Singh, Jeff :: Osamu Tezuka - God of Manga

Akebono-san 7 page Shojo manga by Osamu Tezuka 1959

Artist: Osamu Tezuka (All)

29 Comments - 1,965 Views - 20 Likes

Akebono-san 7 page Shojo manga by Osamu Tezuka 1959 Comic Art

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Artwork Details

Title:	Akebono-san 7 page Shojo manga by Osamu Tezuka 1959
Artist:	Osamu Tezuka (All)
Media Type:	Pen and Ink
Art Type:	Complete Story
For Sale Status:	NFS
Views:	1,965
Likes on CAF:	20 21
Comments:	29
Added to Site:	6/15/2021
Comic Art Archive:

Description

This might be the crowning jewel in my collection to date, if not one of the top 5 for sure. I wouldn't use the word grail as I have owned my holy grail for most of my collecting career but this is certainly the kind of acquisition I have dreamed about for years.

My admiration for the work and influence of Osamu Tezuka-sensei has had no bounds since I first dove into his career some 20+ years ago. He created over 700 manga titles in his career and reinvented both manga and anime with a style that was often copied and hugely influential. There were many innovations he brought with him and it would be impossible to find a North American equivalent of him unless you bundled people like Chuck Jones, Will Eisner, Milton Caniff and Jack Kirby into a single entity. Often called the Godfather of Manga or God of Manga, he is revered around the world and his finger prints are on so much of the pop-culture that we just take for granted.

His art is incredibly rare. Most of it is held by the Osamu Tezuka Foundation and Museum in Japan. The pieces you see out there are usually scraps and panels he cut out or redrew. I have a number of those. My first page by him from Black Jack turned out to be a forgery. There are also some early pages by him out there and a few dozen on the market of his later work. It is all exceedingly rare. I have been after a full page for a long time and was often the under-bidder not willing to take that extra step when pages came up. Those losses all left wounds and when I saw this incredible offering come up, I made plans to take this one beyond my comfort level. Obviously my efforts were successful and the art is now here with me. I had the chance to see some 400+ originals by Tezuaka-sensei at Angouleme a few years ago and they never fail to impress in person and yet the amount of charm and vitality on these pages even took me with a bit of surprise. There are so many pages in this story I'd have been happy having as a singular example of his work. My initial plan was to buy the story and perhaps sell of 2-3 pages to cut my costs down on this purchase but now that I have the story here, there is no way I can split it up. The story as an entity is truly museum worthy.

This story is entitled Akebono-san and was published in 1959 in Ribon Shojo manga under the Soyokaze-san series which started in 1955. Although I love his later story telling and innovations, for me this is the peak period of his art from about '59 to '68. This story was given to fellow mangaka Katsumi Mashiko-sensei around the time it was published and remained with him or his estate until it was offered and now it is here with a very humbled Jeff-san.

At some point, I will likely post each page individually with more description but the 7 pages fits perfectly with the 6 additional image format CAF allows for. I have kept the scans pretty big so you can appreciate the detail and style in the art. I have plans to ask a family member for translation of each panel but with this story, the storytelling takes you through without the need for words. There may be some subtleties in motivation and relationships you won't pick up on but thre is no doubt on what happened. Check out some of Tezuka-sensei's use of dramatic perspective, layout and lighting to create dynamic energy, atmosphere and the presence of characters.

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About the Owner

	Jeff Singh ( 7 ) Premium Gallery Owner
Joined:	November 2004
Last Login:	September 2025
Website:	http://www.art4comics.com
Country:	CANADA
On CAF:	Premium Member Q&A Jeff's Classifieds Jeff's Want List Artworks Commented On Liked Art Site Activity on CAF Read More About JeffSingh

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Comments on this Artwork

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Ruben DaCollector
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Knowing how long you coveted an original by Tezuka, I know how thrilling it must have been for you to score this. A big hearty congratulations, well deserved!

Chris Wong
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Just WOW!

F M
Member Since 2005

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Exceptional, Jeff! (even though it will not receive the attention it deserves on CAF sadly).

ps; yes, sell OTHER stuff and keep it complete ;)

paul bogdanowski
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Huge compliments for your effort. Tezuka is a magicien.

kent mansley
Member Since 2015

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

I commend you for not giving up and for making this happen. It's your choice of course, but I truly hope that you keep this story for your collection. Your collection is one of the special ones on CAF and this story is a tremendous centerpiece. Congrats, congrats, congrats!

Yo Kuri
Member Since 2019

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Tezuka is the greatest manga-ka of all time and this is a phenomenal example of his mastery of the medium. Incredibly dynamic and effective panel composition and wonderful character acting and cartooning. What a treasure this is! Congratulations!

Rob Stolzer
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Jeff, mazel tov, mazel tov, mazel tov! Such beautiful pages that could not wind up with a more worthy person. The drawing has such beautiful deceiving simplicity to it, with wonderful uses of high contrast shapes and lines. And I love the caricature quality of the villainous character. Simply wonderful work. Congrats again, my friend.

Ray Cuthbert
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Congratulations on your achievement Jeff!!!

Ray Cuthbert
Member Since 2003

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Congratulations on your achievement Jeff!!!

Aaron N.
Member Since 2009

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Put me down for the splash when you break it up... but seriously, I don't know how you're going to top this. It is a wondrous day in the Singh collection.

Monty B
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/16/2021

Museum -quality artwork!!! Many congratulations Jeff, I'm very very happy for you... :-))

Jeff Singh
Member Since 2004

Posted on 6/18/2021

Monty B wrote:

Museum -quality artwork!!! Many congratulations Jeff, I'm very very happy for you... :-))

Thanks Monty. I have a number of pieces I think are pretty special but with these I feel truly unworthy to own. They do belong in a museum and I have very few pieces I feel like this about in collection(maybe my Herge). I love them all but there are a few that mere mortals should not be allowed to own like this one.

Duke Fleed aka #1 Groo Fan
Member Since 2013

1 - Posted on 6/22/2021

Jeff Singh wrote:

Thanks Monty.� I have a number of pieces I think are pretty special but with these I feel truly unworthy to own.� They do belong in a museum and I have very few pieces I feel like this about in collection(maybe my Herge).� I love them all but there are a few that mere mortals should not be allowed to own like this one.��

Good thing you are not a mere mortal! Congrats on a spectacular set of pages!

Timothy Finney
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/17/2021

I have been waiting to see these (and I hope you can afford to keep them together). The splash is a wonderful bit of "shojo" imagery, a lot of which, he invented. The panel pages have all sorts of Tezuka's storytelling bits, including the strict teacher forcing the student to "gaman suru" (the Buddhist philosophy of achieving by enduring the seemingly unbearable often mythologized in the years following the end of WWII), the bit where the teacher, a woman, pretends to be a man (see Ribbon Knight), the cartoonish car chase action (which goes back to his very first manga, New Treasure Island -- I particularly like how the villain's car knocks the other cars off the road), the evil villain with shades of gray, the stars, the big eyes and so much more. You say this is not your grail, and that you got your true grail early on, but this was your grail quest. It just came at a later point in time.

Bob Kopman
Member Since 2007

1 - Posted on 6/17/2021

Congrats on this Jeff. A rare and treasured piece for your collection.

Chris K.
Member Since 2008

1 - Posted on 6/17/2021

Such an incredibly special update, Jeff. You always amaze me with the breadth of your knowledge in graphic storytelling art. Congrats!

Eltanin C
Member Since 2012

1 - Posted on 6/18/2021

Just beautiful. Congrats!

Ben Friedman
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/23/2021

A masterpiece for sure. Huge congrats. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet -- you will forget the money, but not the art!!

Max Comic Box .
Member Since 2006

1 - Posted on 6/25/2021

OMG!!! The God of Manga! Great Jeff!

Max C
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 7/1/2021

Speechless.

You probably can’t go any further in collecting, but I know you’ll do your best to amaze all of us once again.

Major score, my Friend, this is truly outstanding

Steve N. Comic/Fantasy Art
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 7/2/2021

Museum-worthy indeed, and exquisite.

Alex Johnson
Member Since 2006
Forum Moderator

1 - Posted on 7/2/2021

A true treasure. I'm very happy for you!

Mike Millian
Member Since 2017

1 - Posted on 7/4/2021

Wow! I could scarcely imagine holding one of Tezuka's original pages in my hands. To own an entire sequential story is beyond a privelege. I know how tricky it can be to obtain published Japanese art. Congratulations on such a fabulous acquisition!

Cartoon Fanboy
Member Since 2012

1 - Posted on 7/5/2021

A seven page Tezuka story from 1959, truly amazing. This must be a dream come true.

Mark Levy
Member Since 2004

1 - Posted on 7/9/2021

Another case for the Singh Museum of Art!

Edgard Cespedes
Member Since 2015

Posted on 9/18/2021

A true masterpiece and what a rarity!!

Andrea F.
Member Since 2008

Posted on 12/8/2021

Awesome!!!!

Steve N. Comic/Fantasy Art
Member Since 2017

Posted on 1/12/2022

C L A S S I C, Jeff. A historical and transnational and wistfully beautiful gem.

Antonio Menici
Member Since 2006

Posted on 3/14/2024

マンガの神様... what else to add!!! ❄🦅❄

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