Flipped!: David P. Welsh Goes To The Doctors



By David P. Welsh

If the titular surgeon of Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack (Vertical) isn't quite as much of a mercenary bastard as he seems, he's almost that much of a mercenary bastard. That makes the proceedings a lot more fun than they might have been otherwise.

Black Jack is a gifted but unlicensed surgeon who will treat anyone who can pay his exorbitant fees. Scarred outside and in, he views the whole world's medical establishment with bemused contempt. There's no bemusement in the establishment's view of Black Jack, as his skills put them all to shame and his attitude appalls them.

It's a fun dynamic. The comic ran in Japan from 1973 to 1983, and an outlaw physician with a God complex runs counter to my memories of most medical portrayals from that period and even a bit beyond. Misanthropic (or at least antisocial) fictional doctors are much more common now, but this kind of protagonist must have been a bit jarring when he was introduced.



He's still a bit jarring to me, but in a good way. Or maybe it's Tezuka who's jarring, because I'm consistently amazed by the versatility of his skills as a cartoonist and storyteller. Instead of making Black Jack tough and leathery on the outside, sweetened oatmeal on the inside, he's mostly an ass to the core. Tezuka doles out the doctor's softer, more principled moments judiciously. He doesn't feel the need to reassure the reader that Black Jack is the hero of the comic. Tezuka is comfortable with the fact that his hero is a jerk.

That leaves most of the sentiment in the hands of Black Jack's patients, their loved one's, and rival caregivers. Tezuka creates a nice mix of hapless saints and heartless bastards, from a plucky young man with polio who wants to walk from Hiroshima to Osaka to raise awareness to a blind acupuncturist with almost as big of a God complex as Black Jack's. Black Jack seems to take perverse pleasure in goading people into behaving in ways that are truest to their basic natures. As an outsider, he could recede as his patients' and rivals' stories unfold, but Tezuka finds ways for him to be an active agent.

Before beginning his legendary career as a manga-ka, Tezuka trained to be a physician, and he applies what he learned during that period of his life. He doesn't allow himself to be bound by it, though. Some stories offer very straightforward medical crises, but several wander into the realm of the bizarre. There's the super-computer that holds a medical facility hostage until Black Jack can come fix him, and a killer whale that brings Black Jack pearls and gold coins for treatment.



Weirdest of all has to be creepy little Pinoko, who spent the first 18 years of her life as a parasitic growth in her twin sister's body. After excising the tumor, Black Jack builds it a body so that she can begin endearing and unnerving. (Heidi MacDonald posted scans of the story's pages at The Beat, if you'd like a creepy preview.) Pinoko settles in as Black Jack's ward, and their dynamic is unsettling indeed. Nineteen years of existence haven't given Pinoko much in the way of emotional nuance, and she declares herself Black Jack's wife. On the flip side, Black Jack sometimes shares his darker, more disturbing secrets with the tumor-newborn-doll child, swearing her to secrecy. Did you just shiver a little? You should have, because I'm pretty sure that's the reaction Tezuka intended. Pinoko is a cute sidekick in the exact same way Black Jack is a hero -- about 95 percent photo negative.

Black Jack isn't as ambitious or sprawling as some of the other Tezuka works Vertical has published. There's no narrative arc to speak of, just individually effective episodes. But it's tremendously entertaining all the same, offering narrative variety executed with that blend of adrenaline, cuteness, creepiness, and cynicism that's uniquely Tezuka's. (You have until midnight tonight -- Monday, Nov. 10 -- to enter a Black Jack giveaway being sponsored by Brigid Alverson at MangaBlog.)

For a more conventional, saintly portrayal of an outlaw physician, I'd strongly recommend Naoki Urasawa's Monster (Viz). It launches when a gifted doctor's act of principle saves the life of a sociopath. Tenma, a Japanese neurosurgeon living in Germany, chooses to operate on a child with a bullet in his head instead of a local politico who showed up at the hospital later. His adherence to "First come, first served" ends up with him framed for multiple murders and on the run, trying to find Johan, the evil child he kept alive, and committing random acts of medical and moral kindness along the way.

I think Urasawa spends too much of the comic's early going establishing Tenma's nobility, but things pick up considerably as Johan's conspiracy deepens and a rich supporting cast emerges to supplant Tenma as the book's primary attractions. Unlike Black Jack, Tenma does recede, but it's a welcome development. My favorite of the other players would have to be Tenma's vicious, vengeful fiance, Eva. She's as morally slippery and changeable as Tenma is steadfast, determined to punish him for throwing her life off course but increasingly frightened by the twisted circumstances Johan has set in motion.

The last of Monster's 18 volumes is due out in December. In February of 2009, Viz will launch two more series from Urasawa, 20th Century Boys and Pluto. The latter will be of particular interest to Tezuka fans, as it's directly inspired by a story arc from Tezuka's classic Astro Boy.

*****

* Black Jack, Osamu Tezuka, Vertical, 288 pages, Sept. 23, 2008, ISBN: 1934287279, $16.95.
* Monster, Naoki Urasawa, Viz Media, 224 pages, Feb. 21, 2006, ISBN: 1591166411, $9.99.

*****

David P. Welsh has loved comics since his parents first used Archie and Casper to sedate him during long trips in the family station wagon.

He's worked as a reporter and editor for daily and weekly newspapers, and later sold out for the glamorous world of public relations. Prior to relocating to The Comics Reporter, he wrote his Flipped column for Comic World News for just over three years. He's written articles on comics for print outlets and a variety of other web sites.

He lives in West Virginia, which he says has gotten a lot easier since the Starbucks and Barnes & Noble opened up.

You may e-mail David with questions or commentary You can write to this site about David's columns

Please bookmark his site, Precocious Curmudgeon.

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