Astro Boy
I've always been a long term fan of Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.
In Japan, Astro Boy is known as "Mighty Atom" (or Japanese equivalent), but like Herge's Tin Tin it's not the name the characters are known under (e.g. Daddy Walrus / Mustachio) but the characters themselves that count. I can remember watching the original Astro Boy animated series back in the 1960s. Can't remember much about it (it was supposedly in Black & White, but with only a Black & White TV, how could I tell?) except for the main characters. The 1980s animated series is another matter.
In fact I've recently bought volume 1 and 2 of the DVD collection of this. I went back the other day to buy Vol 3 from Big W, but they only had vol 8 left. A pity. I didn't want to buy it, if I couldn't get the volumes in between. Not that there's an exact sequence, apart from the Atlas saga and things like the introduction of Uran (who often creates her own stories).
Recently too, there's been an up-to-date animated version as well. The animation is technically more competent (more modelling and detail) but the plots deviate a lot from the 1980s version. Not that there's any great reason for this, as they're both based on the original manga by Tezuka. It wasn't until recently that I was able to read some of this, in digest form from the local libraries (see right). Cool stuff. Tezuka seems to have worked at a similar level to Carl Bancks, who used to write Donald Duck (which I also read as a child). In both cases, what appear to be simple stories have various asides and sub texts which further enhance them for older readers. And they're both fun.
I got to watch a DVD of the more recent version from the local library, and it was a bit weird seeing the similarities and the differences (e.g. Uran is now called Zoran). In any case, the 80s animated version, in many respects, is closer to the original artwork and story lines. Many of the stories in the 80s version seem to lifted directly from the manga, only shortened and simplified. The more recent version rewrites some of the original story lines for long term development.
Last year I got to watch the animated film Metropolis. It as supposed to be based an original story by Tezuka, though at the time I hadn't read that. Guess what turned up in the local library - you guessed it! I find it fascinating the similarities between the Fritz Lang Film, Tezuka's graphic novel, and the final animated version of this.
All three have the following elements: an antagonist of great power and influence; a vast and sophisticated city; and a scientist who creates an artificial life form whose fate is the central issue of the story. According to the notes at the back of the graphic novel, Tezuka hadn't actually seen Lang's film when he created his version - he'd merely seen a still of the android's creation scene.
Once again, I loved the similarities and the differences. It's easy to see where Astro came from, after reading this story. It even includes Ken (Kenichi) and Mustachio (who also turned up in Kimba). It has arch villians and super powered classmates, what more could you want. The animated version of metropolis is stunning, though in some ways I found that a distraction. They also split one character into two, which is ironic as one kills the other.
Cool stuff.