Every Tuesday, a member of the horror community shares what they are reading with us! This week, it’s Patrick Barb. He writes:

Starting over the winter holidays and wrapping up just the other day, my complete read-through of the 8-volume manga series Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka was an absolute treat. Urasawa is a modern-day master in Japanese comics turning his considerable talents in art, storytelling, and world-building to a re-imagining of a classic Astro Boy (or Mighty Atom as the character is known in Japan) tale from “God of Manga” Tezuka.

Adapting the serialized tale “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” Urasawa (along with co-author Takashi Nagasaki) takes a robot-fighting boys’ adventure story and transforms it into a murder mystery, a tale of what it means to be human/alive, a biting dark satire of America’s colonial ambitions in the Middle East post-9/11, and so much more. While the forever-young Atom remains the focus of a great deal of the story in this incarnation, the other robots who get the spotlight all have a chance to break your heart. In particular, Gesicht, the robot detective who starts out trying to solve the mystery of who’s killing the great robots and their human supporters (all of whom are left with horns attached to their remains, feeling very True Detective for fans of that show/franchise) and finds himself unearthing a globe-spanning conspiracy, is one of the best detective characters I’ve encountered in a while.  Gesicht must contend with his growing suspicions that part of his and his wife’s memories were erased before the story’s beginning and those particular hidden memories serve as the dark heart at the center of this tale.

Urasawa’s line work is sharp and distinct, bringing new characters and modernized versions of Tezuka’s characters to life on the page. Whether it’s gritty crime-ridden city streets, desert war zones, or robotic laboratories, there’s a natural quality to the scene-setting by Urasawa that immediately immerses you in the world. The series was recently adapted into an anime of the same name that is available on Netflix. However, the reading experience is not to be dismissed.

Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka is available in print and on Kindle. Get it here.

Review by Patrick Barb, author of Pre-Approved for Haunting. I loved it! Get it here.

Read previous “What I’m Reading” reviews here!