reads

I am currently reading the manga Phoenix vol. 8 Civil War pt. 2 by Osamu Tezuka.  This is a little past the halfway point in the series.  This series is considered to be Tezuka's magnum opus.  If you are unfamiliar with who Tezuka is, he is considered to be the godfather of manga and anime in Japanese popular culture.  He is probably best known in the US for his creations Astro Boy and Kimba, the White Lion.  He is like the Japanese equivalent of Walt Disney, Will Eisner and Jack Kirby all rolled into one.  His work is being translated into English with gaining momentum by publishers like Viz Media, who publishes this series and Vertical, who published his amazing biography Buddha.

Phoenix is a series of loosely connected stories that go far into the distant past and future. Each story involves the search for a bird, the phoenix or bird of fire, that is said to be able to give immortality if you drink its blood.  The stories are much larger and complex than just that particular aspect but they all involve some character that is obsessed with finding the elusive bird.  In these stories Tezuka examines many themes including love and spirituality and examines many aspects of Japenese culture and history.

Volume 2, The Future, has one of the most amazing sequential art narrative sequences I have ever read.  It follows the extinction of one culture and evolution of a whole new phase of life on Earth while one being, a man granted immortality, watches and encourages the new life forms in all phases of their evolution.  By the time the new life has reached a stage of civilization the beings body has withered away and he has become pure spirit.  The way that Tezuka uses the art form to move this narrative is masterful.  I was blown way when I read it and find myself thinking back on it quite often.  

The volume I am currently reading, 8, is a continuation of the story begun in vol. 7 Civil War part one.  This is a story set in Japan's samurai past.  It involves warring factions and villages in Japan's feudal era.  I am not through it yet but I have to say that it is not living up to the standard that he set in all the previous stories I have read in the series.  Hopefully it will pick up some steam soon.

If  you are interested in this at all you can pretty much start anywhere in the series as each story is self contained.  Even if you just read the second volume it is well worth it. Great action, interesting philosophical ideas, not for children.

Check out Tezuka!