I have here a copy of Kasei Tanken (A Voyage to Mars) by Noboru Ohshiro, and it is totally sweet. Published in 1940, which was, er, not a good time for the Japanese publishing industry, or indeed the Japanese anything, Ohshiro's one-volume opus has survived as one of the classics of early manga. If you were wondering what manga looked like before Tezuka, Kasei Tanken will give you an idea (answer: a lot like early American comic strips). It was one of the first manga to tell a complete self-contained story, one of the first manga with science-fiction themes, and one of the best-drawn manga of its time.

Also, have I mentioned that it's totally sweet and kicks your ass?



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