Angola in the Comics #15: Black Jack in "White Lion"

I don't seldom look at manga on this blog, but in the past I've indicated that one of the mangas I enjoyed was Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, a series about the world's greatest surgeon, an unlicensed practitioner who demands the top dollar for his work, yet despite that has a deep conscience and sense of justice. Recently I've been going through the volumes I hadn't read (printed in English by Vertical) when in volume 12 I found -- of all things -- a story referencing Angola!

I don't know where the story called "White Lion" was first published, although it appears to be from the 1970s. In this story, Black Jack is hired by the owner of a zoo in Japan which recently received Luna Luna, a rare white lion from Angola, which is referenced as being "recently independent". The lion appears to be sick and although Black Jack's specialities are in human medicine, the zoo hopes he can help the cub. What Black Jack discovers is that the lion isn't simply white furred -- it's suffering from albinism. To save Luna Luna's life, Black Jack injects him with melanin, darkening the lion's skin and fur. The lion is now of little interest to the zoo, who return him to Angola.

I'm not sure what inspired this particular story of Tezuka's -- I've noticed that many of his Black Jack comics were drawn from contemporary news items in Japan. So why Angola? Just because it had recently become indepdendent? And why white lions? Simply because of Tezuka's earlier series Kimba the White Lion, or was there an issue at a Japanese zoo which was similar to this? Regardless of where the story came from, the references to Angola's independence are nice, and lions were certainly in Angola at the time (today, probably not so much). So far as I know, white lions are found in South Africa, but at least this is within southern Africa. I've never considered the effects of albinism on animals, but albinism is certainly an issue all over Africa. In my own vists to Angola, my uncle patiently explained to me how carefully albinos must protect themselves from the sun -- much as Black Jack recounts in this comic.

What an interesting place to find a comic book reference to Angola. Thanks, Tezuka!

Testing the waters: Black Jack

For the second of my "testing the waters" articles, I give you something definitely far from my usual pace: Black Jack Vol.1, by Osamu Tezuka (Vertical, 2008).

If you've followed my blog then you're aware that manga isn't one of my specialties; prior to Black Jack my only real purchase was Golgo 13. Manga can be a polarizing issue among comic book fans - or, at least, there are bloggers and columnists who try to frame it as a polarizing issue. Ultimately, manga is very successful and evidently more widely-read than North American comic books but there isn't a particularly large overlap between the two markets. Fans of North American comics tend to have little interest in manga, fans of manga tend to have little interest in North American comics.

Well and good, but I've still felt an occasional urge to try some manga just because of the hubub. I've certainly enjoyed a number of anime programs so the material should have some appeal to me. Black Jack is certainly a safe bet for a non-initiate. It's by Osamu Tezuka, one of the giants of manga's past (a prolific giant, at that). An essay at Savage Critic made me think Black Jack was to my tastes.

The titular protagonist Black Jack is a rogue surgeon who operates under the grid, sans license and demanding top dollar for his services. He gets his money because he's simply the greatest surgeon alive. His expertise is such that he's often brought in on unusual cases. How unusual? Well, the first volume includes a man with an infection on his face which possess a sentient life force.

Or how about the computer doctor which believes itself to be sick and demands that Black Jack treat it?

Black Jack seems to be a mercenary out for money, but since he's the protagonist of an ongoing fiction, naturally he's concealing a gentle, merciful heart. He's Dr. House without the drugs. Ideally, Black Jack tries to get paid and serve comeuppance to those who deserve it. In one tale he offers reserved support to a young polio victim who reminds him of his own childhood spent combating a fragile body. In another, he lends a hand to a female doctor derisively nicknamed "Black Queen" because her business-like approach to medicine reminds colleagues of Black Jack himself.

Overall, I had a good time with Black Jack; Tezuka's style was very cartoonish here, which I assume is because he intended Black Jack to be read by people of all ages. Some of the gonzo cartoon gags seem out of place next to the bloody surgical scenes, but the humour is sometimes welcome, especially that of Black Jack's self-proclaimed "wife" Pinoko.

More considerations about Golgo 13

It seems to me that in fiction where the protagonist is a hitman that he tends to follow a certain arc, from stone cold killer to genuine hero. At some point the hitman encounters someone who makes him reconsider his position; even prior to this encounter, we already see that the killer has his own code which renders him a little human to our eyes. Then we see Philip Raven changed by a pretty face; Leon changed by caring for an orphaned girl; Martin Blank changed by true love; even Frank Martin has a sense of moral outrage.

Since my post about the first volume of Viz's Golgo 13 collections, I've read another six volumes and I'm here to tell you: Golgo 13 does not follow these patterns. It's certainly understandable - most of the films mentioned above were intended as a single story (in two, the lead dies after his epiphany, what Ebert calls the Deadly Change of Heart), while Golgo 13 is a serial which has had to endure 40 years of tales. But Golgo 13 is not a particularly heroic hitman. His own code goes like this: he will kill anyone for money; he will see a job through to the end (ie, he will not cheat an employer); he will kill only the assigned target (and anyone else who tries to kill him); he will seek revenge if someone double crosses him.

If that sounds like someone capable of performing despicable deeds, well, go to the head of the class. Among other things, we learn that Golgo 13 shot Dodi al-Fayed in the head shortly before his limo crashed on August 31, 1997 ("English Rose," Golgo 13 Vol.4).

What a gentleman, eh? Then again, some people like him; Golgo 13 turns out to be an old acquaintence of Nelson Mandela (they spent some time in the pokey together), which proves helpful when Mandela needs help to prevent a coup ("Power to the People," Golgo 13 Vol.3).

Part of what makes these Golgo 13 stories so interesting to me is the "current events" nature of the storytelling. Golgo 13 rubs elbows with all sorts of contemporary figures and winds up figuring in several major events. We learn what he was up to during the Tiananmen Massacre, for instance ("Hydra," Golgo 13 Vol.2). We also see Golgo 13 head into outer space to meddle with the Apollo-Soyuz mission ("The Orbital Hit," Golgo 13 Vol.4), prevent a nuclear plant meltdown in California ("Wasteland," Golgo 13 Vol.10) and halt an attempted coup on Okinawa - without killing anyone ("Okinawa Syndrome," Golgo 13 Vol.11)!

Which is not to say that every Golgo 13 story is "ripped from the headlines." Some are simply crime stories such as "Headhunter" (Golgo 13 Vol.9), in which a businessman is murdered and his father tries to find the identity of his killer so that he can hire Golgo 13 to finish him off. In "the Wrong Man" (Golgo 13 Vol.11), a hapless salesman finds himself mistaken for Golgo 13 and like something from a Hitchcock film is able to string his "employers" along and rather enjoys the respect that comes from being a notorious killer...until they send him on a job to kill a garage full of armed men!

The stories often present Golgo 13 as a force of nature, not a man. The focus is usually kept on other characters in the cast - the people who hire him, the people targeted for death at his hands, people just swept up in the chaos around him; sometimes a story will be more than halfway over before Golgo makes an entrance. We care for the supporting characters, not Golgo, which is how they're able to keep bringing him back without humanizing him to the point where he'd have to reform like the Hollywood hitmen I listed above. Still, one story does force Golgo to grow a conscience when he discovers that his vast personal fortune from decades of assassinations is being used to fund oil drilling ("A Fierce Southern Current," Golgo 13 Vol.3).

Comparisons were often made between Golgo 13 and James Bond; I think it's interesting that since Daniel Craig took over as Bond we've seen the film version come closer to Golgo - the last two Bond films were certainly more intense and violent than usual. I don't recommend Golgo 13 to everyone, but the adventures of an unrepentant, unstoppable hitman interest you then he's the man.

I read a manga; and I liked it.

But before I talk about the manga, I need to discuss my history as an NES video game player. It's relevant, really.

The NES was my family's video game console of choice growing up (virtually our only video game option at that) and being in a small town we took whatever games we could get. When the rental stores put their used games on sale, we often picked through their stock. This was how my brother Jonathan came to present my Mom with the game Top Secret Episode, starring Golgo 13.

I don't know how much Mom played the game, but Jonathan and I certainly worked at it. I haven't found any speed runs for this game, but the video below should give you some idea of how difficult it was:

Back at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo this year, I dug out a copy of Golgo 13: the Impossible Hit. By then I had heard that Golgo 13 was originally a manga character but this was the first evidence of his comic book career I had found.

It's a black & white book sized like a normal comic and told left to right (the North American way). I was interested to note that this comic was released to coincide with Top Secret Episode. In this story, sniper supreme Golgo 13 assassinates a man and gets away with it - not because he's good at covering his tracks, the police discern that he did it - because the shot was taken from so far away and with so much wind resistance that no jury could be convinced it was possible.

Golgo 13 has been published in Japan since 1969 but the only real attempt at collecting his works was a 13 volume collection from Viz which began in 2006. Rather than start at the beginning, it assembles a "best of" Golgo 13. These are told right to left (the Japanese way) in the traditional manga size.

Volume 1 ("Supergun") features two stories: the lengthy story "Supergun" from 1997 and the shorter tale "Hit and Run" from 1979. In "Supergun," Iraq has constructed a "vengeance weapon" not unlike those Hitler demanded during WW2. This cannon can fire a payload to a target a continent away and evidence suggests the USA will be the target. Knowing that they will likely get only one with their cannon, the Pentagon is particularly worried at what the payload might carry to make the shot worthwhile. Golgo 13 is hired to travel incognito through Iraq, find the gun and take it out. Although I think the story spends too long in Washington depicting the government and military shuddering at the prospects of the weapon, the Golgo 13 mateiral - in particular the final showdown - is a great action thriller.

As to "Hit and Run": a policeman's fiancee is killed by a hit & run driver who also happens to be a local crimelord. Having exhausted his legal options, the cop makes an unorthodox decision to get his fiancee's killer: he hires Golgo 13. Or does he...?

I'd really meant to try out manga for some time now but I didn't have any interest in most properties. I've watched a fair bit of anime but I'm not particularly interested in seeing the manga versions for any of the anime I've seen. Golgo 13 looks to be fine manga and I hope to collect the other 12 Viz books in the near future.