Osamu Tezuka, The Mysterious Underground Men (1948)

 

The Mysterious Underground Men by Osamu Tezuka (1948)

Tezuka's first longform "story manga" is a charming children's science fiction tale of a boy inventor and an anthropomorphic rabbit on a quest to tunnel through the earth in their rocket train. Equal parts Jules Verne, Tom Swift, and Floyd Gottfredson, the feverish plot revolves around an apocalyptic war with the titular subterranean civilization. The common Tezuka theme of what it means to be human is embodied in the highly capable Mimio, the rabbit character given intelligence by a cadre of Frankenstein-esque scientists, who must prove his worth by saving his friends and humanity. In his Pinocchio-like agonizing, Mimio anticipates later heroes in the Tezuka pantheon like Astroboy.

The critics:

Initially published in 1948, The Mysterious Underground Men is a lot of things: a straightforward adventure story, a funny-animal book, a demonstration that manga can incorporate serious drama, and, paradoxically, a fun read. The hero’s name is Young John, and the introductory pages describe him as “a science whiz kid [who] invents a rocket train and conquers the center of the earth after fighting monsters and criminals.” His sidekicks are Uncle Bill and Mimio. The latter is a humanoid rabbit whose creation stands as one of the most interesting and visually-striking sections of the book. Early in the story, Mimio’s animal nature is forced out of him through surgery and electrification, which combine to domesticate and civilize him. The progression is violent, odd, and rather Disneyfied in its execution.

On that note, some consider Tezuka the Walt Disney of Japan for his influence on pop culture there, and the imagination on view here is prodigious. Our heroes fight both a villainous group of men led by a gentleman named Ham-Egg and a legion of termite soldiers commanded by their queen. The termites aim to take back the surface after being forced underground, and their method for retribution is straight-up terrorism, with bombs setting cities afire and toppling skyscrapers. One wonders how this imagery was received at the time, a mere three years after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, not to mention the firebombing of Tokyo and other major cities. Regardless of the intent, it adds a darker edge to what appears to be a children’s book.

--Hillary Brown, Paste Magazine, 2013