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, when he 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.
PRAISE FOR OSAMU TEZUKA’S BLACK JACK:
“Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure… With
genre-spanning stories–horror, sci-fi, romance–and Tezuka’s
signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed
together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but extravagantly
entertaining ride that’s far more accessible than the author’s
novel-length epics.” –Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Black Jack, the tortured renegade surgeon who operates on the
desperately needy (and, on occasion, himself)…makes TV’s Dr. House
look like Mary Poppins.” –Los Angeles Times
"2008-2009 Manga of the Year!" - the Manga Critic
“The stories are a unique mix of an Isaac Bashevis Singer morality
tale, and outstanding creative medicine. Though Black Jack is aimed
at a young audience, it has maturity not found in adult works. It’s
a piece of comic art that excels in form, and message.” –Ain’t It
Cool News
“While Astro Boy is more iconic and Phoenix is more epic in scope,
Black Jack is arguably Tezuka’s best and most enjoyable work… [It]
hits Tezuka’s sweet spot where his heart, his head and his sense of
humor meet in perfect company.” –About.com
“Surely there’s nothing in this series more continually striking
than the artist’s relentless, guaranteed depictions of surgery
itself, happy rubber skin always peeled away to show realist meat
and bone, minutely detailed organs mended or transplanted, then
covered up again in the stuff of effortless napkin doodles… I found
even the least of [these stories] fascinating examples of an artist
casting his net especially far, secure in his talented hands and
firm in his fame–ready to confront any malady, striving to cut away
any harm, instrument tips sharp for making flesh whole.” –Jog The
Blog
“‘Iconic’ doesn’t begin to sum up Black Jack’s importance in the
world of manga… I see a lot of Tezuka fans reaching for their
wallets–not just for this volume alone, but for the whole of Black
Jack as it’s finally being re-released in the English-language
edition it has always deserved. It was, and will be, more than
worth the wait. Platinum Award.” –Advanced Media Network
“Great material–classic crazy Tezuka with a bloody medical
heartbeat tuning out the sound of man’s inhumanity to man.”
–Newsrama
“Totally fun, totally engrossing. Black Jack is a page-turner of
the highest order, and I blew through 280+ pages and I’m hungry for
more.” –Comics212.net
“To match the beautiful outside, Camellia Nieh did a fantastic job
with the translation. The entire book was a fantastic read
cover-to-cover that I refused to put down. Whether you’re just
getting into manga, or have been a fan for decades, it would be a
shame not to own this seminal title.” –Japanator
PRAISE FOR OSAMU TEZUKA'S BLACK JACK:
"Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure... With
genre-spanning stories-horror, sci-fi, romance-and Tezuka's
signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed
together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but
extravagantly entertaining ride that's far more accessible than the
author's novel-length epics." -Publishers Weekly (starred
review)
"Black Jack, the tortured renegade surgeon who operates on the
desperately needy (and, on occasion, himself)...makes TV's Dr.
House look like Mary Poppins." -Los Angeles Times
"2008-2009 Manga of the Year!" - the Manga
Critic
"The stories are a unique mix of an Isaac Bashevis Singer morality
tale, and outstanding creative medicine. Though Black Jack
is aimed at a young audience, it has maturity not found in adult
works. It's a piece of comic art that excels in form, and message."
-Ain't It Cool News
"While Astro Boy is more iconic and Phoenix
is more epic in scope, Black Jack is arguably Tezuka's best
and most enjoyable work... [It] hits Tezuka's sweet spot where his
heart, his head and his sense of humor meet in perfect company."
-About.com
"Surely there's nothing in this series more continually striking
than the artist's relentless, guaranteed depictions of surgery
itself, happy rubber skin always peeled away to show realist meat
and bone, minutely detailed organs mended or transplanted, then
covered up again in the stuff of effortless napkin doodles... I
found even the least of [these stories] fascinating examples of an
artist casting his net especially far, secure in his talented hands
and firm in his fame-ready to confront any malady, striving to cut
away any harm, instrument tips sharp for making flesh whole."
-Jog The Blog
"'Iconic' doesn't begin to sum up Black Jack's importance in
the world of manga... I see a lot of Tezuka fans reaching for their
wallets-not just for this volume alone, but for the whole of
Black Jack as it's finally being re-released in the
English-language edition it has always deserved. It was, and will
be, more than worth the wait. Platinum Award." -Advanced
Media Network
"Great material-classic crazy Tezuka with a bloody medical
heartbeat tuning out the sound of man's inhumanity to man."
-Newsrama
"Totally fun, totally engrossing. Black Jack is a
page-turner of the highest order, and I blew through 280+ pages and
I'm hungry for more." -Comics212.net
"To match the beautiful outside, Camellia Nieh did a
fantastic job with the translation. The entire book was a fantastic
read cover-to-cover that I refused to put down. Whether you're just
getting into manga, or have been a fan for decades, it would be a
shame not to own this seminal title." -Japanator
Manga legend Tezuka fuses medical drama (think a manga House) with philosophy in this famed series about the adventures of the world's greatest surgeon, the eponymous Black Jack. Created in the '70s, Black Jack combines the episodic tension of Tezuka's early serials with the humanist concerns of his later work, like MW and Phoenix. Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure, with a scarred face and sinister black coat who is unlicensed despite his unparalleled healing skills. Operating outside normal society, Black Jack is called in for the most outre and serious cases: a rich man's son who needs a body transplant; a young woman who keeps seeing the face of a murderer through her newly transplanted cornea; an American superdoctor computer that decides it's sick. In one of his most bizarre cases, Black Jack removes from a woman a teratoid tumor containing an unborn twin and uses the removed bits and synthetic parts to create a lisping little girl named Pinoko who functions as his sidekick. With genre-spanning stories--horror, sci-fi, romance--and Tezuka's signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but extravagantly entertaining ride that's far more accessible than the author's novel-length epics. (Sept.) Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.
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