ASTRO BOY and DORORO
with PHILIPPE CARDONA and FLORENCE TORTA
PHILIPPE CARDONA AND FLORENCE TORTA are massive manga fans who have built a fanbase of their own with their anime-inspired books NOOB and SENTAI SCHOOL. Together, they created not one but TWO new tales for TEZUCOMI, an all-star celebration of Osamu Tezuka’s many celebrated characters by some of Europe’s best comic creators!
Without a doubt, ASTRO BOY is Osamu Tezuka’s most popular creation, having been translated and published around the world. The character has won the hearts of fans of all ages for generations, having first appeared as “Mighty Atom” in 1951 before exploding into his own manga series. In it, a young robot is created by a distraught scientist mourning the death of his son, but like Pinocchio, this creation yearns to become human. Unfortunately, his superpowers make him the target of forces who would use his powers for their own benefit.
Astro Boy was one of Tezuka’s first creations to be adapted into anime, and has been the subject of numerous animated series, feature films, games, and all sorts of merchandise — the start of what would become a creative empire for Tezuka. He is as iconic to the author as Mickey Mouse is to Walt Disney.
Also featured in TEZUCOMI is DORORO, arguably another one of Tezuka’s top-5 most popular creations. Set in a fantastical version of feudal Japan, DORORO follows the adventures of a wandering ronin named Hyakkimaru who was born deformed, missing various body parts that were given to 48 demons by his father at birth. Having survived the affair, he grew up to become a fierce warrior thanks to healing magic and various prosthetics. He sets out in search of these demons to reclaim the body parts they took from him. Joining him on the adventure is a young, thieving orphan named Dororo, whose perspective gives the series its title. It too has been adapted into multiple animated interpretations over the decades, most recently in 2019.
Raised on Tezuka’s comics in France, artist Philippe Cardona and writer Florence Torta were inspired to create their own manga-influenced comics in the early 2000s, starting with their first hit SENTAI SCHOOL, then NOOB, both of which pay tribute to the medium that so inspired them. Their inclusion in TEZUCOMI was fate, and the stories they created based on these two beloved Tezuka characters stand out in the series.
Take a peek at the first few pages of both “The Creator and the Destroyer” and “A Taste for Blood” by Philippe Cardona and Florence Torta below!
Preview Pages from "The Creator and the Destroyer"
(Remember: Manga is read from right to left!)
