After being sucked into exploring old manga via Devilman, I quickly made my way to Osamu Tezuka. Looking at the intro to Go Nagai's take on Tezuka's Barbara you'll see him called a God of manga. This title has followed him all his life, with his death being as reported on as the then recent death of the emperor. I had skepticism about this level of praise, the first volume of Astroboy is fun but it did not blow me away. There was a rise of alternative magazines such as Garo and numerous artists who began creating adult oriented manga during the 60s and 70s called Gekiga. Rather than sticking to the admiringly good kid comics Tezuka began creating ones himself, and even starting a magazine for Gekiga. The result of this are some of the greatest manga to ever be penned, with the mammoth sized Black Jack standing as the magnum opus of Tezuka.
The manga follows the eponymous mysterious freelance doctor in a massive black trench coat. He resembles in behaviour and appearance Guts or House rather than a golden heart 70s manga protagonist. The Story is episodic to such a degree that Tezuka himself decided to shuffle the chapters around, but this works to its favour. What you will actually be reading are snapshots of the daily life of Black Jack as he runs into bizarre circumstance and clients, such as reconstructing a twin trapped in the body of their sister into Pinoko who will become his assistant and daughter figure. The relationship between these two is the heart of the story, the doctor's cold demeanour is challenged as he bears the responsibility for Pinoko. I love literature and have a strange fondness for short story collections, the execution of a story in a limited format is endlessly addicting, and the whole product transforms every threat within it into something you only understand once its all over.
Tezuka's Gekiga period is deeply politically charged, with Black Jack being the perfect vehicle for the endless pondering on the state of the world. At the forefront is environmentalism and the consequences of war and industrialisation on nature. As the stroy continues you will discover the reasoning behind the disfigurement and mysterious motivation of the protagonist, and how deeply it is connected to historic and contemporary issues of Japan. You will encounter everything from stories concerning racial prejudice, sexism, classicism, role of computers and automation on people (the Tezuka special), post war reconstruction period of Japan, transhumanism, and too many more to possibly ever speak about.
Lastly, I just need to bring up the art and paneling. Don't be afraid to read this because it came out 50 years ago, this manga has more heart put into every chapter than some entire modern series I have read. Be on the look out for some specific techniques Tezuka loves to use and experiment with by subverting them: the establishing page, a vertical panel with a series of small ones to the side; a page with angled panel lines shooting out of a point like the sun; a series of rapid shot-reverse-shots; characters breaking panel lines; massive establishing shots of nature with a small animal hiding somewhere on the gorgeous page.