Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), creator of Astro Boy and over 700
manga series, is often called the God of Comics or the Disney of the East. But neither title acknowledges the mark he's left on science fiction. If you don't know who he is, then you should get to know him — now. For decades, Tezuka's works weren't accessible to the non-Japanese-reading public. NBC aired over half of the Astro Boy
anime series in the sixties, but the original
manga wasn't published in English until 2002. At last, a handful of publishers is actively translating and releasing some of Tezuka's lesser known titles into English. One of the best is
Apollo's Song, published in English for the first time a few months ago by Vertical Inc. Its an elegant, compact representation of Tezuka's scifi genius — and a milestone in Japanese free expression due to its frank depiction of sexuality in a postapocalyptic world.
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Star Wars may be an epic struggle between good and evil, but all that moral drama is just a vain attempt to hide all the love stories in the franchise that burned hotter than the sands of Tatooine. You've got brothers and sisters making out, robot on robot love, bestiality, bondage, phallic sabers, weird little microscopic life forms imbued with the power of the Force getting women pregnant, and plenty of inter-species sexual tension. It's a miracle that it all got past the ratings board. Check out our list of the hottest couples in the original Star Wars trilogy.
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