Akira (Dark Horse)

    (Dark Horse, 2000-2004)
™ and © 1988, 2000 MASH•ROOM Co. Ltd. and Kodansha Ltd., Tokyo. Graphics adaptation © 1999 Éditions Glénat. All other matierial © 2000 Dark Horse Comics, Inc.

Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira is one of the most influential manga of all time. First published in Japan in the early 80s, Akira is a science fiction epic that inspired numerous American creators—including Frank Miller, whose cinematic violence owes a debt to Akira’s wide-screen brutality. On a deeper level, Akira is centered on the anger and confusion of misguided adolescence. Set in Neo-Tokyo in 2030, 38 years after World War III, Akira follows the transformation of teenage punk Tetsuo from a pill-popping street racer to an entity of boiling rage and disturbingly powerful telekinetic abilities. Marvel Comics originally translated and reprinted the material in the late 80s, but these Dark Horse editions compile the entire storyline in black-and-white “phone book” paperbacks similar to that of Dave Sim’s Cerebus. Akira became the blueprint for edgy cyberpunk comics in both Japan and the United States. It was also adapted into a critically acclaimed and hugely successful animated film.

— Michael Sutton

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   NotesWriterArtist

#1

  12/1/2000
  $24.95
  $25.00
1 copy available for $25.00 		 Reprints Akira under Dark Horse; Colored pages 1-12Katsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#1 Hardcover

  8/1/2004
  $14.95
  $15.00
No copies available 		 Barnes & Noble, Inc. exclusive publicationKatsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#2

  3/1/2001
  $24.95
  $25.00
No copies available 		 B&WKatsuhiro Otomo, Yoko Umezawa, Linda M. York, Mary Jo DuffyKatsuhiro Otomo

#3

  6/27/2001
  $24.95
  $25.00
No copies available 		 288 pps.; Colored pages 1-8; B&WKatsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#3 - 2nd printing

 
  $24.99
  $24.99
1 copy available for $24.99 		 Reprinted by Kodansha Comics; ca. 2010Katsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#4

  9/1/2001
  $27.95
  $25.00
No copies available 		 400 pps.; Colored pages 1-8; B&WKatsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#4 - 2nd printing

 
  $27.99
  $27.99
1 copy available for $27.95 		 Reprinted by Kodansha Comics; ca. 2010Katsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#5

  12/1/2001
  $27.95
  $25.00
No copies available 		 416 pps.; Colored pages 1-8; B&WKatsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#5 - 2nd printing

 
  $27.99
  $27.99
No copies available 		 Reprinted by Kodansha; ca. 2011Katsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#6

  3/1/2002
  $29.95
  $29.95
No copies available 		 440 pps.; Colored pages 1-8; B&WKatsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo

#6 - 2nd printing

 
  $29.99
  $29.99
No copies available 		 Reprinted by Kodansha; ca. 2011Katsuhiro OtomoKatsuhiro Otomo