by Osamu Tezuka
Publisher: Vertical
ISBN: 978-1-93-223464-0
Remember that quaint little book shop on the high street, next to Woolworths, and opposite the Virgin Megastore. I think it was called Borders. Anyway, just before it shut up shop, I picked this one up, and it's a monster at over 800 pages. It's the story of a Japanese doctor who investigates a disease that slowly deforms the body giving it a dog like appearance before eventually ending in death. It sounds utterly bonkers, and, to be fair, in many places it is, but it's saving grace is that Tezuka was trained as a doctor so the rationale and storytelling work very well, and as the story unfolds the grand scale of events and the desperation of the characters becomes very involving indeed. It's by no means a new book, originally seeing print in 1970, but it doesn't feel dated at all. In fact, there's something of an art-house cinema feel to it. To put it into context, Tezuka is the Japanese equivalent of Will Eisner, and went on to pretty much establish the Japanese comics market and inspire the generations that followed. I was hugely impressed with Ode To Kirihito, and if you like quirky but intelligent comics then this one should be for you.
And if you liked that: There's much more to chose from, but I'm personally trying MW next.
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