ミスラ

Moebius: 40 Days in the Desert B

midhras — Fri, 07 May 2010 01:27:58 +0000

Manga is not an isolated phenomenon. Authors like Tezuka, Tatsumi and Taniguchi – all of which are amongst my favourites – were influenced by authors from far overseas. In Tezuka’s case, artists from the United States had a tremendous influence on his stylistic idiom. Taniguchi on the other hand, was influenced more by the Franco-Belgian school of comic strips, or bande dessinée.

One of the greatest artists in Europe’s bande dessinée is Jean Giraud, better known as Moebius. You can watch a nice documentary about his work on Google video. Moebius’ art is as original as it is stunningly beautiful. He is a master of form and composition, and his drawings can breathe movement like no other. He is as much a author of sequential art is he is an artist that is at home in galleries and museums.

One of his works that is relatively little known (but closest to my heart) is the text-free tale ‘40 days dans le désert B‘, here offered as 40 days in the desert B. This short piece features all that is dear to me in Moebius: incredible line-art, fantastic imagery, dream-like and poetic scenes and the ever-present themes of rebirth and transformation. I don’t begin to think that I understand what this little gem is all about, and I fear that nothing short of trepanning and unhealthy amounts of fasting would bring me any closer. But I don’t mind. I revel in the sheer madness of it all; the stilled movement of otherworldly vistas. Part dream, part hallucinogenic mind-fuck; part art book, part comic strip: this is one little gem that I am glad not to have missed out of. I hope that some of you would at the very least take a look at it, and maybe check out some more of Moebius’ work, if you didn’t know him already. And if you did, I hope you’ve discovered something new.

For this release, I tried to clean and improve some scans that I found floating around (by I don’t know who) and scanned the cover anew. I’ve got a shitty scanner, so don’t hold that against me. I hope at least some of you like this. Let me know if you did.

Download: Mediafire | FileFactory | MegaUpload
You can find more great works by Moebius in this MediaFire folder.

Tezuka’s Early Years: Nextworld 2

midhras — Sat, 01 May 2010 12:56:19 +0000

With the second and final volume of Nextworld, not only this story comes to a close, but we see the completion of Tezuka’s “science fiction trilogy”, comprising Lost World, Metropolis and Nexworld. These stories, that saw publication between 1948 and 1951, are iconic for the young Tezuka.

I fear these stories won’t appeal to a large part of the manga-reading crowd, that are spoiled by the deluge of talented authors that populate the world of Japanese comics today. However, as a document of the developing skills of Tezuka these stories certainly have their own worth. I’ve certainly enjoyed reading them and they’ve brought a new perspective with which to reflect on the art and experimentation that we can see in Tezuka’s later works. I really enjoy it when an author comes to life via his work. We’re not dealing with a static production machine, but a flesh-and-blood mangaka, who is developing his style and ability as he matures and is transforming a medium along with it.

I really do hope you’ve all enjoyed these four volumes. Now I’ll focus my efforts on bringing you some more Astro Boy. (I do wish they could have just left his name untranslated. ‘Atom’ really is much better, I think.)

RAW scans: kickthekitty

Titles: Nextworld, 来るべき世界
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, War
Length: second of two volumes
Year: 1951
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Related: Lost World, Metropolis
Resources: MAL | ANN

Download: Mediafire
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon

Tezuka’s Early Years: Nextworld 1

midhras — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:17:29 +0000

Published in 1951, and last in Tezuka’s “science fiction trilogy”, Nextworld is already leaps and bounds beyond Lost World in quality and maturity. All right, this still can’t hold a candle to many of his later works, but Nextworld is very interesting still, serving as a cautionary tale of using science for the wrong reasons and what unchecked warring could do to the human race. It was later adapted into the anime movie Fumoon.

Synopsis

As is the case with much of Tezuka’s work, the main plot of Nextworld deals with Earth in the Atomic Age. Radiation and nuclear testing has led to the creation of many strange, almost supernatural species of animals, and it seems that every major nation on the planet wants to discover the secrets of these creatures and how to best harness atomic energy for their own purposes. Tensions rise as political conflicts escalate, and it seems that a third World War is inevitable. A strange mix of scientists, politicians, and young adventurers may be Earth’s last, best hope against corrupt government officials, armed forces, robots, and secret societies. Meanwhile, the boy detective Kenichi, the young Rock Holmes, Shunsaku Ban (Mustachio) and others discover the Fumoon, a race of tiny, telekinetic humanoids who evolved in Australia, and have their own plans for dealing with the impending apocalypse.

Animerica & ANN

RAW scans: kickthekitty

Titles: Nextworld, 来るべき世界
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, War
Length: first of two volumes
Year: 1951
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Related: Lost World, Metropolis
Resources: MAL | ANN | AnimeSugar review

Download: Mediafire
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon

Ashley Wood does Astro Boy

midhras — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:03:56 +0000

It has just recently come to my attention that the amazing Ashley Wood, the artist known for his beautiful comic book covers and oil paintings, has delivered some stunning renditions of Tezuka’s Astro Boy. These were used as alternative covers for the IDW comic book series prequeling the 2009 CGI movie ‘Astro Boy‘. The movie isn’t for me, nor are the comic books.

But I just had to share these.

Tezuka’s Early Years: Metropolis

midhras — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 17:32:35 +0000

The first of Osamu Tezuka’s "science fiction trilogy"was Lost World. It was followed in 1949 by the legendary Metropolis. Published only a single year after its predecessor, the progress Tezuka made as an artist is very noticeable. Metropolis was a huge hit in Japan, and inspired many young artists to explore the career of a mangaka.

In Metropolis – no relation to the film by Fritz Lang, but adapted into the eponymous feature length 2001 anime – two new characters of Tezuka’s “Star System” are introduced: Duke Red and Notarlin, both frequently featuring in other works.

Again, kickthekitty made this release possible by scanning the book.

Description

In a super-advanced city in the year 19xx where humanoid robot technology is very sophisticated, a boy detective is caught up in a conflict as powerful politician Duke Red, distraught over his child’s death, hires a scientist to create a replacement, an exquisitely beautiful gender-changing robot child, Michi. Unaware of her non-human background, she wanders alone in a world populated by humans and the robots who serve them as she searches for her non-existing parents. Tezuka’s key theme of the nature of humanity in a technological society is framed in bold relief, as well as his wry allegorical observations of an, at that time, escalating Cold War.

Dark Horse

Michi’s encounters provide a tragicomic commentary on Tezuka’s surroundings: the escalating Cold War, human folly and the search for love and affection in an increasingly harsh world. As with Astro Boy and the Disney films Tezuka loved, this work elicits strong emotions through simple allegory. The art, done in Tezuka’s early style, beautifully combines classic American cartooning, Art Deco and the Disney stylings of the day. Tezuka’s character designs are elaborate and decorative but never distracting, and his panels are crammed with machinery and people, giving his world a bustling vibrancy. He also never lets an opportunity for a joke pass him by. When confronted with a gun, one character says, “I’ve hated pistols since I was born. Pistols and carrots.” Likewise, when the scientist recounts Michi’s hardships, Tezuka seizes a chance for melodrama and draws the flashback sequence in an exquisite silhouette style. Metropolis has a bit of everything and is a wonderful graphic novel for both children and adults.

Publishers Weekly

Titles: Metropolis, Metoroporisu, メトロポリス
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Super Power, Psychological, Gender Bender
Length: Oneshot
Year: 1949
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Original Publisher: Ikuei Shuppan
Related: Lost World, Nextworld
Resources: M-U | MAL | ANN

Download: Mediafire | BakaBT
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon

Tezuka’s Early Years: Lost World

midhras — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 11:04:14 +0000

Today I bring you Osamu Tezuka’s Lost World. One of his earliest published works, written when he was still a teen, it is the first part in his groundbreaking “science fiction trilogy” that was published between 1948 and 1951. Lost World is followed by Metropolis and finally the two volume Nextworld. These will be released here later.

Lost World is interesting for a number of reasons. First off, it enables us to appreciate the development of the skills of Tezuka. Drawn when he was nineteen, the quality of the art is expectedly inferior to his later works. But already one can appreciate some of the sensitivities for which he would later become famous. Try not to be put off by the childish nature of the story and art; it gets better in the end.
Secondly, while this publication was aimed at children, you can clearly see that the original story was aimed at a more adult audience. In the afterword (which I would strongly advise you all to read beforehand) Tezuka explains that he regards Lost World as a forerunner to the gekiga genre in manga. Some of the more disturbing plot devices and the not so happy ending were revolutionary in the world of shounen publications at the time.
Thirdly, Lost World showcases in their earliest incarnations some of the more famous characters in Tezuka’s idiosyncratic “Star System“, in which he reused the same characters in different roles in different stories.
Finally, it is interesting to note the discrepancies in art style between the first and second halves of the story, caused by the work of different zincography artists tracing the original drawings to enable publication.

This release was made possible by the hard work of kickthekitty in supplying the raws.

Synopsis

Having been torn from the earth in ancient times, Planet Mamango is now re-approaching the earth after a lapse of 5 million years. One night, a private detective named Ban Shunsaku encounters a murder, and meets boy researcher Shikishima Kenichi, who holds the key to solving the case. Shikishima discovers that a stone from the Planet Mamango generates huge amounts of energy. Making a rocket out of the energy stone, Shikishima sets up an exploration team and departs for Planet Mamango. The rocket heads straight for Planet Mamango under the command of Shikishima, along with Captain Butamo Makeru, Ayame and Momiji, who are cabbages created by the captain, a rabbit named Mii, and Ban Shunsaku. In due time, the rocket lands on the Planet Mamango, where the group finds a “The Lost World,” an ancient environment where dinosaurs walk about and ferns and cycads cover the ground.

Anime News Network

Titles: Lost World, Lost World – Zenseiki, ロスト・ワールド<前世紀>
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi, Shounen, Tragedy
Length: 1 volume (originally published as a 2 volume set)
Year: 1948
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Original Publisher: Akita Shoten
Related: Metropolis, Nextworld
Resources: M-U | MAL | ANN

Download: MegaUpload (2850H – recommended), Mediafire (2200H)
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon

Page numbers

midhras — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 23:43:43 +0000

Yeah, I know page numbers are all that, but do we really need them if I name the pages after the corresponding page numbers? Why am I even asking this? Because editing scans would be a whole lot quicker if I didn’t have to work my way around those dangling numbers.

Speak up if you really want to keep them in, and please tell me why. Otherwise I’ll probably crop them out in my future releases.

Another day, another Astro Boy

midhras — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 21:13:28 +0000

Here is the second volume in the Astro Boy saga. There were some pages that were difficult to clean. I hope it’s not too noticeable. Before you think I screwed up badly: it seems that these first two volumes had some color pages in the original magazine publications, here rendered in B&W by Dark Horse. Strangely, these pages have jagged lines and the quality looks off. I guess we will have to learn to live with it. I wonder if the Akita Shoten publications have this same issue. If anyone knows of any raws of Astro Boy volume 2, let me know.

Synopsis

In this volume, Astro Boy comes to the aid of Gravia’s robot president to prevent his overthrow at the hands of a secret anti-robot society; a robot magician is cloned as a setup to start a movement against intelligent robots, and only Astro Boy can expose the conspiracy; and Astro Boy defends a powerful robot race car from an evil gang in the globe-spanning Equator Race! [...] Everything is Go, Astro Boy!

Dark Horse

This volume contains the following stories:
His Highness Deadcross / The Third Magician / White Planet

Again, kickthekitty is the master of the raws. Read up on Astro Boy at TezukaInEnglish.com.

Title: Astro Boy, Tetsuwan Atomu, 鉄腕アトム
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Classic Manga, Adventure, Comedy, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen
Length: volume 2 of 23
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Spin-off: Pluto
Resources: M-U | MAL | ANN

Download: Mediafire (2200H version) | MegaUpload (2600H version)
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon

On leveling scans

midhras — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 23:10:21 +0000

I have a question for any who read this regarding the leveling of scans.

As you may know leveling brings out the whites and blacks in a scan, improving the image aesthetically. However, risks are that too much information is lost in the leveling process. I’m trying to decide if I want to go with an aggressive leveling style that reduces noise, or a more permissive style that allows for more noise in the image, but also allows for more fidelity in the image quality.

But what do you think? Please use the poll based on the examples below (used in a discussion with Anethum graveolens on his blog, initiated by his beautiful release of Ode to Kirihito*).

Left=aggressive leveling; right=permissive leveling
(click on images to view full size):

View This Poll

*All currently available edits of Ode to Kirihito are collected on kickthekitty’s blog, here.

First release: The Mighty Atom

midhras — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 20:15:02 +0000

So there it is: the first release on this blog. Don’t get your hopes up, because I won’t be nearly as productive as some of the other guys and gals around. Nor as adept at what I do.

Here I offer you the first of 23 volumes in a series of Tezuka Osamu goodness. The one that brought him fame in Japan and eventually the wide world over: Tetsuwan Atomu, or “Mighty Atom”, better (although erroneously) known as Astro Boy. I’ll endeavour to bring you the remainder of this impressive series over the coming months.

Thanks go out to kickthekitty for providing the raw scans. Amongst his wide and eclectic selection of scans are some fine jewels-in-the-rough indeed. Check out his site and thank him for his work.

Tezuka In English has a great section on everything Astro Boy. Please do review the Astro Boy Manga Indices there, because the Dark Horse releases scanned here do not following the publication chronology; they are ordered in a fashion worked out by Japanese publisher Akita Shoten. The nice introductory essay by translator Frederick L. Schodt prefacing the stories in this volume is invaluable for the reader who is first introduced into the world of Astro Boy.

Synopsis

In the distant year 2003, Japan is a technological utopia, and robots are everywhere. One such robot, Tobio, was built by the brilliant Dr. Tenma to replace his dead son. But when it soon becomes apparent that Tobio is an imperfect copy of his departed child, Dr. Tenma throws him out. He is rescued from the scrap heap by the benevolent Professor Ochanomizu, a crusader for robot cival rights. Now the little robot, renamed Astro Boy, is given a mission to defend Japan and the world from all manner of sinister threats. Using his seven super-abilities and his 100.000 horsepower strength to battle evil, Astro hopes to set an example to the world of the good which all robots are capeable of.

Anime News Network

Description

Dark Horse proudly presents another of the crown jewels of international graphic fiction–Astro Boy! Created by the late Osamu Tezuka, a revered, and ground-breaking animator and cartoonist–who created over 150,000 pages of comics in his career!–and considered the Walt Disney of Japan, his Astro Boy was one of the first manga series to be adapted to animation and became a worldwide phenomenon, making Astro Boy the Mickey Mouse of anime–a jet-powered, super-strong, evil-robot-bashing, alien-invasion-smashing Mickey Mouse, that is! Exciting, whimsical, and touching, Astro Boy hearkens back to the classic era of comics and animation, featuring stories that readers young and old will enjoy.

adapted from Dark Horse

Title: Astro Boy, Tetsuwan Atomu, 鉄腕アトム
Author: TEZUKA Osamu
Genres: Classic Manga, Adventure, Comedy, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen
Length: 1 of 23 volumes
English Publisher: Dark Horse
Spin-off: Pluto
Resources: M-U | MAL | ANN

Download: Mediafire
Buy: The Book Depository, Amazon