lurkerwithout | Sunday Trade: Pluto

Pluto vol.1 by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki

In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in the robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. INTERPOL assigns robot detective Geischt to this most strange and complex case - and he discovers that he too, as one of the Seven Great Robots of the World, is one of the targets.

Naoki Urasawa is one of the top Manga writers alive, behind critical and fan favorite works like Monster and 20th Century Boys. Which is probably why was able to convince the family of the late legendary Osamu Tezuka to re-create one of his greatest stories. "The Greatest Robot on Earth" story from Astro Boy. Urasawa and his artistic partner Nagasaki produce something greater than a simple homage. Even in this first volume can be seen the set-up and beginnings for a science fiction classic...