Astro Boy, Vol. 6

Rating:
Summary: Truly humorous, while dealing with issues
Review: Tezuka Osamu shows Atom (Astro Boy) in an alternate origin. Here, much more detail is given than in volume #1, and sub plots abound. Atom finds himself thrown through a time warp, and in mid twentieth century Japan, a time before the rise of robots. His dilemma is that he cannot be refueled by the then current technology. Adventures abound, both tragic and comic. One really funny gag is where he must hide the fact that he is a robot from a person who sees him fly out of the sky and land in a city park. This gag, alone justified the purchase price. Atom's solution to this problem made me laugh myself red in the face. Tezuka Osamu shows his talent for addressing serious cultural issues while keeping a light touch. The robot vs. human rights issue mirrors the black vs. white conflict that was prevalent during the early 1960s when Tezuka wrote this story. Although he lived in Japan, one can ascertain that there was class trouble there too, or perhaps he was aware of the trouble in other nations.

This volume introduces Scara, an insect person from a distant plant. She is clueless about proper behavior in the world of humans, but in succeeding volumes, she becomes more of an advisor to Atom, than he is to her.

NOTE: The story begun in this volume spans at least the next two volumes. If you love Atom, you must purchase those too. I am still awaiting delivery of volumes # 8-10, but do not mind a lengthy story when it is as pleasing as the one started here.

Rating:
Summary: Truly humorous, while being tragic.
Review: Tezuka Osamu shows Atom (Astroboy) in an alternate origin. Here, much more detail is given than in volume #1, and sub plots abound. Atom finds himself thrown through a time warp, and in mid twentieth century Japan, a time before the rise of robots. His dilemma is that he cannot be refueled by the then current technology. Adventures abound, both tragic and comic. One really funny gag is where he must hide the fact that he is a robot from a person who sees him fly out of the sky and land in a city park. This gag, alone justified the purchase price. Atom's solution to this problem made me laugh myself red in the face. Tezuka Osamu shows his talent for addressing serious cultural issues while keeping a light touch. The robot vs. human rights issue mirrors the black vs. white conflict that was prevalent during the early 1960s when Tezuka wrote this story. Although he lived in Japan, one can ascertain that there was class trouble there too, or perhaps he was aware of the trouble in other nations.

This volume introduces Scara, an insect-person from a distant planet. She is clueless about proper behavior in the world of humans, but in succeeding volumes, she becomes more of an advisor to Atom, than he is to her.

NOTE: The story begun in this volume spans the next two volumes. If you love Atom, you will want those too.

Rating:
Summary: Text replaces pictures
Review: Well, for me this volume was a disappointment. In many places story is told using long text inserts instead of pictures, which is quite boring, in my opinion. The only exception was the story about H-bomb. However, you will need this volume, if you like 5 preceding volumes, because it is a part of "Once upon a time" cycle and because in later 7,8 volumes the text insertion is abandoned.