Magnetic Press Pays Tribute To Osamu Tezuka In Two-Volume Anthology ‘Tezucomi’
by Brendan M. Allen
Magnetic Press has announced the launch of the two-volume anthology Tezucomi, celebrating the works of legendary Japanese mangaka Osamu Tezuka. Featuring material produced by Tezuka Productions, this 600-page tribute will feature 18 original short stories by 20 top artists and authors from Europe, collected into a set of two 300-page volumes. Showcasing many of Tezuka’s most popular characters, from Astro Boy and Kimba to Black Jack and Big X, the series will nod to the full spectrum of his incredible body of work, including some of his lesser-known creations.
Featuring a creative lineup hand-selected by Tezuka Productions from some of the most talented artists and writers in France and Spain, this collection of short stories will celebrate the influence Tezuka’s work has had on their own careers while introducing or entertaining readers of a new generation. The creative roster includes Ken Niimura, Joe Kelly, Juan Diaz Canales, Kenny Ruiz, Belen Ortega, Victor Santos, Mathieu Bablet, JD Morvan, Mig, David Lafuente, Bertrand Gatignol, LuisNCT, Elsa Brants, Reno Lemaire, Brice Cossu, Sourya, and more. The new material was produced as part of Tezuka Production’s 2018 celebration of what would have been Tezuka’s 90th birthday. This new release is in celebration of his 95th.
Often referred to as “The Father of Manga,” Tezuka was one of the most prolific and pioneering manga authors in Japan. Widely considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, his first published work, New Treasure Island, was released in 1947, initiating a successful career spanning 40 years with multiple influential and genre-defining creations. He is credited with producing over 150,000 pages of manga and over 60 animated projects before his passing in 1989. While his early successes included children-oriented stories such as Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, his style and direction matured over time to include historical tales such as Buddha and darker psychological dramas such as Black Jack, Dororo, and MW. Tezucomi pays tribute to the full spectrum of Tezuka’s library, from light to dark.
“It is impossible not to recognize the influence Osamu Tezuka’s work has had not only on the generations of manga that followed in Japan, but on comics and sequential art worldwide,” says Mike Kennedy, Magnetic Press’s publisher. “Certainly, his most recognizable characters, like Astro Boy, are as globally iconic as Mickey Mouse, but what is less evident is the impact he has had on the practice of visual storytelling. His ability to keep the humanity of his characters central and identifiable, even when the character isn’t human, set the standard for the best comics ever produced. Whether Tezuka was telling a children’s story about a brave white lion or a mature thriller about a troubled character resolving a traumatic past, every character was fully realized and consistent through hundreds of pages worth of entertainment. Whether directly or indirectly, his immense body of work has influenced the best comic creators working today, and Tezucomi features just a few of them.”
The two-volume anthology will be released in two formats: as manga-sized trade paperbacks (5.25” x 7.5”) for traditional mangaphiles and as premium gallery-sized hardcovers (7.5” x 11”) for book lovers. Both formats will contain the same black-and-white content, 300 pages per volume, presented in a traditional right-to-left manga reading format. Both formats will be offered for pre-order through a campaign launching on Kickstarter next Tuesday, August 1st.
Other campaign-exclusive features will include bonus art prints by contributing artists Olivier Vatine, Rian Gonzales, Miki Montllo, and Toru Terada. Other exclusive bonus items will be revealed and awarded to pre-order customers throughout the 18-day campaign.
Interested fans are encouraged to visit www.tezucomi.com to pre-register for the upcoming campaign. Pre-registered and early backers will receive a limited edition two-sided mini-poster by Olivier Vatine and Rian Gonzales added to their pre-order for free.
The pre-order campaign will run for 18 days from 9am PST Tuesday, August 1st, until 5pm PST Friday, August 18th. Books are expected to ship to pre-order customers in November, with the trade paperback edition available in bookstores in Q1 2024.
