black-jackAmericans can’t get enough Tezuka!

Well sort of. The Japanese comics pioneer was as prolific as he was influential and recently we’ve recently seen a pretty ambitious attempt at getting a bunch of his works into print here in the US from DMP.

But a lot of primo Tezuka’s work was already published here via a series of very attractive volumes published by Vertical which ranged from Black Jack—perhaps his most accessible series and one of the best known—and standlone volumes like Ode to Kirihito. Sadly many of these books are out of print, but not to worry, Vertical is bringing them back in digital form:

are proud to announce the eBook rights to our entire Tezuka collection!

In the coming months expect to see all of our Tezuka titles available through the Apple iBookstore, Kindle, Nook, and hopefully Google Play. We will focus first on the series that are out of print – Apollo’s Song and Black Jack. Expect to see two to three books uploaded every two to three weeks.

Apollo’s Song – omnibus
Black Jack 1 through 17
Dororo – omnibus
Princess Knight 1&2
Ode to Kirihito – omnibus
MW
Ayako
Book of Human Insects
Buddha 1 through 8
Message to Adolf 1&2
Twin Knights

So glad this was finally confirmed. We have been working on this for more than a year now.

Oh and we also want to confirm simultaneous eBook and print releases of My Neighbor Seki also!

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Digital reprint rights are not a gimme among manga-ka or their estates—where’s that digital Urasawa?—so having this sanctioned is a great step forward.

And yeah, check out Black Jack. The story of a heroic doctor who goes around operating on people to solve crime is as awesome as it sounds, and Black Jack’s mop of hair is a comics symbol as primary as Tintin’s cowlick.

Via sharp eyed Johanna Draper Carlson:

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

3 COMMENTS

  1. Excellent news. Been waiting for Vertical to do this for a while now, mostly for Black Jack. Wish Dark Horse would digitally release the later volumes of their Astro Boy set as well.

    Does release on Kindle mean these books are coming to Comixology now too?

  2. I’M STILL MISSING BOTH VOL 13 AND 15 OF BLACK JACK !!!! Grrrr… those two are impossible to find and the only ones available go from $50 to $80 each.

  3. “Does release on Kindle mean these books are coming to Comixology now too?”

    Apart from both being owned by Amazon, the one doesn’t really imply the other, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed, too. I’m not using any of the formats mentioned yet, but can always use more Tezuka in my life.

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