Stone Bridge to Publish Massive Osamu Tezuka Manga Biography
There could be no more appropriate way to honor the life of pioneering manga and anime creator Osamu Tezuka, often referred to as the “the father of manga,” than a visual biography. That’s exactly what Stone Bridge Press will do when it publishes The Osamu Tezuka Story: A Life in Manga and Anime
The single-volume manga biography, billed as “an anecdotal study of the evolution of Japans’s early manga and anime business,” will total over 900 pages, according to a recent announcement by Stone Bridge.
The manga is drawn by Tezuka disciple Toshio Ban, who became one of Tezuka’s assistants in 1974, later becoming Tezuka Productions’ sub-chief of manga production for magazines. Translation into English will be handled by anime scholar Frederik L. Schodt, who has the distinction of being Tezuka’s English interpreter during the 1970s and ’80s.
Ban shares a co-author credit with Tezuka Productions so this book is very much a sanctioned biography intended to prop up the legacy of Tezuka, not an independent survey of the man who created Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, and Black Jack. Nevertheless, the personal association that those involved with the project had with Tezuka suggests that readers may enjoy a new and intimate look into the life of the esteemed Japanese artist.
The book can be pre-ordered on Amazon for $29.95
