Edutainment > Kaiju Manga (5) - Astro Boy with Sputnik

Astro Boy with Sputnik, 2006
copyright Tom Kristensen

Tom Kristensen, born 1962, is a young artist from Australia who works in the tradition of Japanese woodblock printmaking. On this page, he writes about his latest series "Kaiju Manga".

Here is the original text written by Tom Kristensen. Text and images are copyright protected and may not be used or distributed for other than private use without the prior consignment of the author/artist.

Astro Boy with Sputnik - No. 5

He is the pocket-sized superhero with red rocket boots, always ready to battle villains and invaders from outer space. In Japan he is known as Tetsuwan Atomu or Mighty Atom. In the English speaking world Astro Boy was seen as the face of Modern Japan. Osamu Tezuka had been drawing the robot boy in a manga comic series since 1951, but in the early 1960s it was Tezuka's animated television show that bought Astro Boy huge international popularity.

The story of Astro Boy is a cultural hybrid, a Western parable in a Japanese science fiction setting. His figure is from Disney's Mickey Mouse and his face is from Betty Boop. His story is borrowed from Pinocchio with a twist of Frankenstein. Astro Boy has artificial life with super-human attributes, but he lacks the potential to grow beyond boyhood. He has an acute moral sense and a saintly willingness to help others. In times of need Astro Boy will open a door into his chest and drain the power from his mechanical heart.

Geopolitics after World War II divided the globe in a race to develop nuclear arms and conquer the heavens. In 1957 The Russians launched the first artificial satellite to orbit Earth. Sputnik 1 was a small highly polished sphere trailing 4 antennae. It transmitted a pulse from outer space that could be heard on shortwave radio the world over.

In America there was media panic at this demonstration of communist technological superiority. In other quarters the imagination of children was captured by this simple message from beyond. The heartbeat from heaven was heard for 3 weeks until the on-board batteries ran flat. Sputnik 1 was in orbit for 92 days and circled Earth about 1400 times before incinerating on re-entering the atmosphere.

Tom Kristensen
November 2006

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The artist was first discovered by Eric van den Ing, co-author of a classic ukiyo-e book "Beauty and Violence" and owner of Saru Gallery. After Eric van den Ing had placed Tom's woodblock prints on his online gallery, a few days later a collector had bought the whole set. Mr. van den Ing seems to have a "magic hand" for new artists. He was the first to introduce Paul Binnie in 2000 to a larger online community of friends of Japanese prints.

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