Astro Boy Omnibus Volume 1

Astro Boy Omnibus Volume 1 by Osamu Tezuka
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

My manga self-education continues. I read a couple issues of Astro Boy that NOW published back in the day but that was my only experience with Astro Boy prior to this. I reviewed each section as I read since this thing is a brick at close to 700 pages.

The Birth of Astro Boy: Astro Boy was born in the retro-future of 2003. When his son is killed in a car accident, a scientist creates Astro Boy as his replacement, then casts him out when he realizes the boy will never grow. Astro Boy is exiled and winds up in a circus, where he meets his new father figure, Doctor Ochanomizu.

The Disney influence is apparent right away. Astro Boy has elements of Pinnochio and Dumbo in his origin. He also has machine guns built into his ass, something I was unaware of until now. The art is very charming. I would have been all over this as a kid. Even as an adult, it's very nicely done.

The Hot Dog Corps: Mr. Mustachio's dog Pero is kidnapped and Astro Boy goes looking for him... and runs into an army of cyborgs created by Dr. Junkovitch.

WTF! Dogs kidnapped and skinned and having their brains put in cyborg bodies? Damn! Disney never did that! This one was surprisingly dark, which was a weird juxtaposition with how cute Astro Boy is. This story had a lot going on, even besides dog cyborgs. There was a trip to the Arctic, a trip to the moon, and even a court case.

Plant People: Flying saucers from Alsoa-12 have come to earth to steal half of its water. Only Astro Boy can stop them!

This was a much shorter story than the previous one. The artwork was a lot more polished so it had to have been drawn years later. Astro Boy battles '50s style flying saucers. What's not to like?

His Highness Deadcross: The nation of Gravia elected a robot president but now he's in danger from Deadcross and his anti-robot forces. Can Astro Boy save him?

It all started with a robot pair of pants showing up at Astro Boy's house. So much crazy shit went down in this story. Giant robot beetles attacking the President's house every night. Mr. Mustachio getting tortured. Astro Boy getting wrecked. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I had to stop a couple times and describe what was happening to my wife. There are some surprisingly serious things going on in this one, like discussions of robot's rights.

Crazy, crazy stuff.

The Third Magician: A magician named Kino goes on a crime spree and anti-robot sentiment is everywhere. Can Astro Boy get to the bottom of things and clear Kino's name?

It's a little more complex than that. I like how Tezuka weaves adult issues into Astro Boy, like prejudice and human rights. I also like how he introduces a lot of the tales. The high points of this one for me was the giant spider and the explanation on the magic box trick.

Why do the police cars look like dogs?

White Planet: A robot race car, the White Planet, is wrecked and needs a new robot brain. Can it be fixed in time for the Equator race?

This felt like a Speed Racer story although it was from a couple years before. Were comics about race cars big in Japan in the '60s? It was okay but I didn't actually see the twist coming.

The Greatest Robot On Earth: The sultan creates a robot named Pluto who wants to be the greatest robot on earth. He challenges the seven most powerful robots in the world to fight him, including Astro Boy!

This was easily my favorite story in the collection. While it seems like it'll be mostly robot fisticuffs, Pluto proves to have much more dimension than originally thought. Uran, Astro's sister, is featured prominently, as is Doctor Ochanomizu. The robot battles were great but Pluto's conflicting feelings about the other robots were the best part.

Mad Machine: Dr. Foola's machine will cause all of the machines in Japan to go berserk if he doesn't get one billion yen! Can Astro Boy stop him without going berserk himself?

This was a short one but packed with content. Tezuka once again works in complex issues into what's essentially a kid's comic.

Robotland: Astro Boy and Ochanomizu visit a theme park staffed by robots. But what happens when they find out the robots are being mistreated?

So Astro Boy fights Satan in this one, only it's a robot Satan with stars on his nipples. Seriously. Robots being treated properly is an issue again here, and this time Astro Boy finds his teachers on the wrong side of things. Fortunately, things get settled with some robot on robot action and the truth behind Robotland is revealed.

And that's the final story. For a 700 page brick, this omnibus sure moved quickly. I was very impressed at how well this comic held up. The stories inside are all at least 50 years old and aren't any more hokey than Marvel comics from the same time period, and many are less. The quirkiness of the stories was charming and makes me want to read more of Astro Boy's adventures in the future. Some of the stories had a dark tone that was a sharp contrast to the Disney style artwork.

Not a single regret in reading this collection. I'm glad to have experienced the Japanese Walt Disney's first major creation and plan to experience more of his work in the future. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

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