Opinion

New take on an old tale

By Matthew A. Thorn

In 1965, manga artist Osamu Tezuka drew an episode of "Astro Boy" in which the hero confronts a powerful robot, Pluto, who has been created for the sole purpose of destroying all other powerful robots and enabling his master to conquer the world. (This story is available in English, expertly translated by Frederik Schodt, in "Astro Boy, Volume 3," published by Dark Horse Comics.)

Created for an audience of children, this story is told in simple language with plenty of comic relief, but it touches, as do all the "Astro Boy" stories, on profound themes, and is tinged with sorrow. It was precisely the depth of "Astro Boy" that kept it from being a huge popular success among children of the day. At the time, it was overshadowed by another robot manga, "Iron Man No. 28," which thrilled little boys with the fantasy of owning a giant, remote-controlled robot that could beat up anyone else's robot. But today "Astro Boy" is still read and widely loved, whereas "Iron Man No. 28" surviｖes only as kitsch.

Thirty-nine years later, master manga artist Naoki Urasawa (of "MONSTER" fame) is retelling the story of Tezuka's "The Greatest Robot on Earth" for an older and more sophisticated audience. Whereas adult-oriented remakes of children's comics are often cynical and contemptuous of the original, Urasawa's interpretation of this classic story is undertaken with seriousness and a great respect for the original.

Yet "Pluto" (published by Shogakukan and serialized in Big Comic Original) is neither a nostalgia trip nor a fawning homage to a childhood idol. Urasawa tells the story from the point of view of the German police inspector robot, Gesicht, who was only a minor character in Tezuka's original. Along the way, Urasawa includes references not only to other works by Tezuka (such as "Black Jack"), but also to science-fiction masters such as Robert Heinlein, Philip K. Dick, and, of course, Isaac Asimov, creator of the Three Robot Laws.

One by one, six robots are given a story that was only hinted at in the 177-page original. The seventh robot, Astro Boy himself, does not appear until the end of "Volume One." Subplots are added, and minor details altered, but Tezuka's original message - that true strength has nothing to do with horsepower - is retained, elaborated on, and made particularly relevant to our times. In Pluto, as in Astro Boy, might does not make right. The robots who fight Pluto are important not because of their physical power and prowess, but because of what they have done for others, and the love that is accorded them as a result.

Shukan ST: Dec. 3, 2004

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