Kirihito comic books issue 1

Volume 1 - 1st printing. It may or may not be contagious. There seems to be no cure for it. Yet, Monmow Disease, a life-threatening condition that transforms a person into a dog-like beast, is not the only villain in this shocking triumph of a medical thriller by manga-god Osamu Tezuka. Said to have been the personal favorite of the artist, who held a degree in medicine, and surprisingly attentive to Christian themes and imagery, Ode to Kirihito demolishes naive notions about human nature and health and likely preconceptions about the comics master himself. From pregnant vistas of the Japanese countryside to closed rooms full of sin and redemption, Tezuka astounds for more than eight hundred continuous pages, his art in turn easefully concise and flamboyantly experimental, his inquiry into our most repugnant instincts and prospects for overcoming them unflinchingly serious. Incorporating elements of the often lurid and adult-oriented gekiga style for the first time, Tezuka entered into his fruitful late period with this work. Softcover, 6-in x 8-in., 832 pages, B&W. Cover price $24.95.

Volume 1 - 1st printing. Story and art by Osamu Tezuka. The young doctor Kirihito Osanai has been introduced to the Monmow disease, which transforms humans into dog-like beasts and then kills them within a month of the transformation. While studying the disease's pathology, Kirihito becomes an unwilling test subject for his hospital's research as he contracts the disease, which alienates him from his fiancee and his colleagues. As the disease begins its transformation, Kirihito's attitude toward life changes and he accepts his fate. While he becomes a spiritual figure to a rural village, his former colleagues seek to uncover the mystery behind the disease. Originally published in three volumes in the 1970s, this groundbreaking graphic novel examines the ethics of medicine and the line between man and nature. The complete story is published in a 2-volume collection. Softcover, 6-in. x 8-in., 480 pages, B&W. Mature Readers Cover price $14.95.