Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Ishinomori's Story

Be sure to check out The Mike Toole Show for an incredible look at one of Japan's greatest creators, the legendary Shotaro Ishinomori.

Ishinomori created so many of Japan's most famous characters and stories, conquering most every conceivable genre and medium. Most famous among his works is the classic Cyborg 009. Fans of Osamu Tezuka should definitely look into learning more about this incredible artist's body of work. In fact, it was Tezuka himself who discovered Ishinomori's talent and broke him into the professional manga industry.
Here's a sample from the article:
Anyway, a young artist named Shotaro Onodera submitted some samples of his work to Manga Shonen, and it just so happened that Tezuka's famous Astro Boy was running as a special feature in the magazine at the time. Tezuka's editor clued him in to the budding talent, and history was made when Tezuka hired the kid as his assistant and set him to work on the Astro Boy story Electro. The entire experience is laid out in dark horse's Astro Boy volume 15, so seek that out if you want the dirt.
Be sure to read the entire column on Anime News Network.

It's unfortunate that so little of Ishinomori's work has been made available to English speakers. The tide has turned in recent years when it comes to Tezuka's manga, so let's hope for the same attention being paid to Ishinomori as well. Check out the English Language version of the IshimoriPro website for more.

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