Given that Astro Boy's birthday was last week, it seemed like a good time to check back in on the collected volumes of his adventures from Dark Horse. When last we left Astro (OK, when last I left Astro... I'm about six volumes behind), he was deactivated due to running out of power during his accidental time trip back into the 1960s. This volume finds him in 1993 (or 1987, Tezuka plays a little fast and loose with time), and we see both new supporting cast members and older versions of the older ones, as well as more exploration of the robot/racism analogy and a surprisingly sophisticated notion of the moral quandaries that technology could pose in the future.
Though Tezuka, like most of the futurists of golden age science-fiction, predicted a future that moved much faster than it actually would, with robots, manned travel to Mars and atomic passenger liners, in general he has the same well-considered futurist skills that he displayed on Phoenix, Metropolis and other work. If you ignore the actual date stamp on the work, it's not hard to see comparisons in Astro Boy's 1993 to the near-future of Minority Report, Blade Runner and other cutting edge future imaginations, all of which were created much later.
It's not just Tezuka's foresight which impresses me, however, but his enthusiasm and intelligence that he brings to the work. Tezuka's work reminds me of a slightly more sophisticated (and Japanese) Stan Lee or Jack Kirby, someone who is brimming with ideas, many of whom are slightly off-kilter but which work in the context of the story. A robot framed for murder by a prejudiced anti-robotics lawyer, a city divided into several zones including one where people murder each other for fun and a fairly structured society built around the notion of robotic labor are only a few examples of the ideas that Tezuka has to offer up here.
While the world-building that creates the background of Astro Boy is certainly interesting, the appeal of the main character shouldn't be underestimated either. Astro Boy is the quintessential boy hero, a mix of Pinocchio and Superman, full of idealism and a noble desire to help people, combined with a touch of naivete that makes the darker elements of the story seem more horrific, as Astro's good nature makes selfish or evil deeds seem more heinous by comparison. Tezuka does generally present a fairly optimistic viewpoint, however, because while selfish or short-sighted characters sometimes win out, Astro is surrounded by people who want to help him, including his creator, his friend who has moved up from beggar to corporation owner and his alien friend Scara.
Tezuka's work does have some weaknesses in the area of consistency, as it seems that he was busy inventing and coming up with ideas without necessarily trying to figure out where they jibe with past ideas. This is most notable in the change in time from 1993 to 1987 (I spent several pages trying to figure out if we had somehow flashed back again), but it also seems strange that over the course of just the two books I've read, Astro has had several origins, as his appearance from the future inspired his own creation in a strange paradox, and this issue contains a story of a scientist recreating his young boy Tobio as Astro Boy, which seems at odds with the story that Dr. Ochanomizu created him. These inconsistencies actually add to the charm of the book rather than detracting from it, but it does sometimes make for a slightly jarring read.
