Black Jack Volume 1

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

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Physical Properties

Description

Recognised as Tezuka's third most famous work after Astro Boy and Kimba, the White Lion, Black Jack is an important part of the manga pioneer's canon. Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing medical feats. Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept his license due to his disdain for the medical community. With Vertical's exemplary track record of quality Tezuka releases, Volume One is a highly anticipated addition.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR OSAMU TEZUKAS BLACK JACK:

Surely theres nothing in this series more continually striking than the artists relentless, guaranteed depictions of surgery itself, happy rubber skin always peeled away to show realist meat and bone, minutely detailed organs mended or transplanted, then covered up again in the stuff of effortless napkin doodles I found even the least of [these stories] fascinating examples of an artist casting his net especially far, secure in his talented hands and firm in his fameready to confront any malady, striving to cut away any harm, instrument tips sharp
for making flesh whole.
Jog The Blog

Iconic doesn't begin to sum up Black Jack's importance in the world of manga I see a lot of Tezuka fans reaching for their walletsnot just for this volume alone, but for the whole of Black Jack as it's finally being re-released in the English-language edition it has always deserved. It was, and will be, more than worth the wait. Platinum Award.
Advanced Media Network

Totally fun, totally engrossing. Black Jack is a page-turner of the highest order, and I blew through 280+ pages and I'm hungry for more.
Comics212.net

Great materialclassic crazy Tezuka with a bloody medical heartbeat tuning out the sound of man's inhumanity to man.
Newsrama

While Astro Boy is more iconic and Phoenix is more epic in scope, Black Jack is arguably Tezukas best and most enjoyable work [It] hits Tezuka's sweet spot where his heart, his head and his sense of humor
meet in perfect company.
About.com

To match the beautiful outside, Camellia Nieh did a fantastic job with the translation. The entire book was a fantastic read cover-to-cover that I refused to put down. Whether you're just getting into manga, or have been a fan for decades, it would be a shame not to
own this seminal title.
Japanator

Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure With genre-spanning storieshorror, sci-fi, romanceand Tezuka's signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but extravagantly entertaining ride thats far more accessible than the authors novel-length epics.
Publishers Weekly (starred review)

The stories are a unique mix of an Isaac Bashevis Singer morality tale, and outstanding creative medicine. Though Black Jack is aimed at a young audience, it has maturity not found in adult works. It's a piece of comic art that excels in form, and message.
Aint It Cool News

Vertical, Inc. has promised 17 volumes of Black Jack to be released every other month over the next three years. That seems like a bold commitment, until you start reading the stories From sores that look like faces (and talk, too) to eyes that see ghosts, the busy doctors on E.R. never had to deal with any of these unique patients. Osamu Tezukas attention to detail on close-ups for surgeries and strange growths makes for some rubber-necking horror hard to turn away from. Black Jack is a 10.
Comics Village

Black Jack was Tezuka at his best; moving beyond his comfort zone, away from licensable childrens robot characters (for him) uncharted gekiga manga territory You dont need a doctors prescription and theres no complicated follow-up medication or painful physical therapyjust some serious entertainment from the pen of one of the worlds masters of comics.
Lets Anime

Author Bio

Osamu Tezuka (1928-89) is the godfather of Japanese manga comics. He originally intended to become a doctor and earned his degree before turning to what was then a medium for children. His many early masterpieces include the series known in the U.S. as Astro Boy. With his sweeping vision, deftly interwined plots, feel for the workings of power, and indefatigable commitment to human dignity, Tezuka elevated manga to an art form. The later Tezuka, who authored Buddha, often had in mind the mature readership that manga gained in the sixties and that had only grown ever since. The Kurosawa of Japanese pop culture, Osamu Tezuka is a twentieth century classic.