By: Osamu Tezuka Publisher: Dark Horse Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Dark Horse Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: May 08, 2002 Reading Level: Young Adult
Product Description: As Mickey Mouse is to American animation, so to anime and manga is Astro Boy, the quintessential creation of Osama Tezuka, one of the world’s revered giants of comics and animation. Dark Horse brings the original Astro Boy manga to America for the first time in an English-language edition, translated by Frederick L. Schodt, renowned for his work on Ghost in the Shell and for his books on Japan, including Manga! Manga!. In this volume, Astro Boy comes to the aid of Gravia’s robot president to prevent his overthrow at the hands of a secret anti-robot society; a robot magician is cloned as a setup to start a movement against intelligent robots, and only Astro Boy can expose the conspiracy; and Astro Boy defends a powerful robot race car from an evil gang in the globe-spanning Equator Race! Astro Boy is an all-ages delight, as fresh, exciting, and innovative today as when it was created forty years ago. Everything is Go, Astro Boy!
If robots can think, should they vote for president? "Astro Boy Vol. 2" continues the excellent tales of Tezuka Osamu's seminal creation, the boy robot Astro Boy! (Can't you just hear the theme music!)
This second volume continues Tezuka's familiar themes, exploring the political and emotional impact of robot populations, are they second class citizens or individual beings, do they have souls and emotions? All very common themes in modern Science Fiction, but Tezuka did it first here.
There are 3 stories, the first featuring Astro Boy and a plot to prevent robot voting rights, the second staring a robot magician who's body is stolen yet who's soul remains his own, and a final story of Astro Boy's love for a special plant and the story behind it. All 3 stories are very well crafted, blending entertainment with social commentary seamlessly. A great series for parents looking for comics for their kids.
The only problem with the Dark Horse presentation is the order in which the series are released. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the order, and volume 2 has two new characters appear, Uran and Cobalt, without any explanation or origin.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
