Astro Boy Omnibus Volume 1

Osamu Tezuka was born in Toyonaka, Osaka, Japan, on November 3, 1928, and raised in Takarazuka, Hyogo prefecture. He graduated from the Medical Department of Osaka University and was later awarded a Doctorate of Medicine. In 1946, Tezuka debuted as a manga artist with Ma-Chan’s Diary, and in 1947 he had his first big hit with New Treasure Island. In over forty years as a cartoonist, Tezuka produced in excess of 150,000 pages of manga, including the creation of Metropolis, Mighty Atom (A.K.A Astro Boy), Jungle Emperor (A.K.A Kimba the White Lion), Black Jack, Phoenix, Buddha, and many more. Tezuka’s fascination with Disney cartoons led him to begin his own animation studio, creating the first serialized Japanese cartoon series, which was later exported to America as Astro Boy in 1963. Tezuka Productions went on to create animated versions of Kimba the White Lion (Jungle Emperor) and Phoenix, among others. He received numerous awards during his life, including the Bungei Shunju Manga Award, the Kodansha Manga Award, the Shogakukan Manga Award, and the Japan Cartoonists Association Special Award.