Saturday, March 23, 2013
Don Dracula (ドン・ドラキュラ Don Dorakyura)
Don Dracula, (aka Earl Dracula) is a slapstick vampire serial by Japanese manga master Osamu Tezuka, the brilliant creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion, among others. Here we find everyone's favorite Transylvanian monster misplaced in NY city with not only his daughter Chocola and servant Igor, but also his castle-- and all the while unintentionally wrecking havoc everywhere he goes in search of virgin blood to drink. Hilariously original and fantastically illustrated of course, Don Dracula originated in the May 1979 issue of Weekly Shonen Champion Comics and ended in December of the same year. Don Dracula also spawned a short lived animated TV series (check youtube for all 8 episodes --now subtitled!) as well as a few later appearances in some other Tezuka manga series and video games. Below are scans from Don Dracula's very first appearance, presented in its original Japanese language format (easy to follow story even if you don't know Japanese, just remember to read right to left!) and padded out with a sampling of other various cool panel and page art from some of the other DD stories. If anyone wants to see a super great and very gory werewolf tale from this collection, let me know!
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8 comments:
PS: if you missed the visual nods to George Romero in this story, go back and look again! :)
It's nice to see this Tezuka work, this was back before Manga (which is great) became it's own separate form which leaned in on itself to become more like itself (almost all forms of art, when branched, do this.)
Here, the Disney influence (and american super hero comics) is really evident. One of the masters of the form. The slap stick is obviously even without knowing the text, and the DotD elevator scene is done in a different style but instantly recognizable.
This man basically took some influences, combined them, and create a new and vibrant art form. One of the greats.
Totally agree, I've yet to see or read anything by Tezuka that didn't just completely blow my mind.
Also, there are a few manga fan sites on the web that translate these stories if anyone is interested, here's one if you're dying to get the full Don Dracula experience:
http://www.mangatraders.com/view/file/131835/
really cool! and cute!
i'd be into the werewolf action.
Oh yeah, it's a female werewolf too!
right on!
I love the silhouette panel in the second row of page sixteen. And of course I'd be into seeing the werewolf story, duh. This is awesome stuff.
Welp, off to watch the series on YouTube....
Ok, one werewolf take coming up next!
Enjoy the Toons on YouTube too! They are very much worth your time :)
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