The Copacetic Comics Company Osamu Tezuka

Osamu Tezuka

Title	Creator	Publisher	Series	Price
Ode to Kirihito #2	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$13.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This is the big book that has it all! Originally serialized in Biggu Komiku in 1970-71, and a personal favorite of the artist, manga founding-father Osamu Tezuka, Ode to Kirihito is a unique effort, in more than one respect. Weighing in at a mammoth 822 pages, Ode is the first of Tezuka's works to incorporate adult themed gekiga (see Tatsumi's Abandon the Old in Tokyo) elements. Perhaps paradoxically, it is also a work that while dealing with the darker sides of human nature simultaneously deals with Christian (Kirihito is a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of Christ, Kirisuto) themes -- specifically of overcoming the illusional dualism of beast and soul, metaphorically dealt with here as a struggle against a disease that turns men into dog-like beasts. This book is a one-stop for everything Tezuka as he displays a veritable cornicopia of storytelling devices, styles, page-layouts and more; if you pay attention, you will also find some fascinating foreshadowing of current alt. comics themes and representational tropes (Fort Thunder, Paper Rad, etc.). It's a Tezuka tour de force! He delves into a panoply of themes: most importantly that of Japanese masculinity as it confronts the sexual revolution; also explored are Japanese perspectives in the dawn of the global era as the story brings us into contact with mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, South Africans, Europeans -- but, interestingly, almost no Americans -- and we get not only Tezuka's views of these peoples but also his point of view on their views of the Japanese, creating a roundabout of perspectives. That Tezuka fans will find this work a reading experience to relish almost goes without saying. We'd like to take a moment here to recommend this book to those of you who are curious about Tezuka's legendary status but have been put off by his association with what is widely considered "kid's fare" -- Astro Boy, Kimba and the like. Ode to Kirihito will stand up to any comparison with contemporary literary comics. It is an engaging and intriguing tale, told by a master of the form at the peak of his powers. Anyone serious about comics owes it to themselves to read this. NOW DIVIDED INTO TWO VOLUMES, OF WHICH THIS IS THE SECOND. Recommended!
The Book of Human Insects	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$20.00 ($21.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Here is the latest in Vertical's excellent run of Tezuka's late-career, mature graphic novels. This story contained in this 364 page stand-alone hardcover edition was originally published in 1970 and 1971. The Book of Human Insects ranges far and wide: from New York City to Tokyo, from the world of design to the world of entomology, from backrooms to boardrooms, from science to sex. A work of transformation and metamophosis full of cartooned caricatures and detailed renderings; another trademark Tezuka.
Ayako	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$25.00 ($26.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Ayako is another massive – over 700 pages – work from Tezuka's fertile late '60 early '70s period that includes Ode to Kirihito, MW and Apollo's Song (all excellent graphic novels also introduced to US readers by Vertical Publications over the last few years). It is an ambitious epic spanning the quarter century following Japan's defeat in the Second World War. This work contains many mature themes and employs sexual behaviors – including rape – as metaphors in making points about the psychology of post-war Japan. It's certainly humbling to read these Tezuka epics that were produced long before the term "graphic novel" had even been conceived of in the west. Here are two in-depth reviews from The Comics Journal and Mangacritic that interested readers will find worth their while.
Dororo, Volume 2	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$12.70 ($13.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The classic late-period Tezuka tale continues in this nicely put together volume. The publisher of this series -- and many other excellent Tezuka works -- Vertical, Inc., is head and shoulders above other American purveyors of manga when it comes to packaging and production (only the European manga publisher, Ponent Mon, can lay any kind of claim to doing a better job). So sit back and enjoy.
Buddha, Volume Two: The Four Encounters	Osamu Tezuka			$12.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	In case you missed our note announcing the first softcover edition in May, let us reiterate: those of you who were waiting from the ultimate work from the grandmaster of manga to come out in a more affordable softcover edition -- the wait is over! Weighing in at 400 6" x 8" pages per volume, this series is value priced and is the crowning achievement of the Japanese Jack Kirby, Osamu Tezuka.
MW	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$22.22 ($24.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This 582-page hardcover came out a couple months ago, but somehow we missed it. If ever there was a candidate for "better late than never", this is it. MW is another in the series of the novel length, adult-themed, gekiga style manga works produced by Tezuka during the late 1960s and early 1970s as he brought his masterful story-telling skills to bear on the tumult created by the changing sexual mores and politcal turmoil that shook Japan along with America and Europe during this time. MW is considered his darkest tale -- almost "un-Tezuka-like" in it's unrelenting focus on the presence of evil in the world. No matter what you might think of Tezuka's handling of the themes presented here, there's no debating that he's woven a gripping tale as no one but he can. Vertical -- the New York City based publisher who has also brought us Tezuka's Ode to Kirihito and Apollo's Song from this same period -- is doing English speakers a real service by translating and printing these excellent works -- and at quite reasonable prices, especially this time around! Need more convincing? Check out this hefty preview.
Dororo, Volume One	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$12.75 ($13.95 list) OUT OF STOCK!
Read more and comment...	Hard to believe, but here's yet another late sixties masterwork by the one and only Tezuka, published by Vertical. This time around the publisher, Vertical, has opted for the original righit-to-left Japanese page order; in other words, unlike the other Vertical editions of Tezuka's work (Buddha, MW, etc.) this one reads "back" to "front." This is the first of three volumes.
Buddha, Volume 4: The Forests of Uruvela	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical	Buddha	$12.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The low priced softcover edition of the fourth volume of manga master Osamu Tezuka's ultimate work is now in stock.
Buddha 5: Deer Park	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical	Buddha	$12.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	We'd like to take this moment to mention that the fifth volume of the softcover edition of the eight volume life of Buddha is now on our shelves.
Ode to Kirihito #1	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$13.75 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	This is the big book that has it all! Originally serialized in Biggu Komiku in 1970-71, and a personal favorite of the artist, manga founding-father Osamu Tezuka, Ode to Kirihito is a unique effort, in more than one respect. Weighing in at a mammoth 822 pages, Ode is the first of Tezuka's works to incorporate adult themed gekiga (see Tatsumi's Abandon the Old in Tokyo) elements. Perhaps paradoxically, it is also a work that while dealing with the darker sides of human nature simultaneously deals with Christian (Kirihito is a pun on the Japanese pronunciation of Christ, Kirisuto) themes -- specifically of overcoming the illusional dualism of beast and soul, metaphorically dealt with here as a struggle against a disease that turns men into dog-like beasts. This book is a one-stop for everything Tezuka as he displays a veritable cornicopia of storytelling devices, styles, page-layouts and more; if you pay attention, you will also find some fascinating foreshadowing of current alt. comics themes and representational tropes (Fort Thunder, Paper Rad, etc.). It's a Tezuka tour de force! He delves into a panoply of themes: most importantly that of Japanese masculinity as it confronts the sexual revolution; also explored are Japanese perspectives in the dawn of the global era as the story brings us into contact with mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, South Africans, Europeans -- but, interestingly, almost no Americans -- and we get not only Tezuka's views of these peoples but also his point of view on their views of the Japanese, creating a roundabout of perspectives. That Tezuka fans will find this work a reading experience to relish almost goes without saying. We'd like to take a moment here to recommend this book to those of you who are curious about Tezuka's legendary status but have been put off by his association with what is widely considered "kid's fare" -- Astro Boy, Kimba and the like. Ode to Kirihito will stand up to any comparison with contemporary literary comics. It is an engaging and intriguing tale, told by a master of the form at the peak of his powers. Anyone serious about comics owes it to themselves to read this. NOW DIVIDED INTO TWO VOLUMES, OF WHICH THIS IS THE FIRST. Recommended!
Buddha, Volume Six: Ananda	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical	Buddha	$12.70 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Now available in a low-priced soft cover edition, the sixth volume of Tezuka's eight-volume life of Buddha ranges from rock-'em sock-'em action to meditative contemplation to masterful illustration of Buddhist parables; 353 pages in all. And, don't worry, it's not too late to get started on this timeless classic, as we still have plenty of the first five volumes in stock.
Apollo's Song	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical		$17.77 ($19.95 list)
Read more and comment...	Apollo's Song is a strong (and strange) follow-up to Tezuka's 1969 mammoth masterwork, Ode to Kirihito. Originally serialized in 1970, this 541 page edition from Vertical presents the entire work in English for the first time. Tezuka's thematic concern is more sharply focused here, specifically on representing animal passion: its force and feeling as well as its consequences and control; and by doing so revealing the folly of any attempts to extricate humanity from nature. There's really nothing to compare to reading a big fat manga by the master of the form, Osamu Tezuka. Recommended!
Buddha, Volume Eight - Jetavana #8	Osamu Tezuka	Vertical	Buddha	$13.45 ($14.95 list)
Read more and comment...	The epic comes to its stunning conclusion.

Mon - Thu	11 - 5
Fri & Sat	11 - 7
Sun	12 - 4