Lost World review

Lost World

[ Osamu Tezuka | 1948 | Dark Horse Comics ]

2009 has been a good year of Tezuka awareness. Urusawa’s take on an Astro Boy story arc, Pluto, is widely considered of the best series being published right now. Vertical Inc. has been releasing a steady stream of Black Jack volumes throughout ’09, and Ed Chavez is making sure you read them (Don’t worry, Ed, I am). The CG Astro Boy film has many people looking back at Tezuka’s original. The works of Osamu Tezuka have been a hot topic among the blogosphere and abroad. While widely regarded as “the father of manga”, his work has gone nearly unread among much of anime fandom in many circles. It is nice to see his work being more widely read and appreciated. In this review, I’ll be taking a look at one of Tezuka’s earliest works- Lost World.

To even begin to describe the plot is a daunting task. There is just so much going on, it is as if three separate stories magically became one. The book starts off with a murder mystery being investigated by Mr. Mustachio [For the Tezuka uninitiated, a frequently used character throughout his work and a cool dude named for his mustache]. A man name Jagata was killed and the gem hidden in his fake eye was stolen. A talking rabbit takes Mr. Mustachio to the boy genius Dr. Kenichi Shikishima. Kenichi is planning to lead a scientific expedition to the planet Mamango which only occasionally (every five million years) comes close to earth. Jagada had been hiding a secret gem believed to come from Mamango and be very powerful. Incidentally, a while ago it was announced that a ten million yen prize was being offered to the most significant space discovery. A secret society led by a duck-billed man (for reason unexplained) is responsible for the death of Jagata and plans to get a hold of the stones and claim the prize. Another key element is how The Island of Doctor Moreau was mixed into the plot. At Dr. Shikishima’s lab is another scientist, Makeru Butamo, who is involved with turning animals and plants into humanlike forms. The animals are all shown as being humanoid versions of themselves, but the plants are actually made to look exactly like humans. If you are hoping this won’t end up bringing up human/plant breeding, then prepare to be disappointed. [“Are those cookie molds?” “They’re not cookie molds. I’ll put them on those plants and then, inject them with special hormones, the plants will grow rapidly into a perfect fit for these human molds and then their human forms will be complete”.]  Eventually, everyone important to the story ends up in space and the crew find that the planet Mamango is like a young version of earth that still has dinosaurs. Saying any more would give away the ending, but –wow- is it something. I have no idea what Tezuka was thinking when he came up with that.

This story is a complete mess. I have never seen so many elements jumbled up together so sloppily that it comes out completely seamless. It is as if Tezuka combined all of his early influences into one story. The plot is horrendous, but it is the more specific panels, dialogue, and action sequences that are truly ridiculous. Everything about the comic is awkwardly done. In fact, about every other panel has a very rough feel. To focus only on how silly the overall plot is would leave out how much weirder the experience is of every single event. On only the fourth page, a moose head on the wall suddenly yells “HONK!” as an alarm after the murder takes place. A few pages forward and a butler faints and land right on the tip of his extremely long nose. The talking rabbit, Mimio, ties a rope around his nose to pull him up. I could go on like this for the entire story.

This is not to say that it is altogether unenjoyable. Indeed, there is a great deal of campy fun to be had. Sort of like a compilation of a million early sci-fi and pulp fiction tropes thrown together in a stranger way than you would even expect. It is like a completely different kind of B-movie, while sharing many similarities. I have to admit having a lot of fun reading this, but I’m not sure most people would be willing to pay US $17.95 for this kind of material.

Of course, to discuss it for its historical value is completely different. It is very interesting to see the early roots of Mustachio, Kenichi, and Lamp who all become very important characters in Tezuka’s career. It also provides a look at his early art style and writing technique, but without the refinement found later on. For Tezuka fans or those interested in manga history, it is a must read. I wouldn’t recommend it to other readers unless, unless you are interested in the wackiness and find it for a good price.