Book Review: The Art of Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga
Posted: Thu Jan 24, 2013 12:43 am
I'd like to submit to you my personal review of this book:
The Art of Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga by Helen McCarthy.
This is a large (and usually expensive) 'coffee table' book, measuring 12" x 9". It is an impressive volume printed on heavy quality paper, wrapped and sealed in a thick plastic protective dust jacket, under which is a color cardboard cutout of Atom. The book comes with a DVD video depicting a few days in the Life of Tezuka Osmau, with the camera following him as he rushes to meet a deadline to complete a number of manga stories for his publisher.
The book is filled with many full size illustrations from Tezuka's works. It serves as both an excellent biography of Tezuka, and a nearly complete encyclopedia of his works. It was in this book that I first discovered the existence of many of his minor and lessor know works (such as 'Atom Cat'). The book describes the many anime works he worked on for Japanese Television, some of which are beginning to show up on the internet as fansubs. (Fumoon, Marine Express, etc). There are also references to unfinished works such as 'Ludwig B', 'Gringo', 'Neo-Faust' and others.
If all you know about Tezuka is limited to Astro Boy and Blackjack you need to pick up this book. Check ebay, you might luck out as I did to find an overstock sale at less than half the US $40 list price.
The Art of Osamu Tezuka, God of Manga by Helen McCarthy.
This is a large (and usually expensive) 'coffee table' book, measuring 12" x 9". It is an impressive volume printed on heavy quality paper, wrapped and sealed in a thick plastic protective dust jacket, under which is a color cardboard cutout of Atom. The book comes with a DVD video depicting a few days in the Life of Tezuka Osmau, with the camera following him as he rushes to meet a deadline to complete a number of manga stories for his publisher.
The book is filled with many full size illustrations from Tezuka's works. It serves as both an excellent biography of Tezuka, and a nearly complete encyclopedia of his works. It was in this book that I first discovered the existence of many of his minor and lessor know works (such as 'Atom Cat'). The book describes the many anime works he worked on for Japanese Television, some of which are beginning to show up on the internet as fansubs. (Fumoon, Marine Express, etc). There are also references to unfinished works such as 'Ludwig B', 'Gringo', 'Neo-Faust' and others.
If all you know about Tezuka is limited to Astro Boy and Blackjack you need to pick up this book. Check ebay, you might luck out as I did to find an overstock sale at less than half the US $40 list price.