Phoenix's Rebirth (would be nice)

Evening, readers. Today will start off with a little quiz. Ever seen this guy before? Who is it?

 

Did you answer Astro Boy, or Mighty Atom? Pin- Pon! Correct! For those who don't know: he's a famous character who was drawn by Osamu Tezuka (popularly named the God (or Godfather) of Manga).

Round Two. What series is the next character from?

Maybe you know, maybe you don't know. This image is from Osamu Tezuka's Phoenix.

 "Now in English is the first volume of the acclaimed Phoenix series, regarded as Tezuka's masterpiece. Osamu Tezuka painstakingly created his epic 12-volume series over several decades, stretching the limits of comics to address fundamental questions about existence. All 12 episodes of Phoenix are linked by the presence of the mythical bird, an immortal guardian of the universal life force. Beginning in A.D. 270, Phoenix: Dawn follows the ambitions of Queen Himiko, capturing with precise period detail the early phase of Japanese civilization." (easily found here:http://store.viz.com/Phoenix-Dawn/A/1569318689.htm)

 

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a search for a copy of Volume 1, and found myself very frustrated. Why? Because Viz only had one copy left of Volume 1, and the price on the website was $87.00 or so. That's about, I don't know, 870% more than the original retail price. If you were to check the link now, you would find that they are sold out (congratulations to the final buyer!)

If Phoenix really is Tezuka's masterpiece, I would presume that means it would be better than his other series. That's saying a lot! Tezuka has written many series, a few of which I've read and love deeply (here's looking at you, Black Jack). Simply thinking that the first volume of this series is hard to obtain in the United States is difficult to cope with. At least for me it is.

At least English copies of Black Jack aren't hard to get a hold of/ ridiculously expensive.

As it turns out, Viz couldn't continue printing Phoenix, the sales simply weren't high enough. Comic series like Mighty Atom probably survive simply because of their popularity in American culture. Our comfort with the familiar and fear of the unfamiliar has cost us a translation of one of the greatest Manga series ever in book form.

So, what to do next? I've been thinking about contacting Viz Media, just to ask them why they stopped printing, though the answer is pretty obvious. The only address I could find is their snail mail. If you'd also like to see Phoenix reprinted on these shores, write to them! Here's their address:

Viz Media LLC
295 Bay Street
San Francisco, CA 94133

Phone (415) 546-7073; Fax (415) 546-7086

Depending on their response, my next step will be researching the availability of Japanese copies. The situation could be better or worse, as publishers stop printings just like they do hear. I'll keep you updated as to how that goes.

Have a good week, a new post will be up Thursday!

Next week: Kingyo Used Books, and giving the ol' Japanese language a try.