Astro Boy, known in Japan by its original name Mighty Atom (Japanese: 鉄腕アトム, Hepburn: Tetsuwan-Atomu, lit. ’Iron-Armed Atom’), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka.
It was serialized in Kobunsha’s Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. Dark Horse Comics published an English translation in 2002. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the recent death of his son Tobio. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on adventures.
Astro Boy possesses incredible strength, flight capabilities, and advanced technology. Throughout the series, Astro Boy encounters various adversaries, including other robots, aliens, and corrupt humans, as he strives to protect both robots and humanity from threats and injustices. With themes of identity, discrimination, and the ethics of artificial intelligence, the manga explores Astro Boy’s growth, relationships, and his quest to bring peace and understanding to the world.
