Manga Review: A*Tomcat by Osamu Tezuka
A perennial comic book idea is animal versions of previously created superheroes, such as Hoppy, the Marvel Bunny for Captain Marvel. It turns out that manga creators can do it too. Back in the 1950s, Osamu Tezuka created Tetsuwan Atom (“Mighty Atom”), the story of a super-powered robot that looked like a human boy. In the U.S., he’s known as Astro Boy. For a children’s series, it was quite deep, dealing with themes of identity, prejudice, parental abandonment, war and death. (Did you know Astroboy died in Vietnam?)
A*Tomcat takes place in a world where Tetsuwan Atom is fiction, an old-time manga that young Tsugio and his father (an inventor of much more realistic robot technology) bond over. Tsugio is easily bullied (the lead bully is nicknamed Gadaffi) and after a particularly humiliating session, Tsugio finds an abandoned kitten and names it Atom.
One bizarre accident with aliens later, little Atom is granted superpowers similar to the boy robot, which it uses to protect Tsugio and battle evil. Supernatural cats (the mummy cat is particularly creepy), a crime syndicate, pirate ghosts, that sort of thing.
Tezuka’s art is in his more cartoony style, hearkening back to the Tetsuwan Atom series–indeed some pages are direct redraws of the older manga to provide a counterpoint to the cat’s adventures.
The bullying scenes may be a bit much for some readers (Tsugio winds up naked more than once) and there’s some toilet humor. Otherwise it’s a fun kids’ manga, and there’s only one volume, making it relatively affordable.
