30 Days Of Scans, Day 13, Favourite Artist: Osamu Tezuka

[grazzt]

This is Osamu Tezuka:



This man is quite possibly the most important influence on manga. Let's take a look at why.

Let's start with Tezuka's most famous creation, Astro Boy. While Astro Boy is one of his simpler works, you can still see a bit of inherent contradiction in the artwork:



Sort of Disney on the outside, Kirby on the inside.

Tezuka was also trained as a doctor, which meant that even within his more cartoony style, he was capable of extraordinary anatomical drawings. Check out this scan from his crazy awesome medical series, Black Jack:



Black Jack is really cool. Black Jack is to surgeons what Rex the Wonder Dog is to dogs.

He was also great at realistic landscapes, as you can see with this apocalyptic scenery:



He could also draw great fight sequences, as with this one from his samurai/horror story Dororo:



I would have highlighted some of his crazy monsters from Dororo, but the reigning champ at this is Kazuo Umezu so I'll skip it.

And then there was his psychedelia. Check out this scan from Ode to Kirihito, where a man descends into madness:



Really, the breadth of Tezuka's work is staggering. I'd especially recommend Buddha to anyone who wants to experience it properly. The humour, the drama, the pure craft of it all are on full display in an eight volume biography of Siddhārtha Gautama.



Or his unfinished life's work, Phoenix. A mixture of science fiction and historical fiction taking place over thousands of years, tied together by the Phoenix and the quest for eternal life:



But of course, that goes more into his writing than his art. Still, I think this Tezuka sample post showcases his artistic versatility quite well.

Comments

[meatwhichdreams]

I had no idea that he was medically trained! That's not immediately obvious to me from his drawings (I'm not too familiar with Black Jack though), but it does make sense when I think about it. I also think in a strange way it explains some of his deep philosophical themes - I mean, nobody abandons a career in medicine for trivial reasons! He obviously had stories and ideas he needed to tell.

[grazzt]

There was also the fact that he thought the medical establishment of Japan was hopelessly corrupt. He touches upon that a few of his works, including Black Jack and Ode to Kirihito.

[rdfox]

According to Wikipedia, he had actually started as a mangaka while still in high school; he pursued his medical degree partly out of interest, but partly as a fallback plan should his manga career fail. Apparently, he seriously considered dropping out of college to go full-time when his manga started selling like hotcakes, but his family persuaded him to complete his training, if only so that he wouldn't feel he'd left something incomplete.

And yes, he definitely had stories and ideas he needed to tell, right up to the end--apparently, despite being bedridden and horribly ill, his last words were, "I beg you, let me work!"...

[meatwhichdreams]

Man. Now that is dedication!