Thank you, Gotta love Astro Boy and The Tawashi Bus Hat. Although I was lucky and did not have to pay as much as they are asking for that one, it was nice of you, TBH to post the link so others could see what I am talking about. (Unfortunately I am not that computer savvy, so thank you again.) An interesting thing is the particular manga reprints that were included in the box. The most important for me was the nicely reprinted "Captain Atom" manga. This reprint not only reprinted the entire serial more or less in its original form with color pages, but also included a gallery of the original covers for "Shonen" magazine. These did not feature Atom, but each cover had a picture of a Japanese boy involved in different activities. For ex., the cover of the first installment of "Atomu Taishi" features a boy in what appears to be the wind up for a pitch, I presume, since the boy is wearing a baseball glove and his hand appears to be behind him as his head almost juts out off the page.
Of course I did not expect the "Happy Birthday Box" to be so big. (I've got to pay more attention to the descriptions of items because I usually just go wild when I see something I would like to have and I forget myself!) The other manga reprints include one that has its own recent thread here at Astro Boy Discussions, ("Denko") ; "Black Lux"; and "Sea Serpent Isle" under its original title, "Atom goes to the Equator". I found it interesting that those three were the ones chosen to include in what is basically a time capsule for Astro Boy!
While "Sea Serpent Isle" is one of my favorites, ("the orignal anime version any way), if I were choosing an Astro Boy manga to include in an "Astro Boy Happy Birthday Box" I would pick instead of "Black Lux" maybe "The Mars Expedition". Especially because of that scene where Atom and Ochanomizu Hakase are walking past the space ship Atom will be going to Mars in.
Oh, yeah before I forget, in the same manga that features "Captain Atom", they feature the very first story to bear the "TetsuWan Atomu" title. That story is also different from the opening of the version in the DH series. The story is known as "Atom's Parents" and for those who may not know this, in the DH series it is featured as part of the story about the Mist people. Instead of background on the Ministry of Science where Astro Boy was created. It begins with a two page splash of the "TetsuWan Atomu" title with a head shot of Atom in the same panel, then going into the action where Atom is at school. The rest is about the same as in the DH volume. (I think the volume is #15). Let me ask you all what Atom stories would you put in an "Astro Boy Happy Birthday Box?
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