A collection of newspaper comic strips by the late manga creator Osamu Tezuka featuring handwritten dialogue as well as previously unreleased works will be published as a set of books in November.
The three-volume box set titled ¡°Tezuka Osamu Comic Strips¡± includes the complete stories, in the size they were originally drawn, of ¡°Tiger Land¡± ¡ª a comic about the coexistence of humans and animals ¡ª published in 1974 in the Japanese Communist Party¡¯s daily, currently known as Shimbun Akahata, among others.
The ¡°Tiger Land¡± volume features landscape pages, measuring 80 centimeters across when opened. The collection also includes ¡°Adventure 21,¡± a series of stories set in 1998 about a humanoid rabbit that were published between 1970 and 1971.
In order to publish his horizontal comic strips in vertical book form, Tezuka (1928-1989), author of popular manga series such as ¡°Astro Boy,¡± ¡°Black Jack¡± and ¡°Jungle Emperor,¡± would often personally cut and paste his work, touching up the story and sketches.
¡°We were able to publish the book in the manuscripts¡¯ actual size when we found out that some of his original works were miraculously intact,¡± said Takayuki Hamada, who organized the project and edited the new books.
¡°You can feel the vibes of the past just by seeing his unique roundish handwriting in the speech bubbles,¡± he added.
The box set will also include Tezuka¡¯s five other comic strips, being released in book form for the first time, including one aimed at children called ¡°Donaru-kun,¡± which was published in the Nagoya-based Chunichi Shimbun in 1965.
The collection costs ?13,200 and can be reserved on the website of publishing company 888 books.
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