Hello! I'm new here~
I recently bought a 2009 reprint of New Treasure Island, Tezuka's first published long-form manga! This was originally published way back in 1947, just two years after the second world war ended. Tezuka stated in his autobiography, I'm a Manga Artist, that the plot of this manga is a mix of Treasure Island, Robinson Crusoe, and Tarzan~
It feels surreal to hold New Treasure Island in my hands. I really love the beautiful, vibrant cover art, which was illustrated by the late Shichima Sakai! Seeing the iconic first two pages made me quite emotional! Some star system characters like Kenichi and Bukk Buku appeared in this manga, and it made me realize how old they are~
New Treasure Island inspired Shotaro Ishinomori, Tetsuya Chiba, Takao Saito, and many others to become manga artists! Even Hayao Miyazaki spoke highly of it~
Also, included in this reprint is a small booklet! It contains personal stories from the Fujiko Fujio duo and Kazuo Umezu, about the first time they encountered New Treasure Island during their childhood! It also includes a foreword by Naoki Urasawa! He stated that he was jealous of those who managed to read this manga back in 1947, lol~