Even 'Astro Boy' Publishers Know It Was Racist as Hell

One of the comics reviewed today is an omnibus of old Astroboy issues, which is all retro fun until readers stumble upon the 1960s approach to race in comics. As the Astroboy comic states in its intro, “We hope that when you, the reader, encounter this work, you will keep in mind the differences in attitudes toward discrimination when the work was created and those of today, and that this will contribute to an even greater awareness of such problems.” So the question is, should these comics be read for their historical merits? Are readers ready to move away from insensitivity? Is even reading old, insensitive work, useful? The Astroboy comic is included in this week’s roundup because it contains over 600 pages of manga from the 1960s, but where do readers draw the line?

Also reviewed today: a wonderfully weird DC comic, and one of the most beautiful indie comics ever to hit this list, Summerland.

Leave it to comic legend Garth Ennis to come up with a story as bizarre as Sixpack and Dogwelder. The titular characters are low-level heroes, but when they join up with Vertigo Comics classic John Constantine, they set off on a quest to change the world (or save it, it’s unclear at the moment)—and get more famous. Full of references to the fact that the characters are in a comic book world, and callbacks to various old plotlines and heroes, this issue is sort of like “advanced comic reading.” But it’s a lot of fun for readers looking for something ridiculous and full of deep-cuts. Essentially, this book is all about making fun of the DC Comics universe.

Radiation Burn is an indie comic written and illustrated by James Johnson that follows a gun-toting survivor and his robot friend as they travel the irradiated wastelands of the far future. It’s a story that’s been told before, but Johnson adds plenty of grit, dark humor, foul language, and indie tendencies to divert the plot and subvert expectations. The biggest issue with this comic is that it’s sometimes too dark, and sometimes tries to be too edgy, which can turn sour and make it seem a little young at times. But the illustration from James Johnson shows that he’s well on his way to becoming a major indie player.

Astro Boy Omnibus Volume 5 is a big collection of the classic Astro Boy manga. Created by Osamu Tezuka (often dubbed “the Walt Disney of Japan”), these comics depict a mostly good-natured, tranquil comic for kids that follows the exploits of a little robot boy. It’s “mostly good” because it serves as a weird time capsule: as mentioned above, these issues were written in the 1960s, and they do not handle racial sensitivity well at all. The book’s intro recommends that reading old comics with problematic elements helps to further a current conversation, but that seems a little dubious. Recommended for readers who are interested in the history of the manga genre, but reader beware: it's certainly gross at times.

One of the most beautiful comics of the year (so far) is Summerland, by illustrator Paloma Dawkins. With color as the central focus of this work, Dawkins exudes moods and feelings through palette alone. Her line work is intricate in an easy, non-fussy way, and it allows each page to give off a specific vibe intrinsically attached to the hazy action drawn out before the reader. This one's superb, recommended for fans of fine color work. It’s comics like this that really show what the indie genre can do that the bigger publishers can’t get away with.

Which comics were your favorites this week? Let us know in the comments or tweet us @CreatorsProject.

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