NOW Comics - Issue Three

[Fauna]

I've put up the full scans here, but they're kind of our of order; the second-to-fourth thumbnails are too far ahead.

So, I found myself really disgusted with this issue...Astro appears for only the last five pages, and there's heavy focus on war and death machines (thus contrasting everything Tezuka believes in).


Duke Red appears as Tas Tamil, and he's just as ugly as everyone else. And look, Osamu Tezuka!

What I found kinda unnerving was a letter and response in the end section...there was an Australian girl named Peta Little, whom seemed to be about thirteen or fourteen, given how she described herself. She asked the editor where Jump was, why Astro didn't look like she remembered, and compared the 80's dub names to the ones in the comic. The editor basically dismissed all of it, calling Peta "unfamiliar" with the series. I don't think NOW! Comics ever watched the 1980's anime, and if they did, they only took Rebecca's design.


Because 1963 is Gospel and 1981 is infamy, apparently. And 36 episodes?! You're off by 15!

They thought of the 80's series back then in the same way some think of the 2003 series today.

[AstroBoyGF]

atomu!^^

[Fauna]

...That's it?


Well, I finished the latest review, and I'm sad to say I was rather scathing of it. But really, glory of war and a psychotic Astro...it's not a good time in this series.

[AstroBoyGF]

poor astro....

[DrFrag]

Because 1963 is Gospel and 1981 is infamy, apparently. And 36 episodes?! You're off by 15!

While we're at it, the 1963 series had 193 episodes, and 104 of them were dubbed.

"Primarily the reason there were only 36 episodes (sic) produced is although they are visually appealing cartoons, they did not stand up to the now classic original cartoons of the early sixties."

This totally makes no sense. So Tezuka said "Well, it's visually appealing, but it doesn't stand up to my B&W works so I'm not going to make as many episodes."?

"In the original shows, ASTRO BOY stands four heads tall, not three."

So much wrong with this. Never mind the original manga, which predates the anime by 12 years and depicts Astro in various heights from 3 to 5 heads tall. Never mind that Tezuka himself designed the characters for the 1980 series. But to top it off, the authors of the NOW! comic version are the last people to be telling anyone what Astro should look like.


Great review, by the way.

[Fauna]

"Primarily the reason there were only 36 episodes (sic) produced is although they are visually appealing cartoons, they did not stand up to the now classic original cartoons of the early sixties."

This totally makes no sense. So Tezuka said "Well, it's visually appealing, but it doesn't stand up to my B&W works so I'm not going to make as many episodes."?

I didn't even notice that part, until you brought it up! :d oh: This actually makes me all the angrier; my first exposure was to the 80's series. NOW! really shouldn't have been allowed to do an American comic, given that they've treated Tezuka's characters horribly and didn't even bother to get correct episode information. I can only imagine Peta's reaction on seeing their response.

[munquibyte]

The Now series wouldn't have been so brutal if Tony Caputo wasn't such a slime wad with his contributors. At one point he stopped paying his help altogether, and it's gonna show gravely in later issues.