massive volume arrived earlier today and I have
read a 5th of the book already. The translation is good of course
being by Frederik L.Schodt who started translating Tezuka's work
in the 1970s. The art is excellent using lots of Tezuka's earlier
efforts and detailing his genius level artistic talent and his
extraordinary intellect. The artist who did the work was in charge
of Tezuka Production's work, Toshio Ban.

I have arrived at the section where Japan has surrendered to
the allies and when hope re-enters Tezuka's life and at several earlier
points it made me cry. This for me is the sin qua non of an excellent
manga. Throughout Tezuka's school years he drew and drew at least
3000 pages of manga right on through the war years despite official condemnation of such work and discouragement from his Military Drill
Sargent.
We also get to see the civilian privation of WW II as the
food rations are cut and air raids drive city dwellers into the
countryside. Grave of the Fireflies it is not but everything but
the ashes of soldiers and cities were in short supply.

I mentioned last year that in the 4 volumes of Show:A History
of Japan Mizuki uses "Nozumi Otoku" aka "Rat Man" a character from later
work in Kitaro to explicate his creator's times. Here a character
"Shunsaku Ban" or "Mustachio", created in elementary school and used
in later stories is the narrator. Rat Man does not appear until page
93 of Showa but Mustachio is in at the beginning of the story. Mustachio
looks a little like the character trademark for Monopoly.

In one manga or another(Genshiken ?) I have read that there are
manga artists who must draw as Oguie in Genshiken and Osamu Tezuka was
of that class as he drew and drew then drew some more, while still a
child.

More about this later after I absorb about another 800 pages
taking my breaks with a SFP Library volume the intensively collected
"Superman: a 75 year celebration". Superman hit the news stands about
the time I was a year old so Clark Kent is my kohai. Some of these
strips and stories I had read earlier on my way thru elementary and
HS. Some I had missed and there are a few at the beginning which
only serve to illustrate how badly the creators drew.
Tezuka's art was vastly superior. Toshio Ban learned at
the elbow of Tezuka and his art is consistent with Tezuka's.

bliss

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)