MW

MW is the latest huge (582 pages!) book by Osamu Tezuka to be published in English by Vertical. Thanks very much. An amazing job they are doing bringing some of the most wild and interesting Tezuka works to us - finally.

Originally serialized beginning in 1976, it reads very novel-like, as if it was more fully conceived as a novel than some other serialized works. It’s not repetitive at all, and always moves forward.

At first I was a little disappointed with the artwork, which seemed a little more workman-like than a lot of the Tezuka we’ve seen - less wild page layouts, less inventive character design - just more concerned with function and clear storytelling - in a less exciting way, somehow. But then there are those certain sequences where the artwork steps it up a notch (perhaps some pages Tezuka was more personally involved with than others?). In any case, while less wild, it’s maybe more solidly drawn, and I grew to appreciate the way the artwork fits with the story.

And in MW, more than most other Tezuka comics I’ve read, it’s really the intense story that makes the book worth picking up. I mean, this one really has some wild stuff in it. First of all, the main character is a bisexual, insane mass murderer - and the next most important character is the conflicted (catholic?) priest who is his lover. They are both the only survivors of a secret (covered-up) poison gas accident that wiped out the entire population of a small Japanese island. One was driven insane by the gas, one was driven to the church. Most of the story takes place a decade or so later as the crazy guy seems to be trying to expose the truth about what happened on the island, but in reality just wants to get his hands on the remains of the poison gas weapon MW so he can mass produce it himself and kill every last human on Earth. The book has a lot of interesting things to say about politics, conspiracy between Japan and the nation X (obviously the U.S.A), and Nietzsche’s superman (ubermensch) concept, and wraps it all up in a surprisingly gripping plot. Especially towards the final chapters, the book becomes a real page turner.

MW is one of the best, most fully-realized, Tezuka works to be available in English, so far.