Black Jack, Volume 4 - Softcover

PRAISE FOR OSAMU TEZUKA'S BLACK JACK

"Black Jack is a dramatic, nearly Byronic figure... With genre-spanning stories-horror, sci-fi, romance-and Tezuka's signature blend of drama, bathos and extreme broad comedy jammed together on every page, Black Jack is a wild but extravagantly entertaining ride that's far more accessible than the author's novel-length epics." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Black Jack, the tortured renegade surgeon who operates on the desperately needy (and, on occasion, himself)...makes TV's Dr. House look like Mary Poppins." -Los Angeles Times

"The stories are a unique mix of an Isaac Bashevis Singer morality tale, and outstanding creative medicine. Though Black Jack is aimed at a young audience, it has maturity not found in adult works. It's a piece of comic art that excels in form, and message." -Ain't It Cool News
"While Astro Boy is more iconic and Phoenix is more epic in scope, Black Jack is arguably Tezuka's best and most enjoyable work... [It] hits Tezuka's sweet spot where his heart, his head and his sense of humor meet in perfect company." -About.com
"Surely there's nothing in this series more continually striking than the artist's relentless, guaranteed depictions of surgery itself, happy rubber skin always peeled away to show realist meat and bone, minutely detailed organs mended or transplanted, then covered up again in the stuff of effortless napkin doodles... I found even the least of [these stories] fascinating examples of an artist casting his net especially far, secure in his talented hands and firm in his fame-ready to confront any malady, striving to cut away any harm, instrument tips sharp for making flesh whole." -Jog The Blog
"'Iconic' doesn't begin to sum up Black Jack's importance in the world of manga... I see a lot of Tezuka fans reaching for their wallets-not just for this volume alone, but for the whole of Black Jack as it's finally being re-released in the English-language edition it has always deserved. It was, and will be, more than worth the wait. Platinum Award." -Advanced Media Network
"Great material-classic crazy Tezuka with a bloody medical heartbeat tuning out the sound of man's inhumanity to man." -Newsrama
"Totally fun, totally engrossing. Black Jack is a page-turner of the highest order, and I blew through 280+ pages and I'm hungry for more." -Comics212.net

"To match the beautiful outside, Camellia Nieh did a fantastic job with the translation. The entire book was a fantastic read cover-to-cover that I refused to put down. Whether you're just getting into manga, or have been a fan for decades, it would be a shame not to own this seminal title." -Japanator

Black Jack is a mysterious and charismatic young genius surgeon who travels the world performing amazing and impossible medical feats. Though a trained physician, he refuses to accept a medical license due to his hatred and mistrust of the medical community's hypocrisy and corruption. This leads Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations.

Black Jack charges exorbitant fees for his services, the proceeds from which he uses to fund environmental projects and to aid victims of crime and corrupt capitalists. But because Black Jack keeps his true motives secret, his ethics are perceived as questionable and he is considered a selfish, uncaring devil. The Black Jack series is told in short stories. Each volume will contain 16-20 stories, each running approximately 20-24 pages in length.

Black Jack is recognized as Osamu Tezuka's third most famous series, after Astro Boy and Kimba, the White Lion.