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Black Jack in 17 volumes #2
Black Jack Volume 2
Black Jack 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, leading Black Jack to occasional run-ins with the authorities, as well as from gangsters and criminals who approach him for illegal operations. He 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! This second volume reprints 330 more pages of stories of Osamu Tezuka's creation, Black Jack, and is a PREVIEWS Exclusive hardcover.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published April 23, 1987
16 people are currently reading
265 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Tezuka
2,145 books1,299 followersDr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
February 25, 2012
Another brilliant volume of Black Jack! In which we learn more about Black Jack's past as well as the kind of man he is, both as a doctor and a human being. Plus! Pinoko tries to go to high school! Poor girl, no one believes she's really eighteen. Zaitoichi fans will be somewhat amused by the title character of the blind masseuse character in the last chapter; is it any surprise Tezuka would be a fan of the blind swordsman films? Those stories seem right up his alley.
My full-length review of the first two volumes of Black Jack will be up later today at http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/
My full-length review of the first two volumes of Black Jack will be up later today at http://nagareboshi-reviews.blogspot.com/
July 4, 2013
Another solid volume. I have to admit though, there's something about Pinoko that has me torn. On the one hand, I find her very cute. On the other hand, her split age understanding thing is just sort of weird, as is her insistence that she's "the wife"
September 4, 2017
That must be a magic of reading, stilling my emotions after so many years from when I was a kid and to the state of immature adult right now. Let bygones be bygones, I believe so.
July 22, 2022
Black Jack is weird as hell and I'll never get used to the Pinoko stuff. Tezuka is really a character.
November 9, 2025
Finally read volume twoI read volume one when I was in high school (ancient history now) and so I had to reread it again this year and I finally progressed in the series. Pretty good. Not as memorable as much of volume one was for me, but for now I want to keep going and I've already picked up volume three!
December 30, 2014
Black Jack learns lessons, teaches other doctors where they are missing the bigger picture and at the same time is teaching Pinoko what it means to take care of people in need without being a pushover.
It made me cry a little when he couldn't find his friend Takashi who donated skin for the graft, and it was nice to see him go all out to save the guy who saved him before.
Definitely recommend this for anyone looking for medical manga or something a little more serious.
It made me cry a little when he couldn't find his friend Takashi who donated skin for the graft, and it was nice to see him go all out to save the guy who saved him before.
Definitely recommend this for anyone looking for medical manga or something a little more serious.
April 13, 2010
Lots of short vignettes detailing Black Jack's feats. Even though he comes off as a selfish man only out for money and himself, he is constantly showing his kind side. Many of the stories in this collection are actually quite moving. I also love Pinoko, who frequently provides much needed comic relief.
May 22, 2009
Oh Tezuka. You are so good for a good time. Though these stories weren't as intensely medical as the 1st volume, that is okay, we got a Blackjack Origin story, some good time looking into the psyche of his wife/daughter and a spooky blind acupuncturist at the end. Oh it was swell.
More thanks!
More thanks!
April 6, 2021
Some real great stories in this one, Tezuka was really having a blast with this series.
February 11, 2018
Before Osamu Tezuka became a full-time manga creator, he was a medical doctor. He drew upon this training and experiences with Japan’s medical establishment for his work on Black Jack starting in the 1970s.
Black Jack (birth name Kuro’o Hazama) is a brilliant physician and surgeon who is unlicensed (reasons differing between continuities) and therefore operates outside the law and the established medical system. For reasons that are not revealed until late in the manga, Black Jack requires large sums of money and will often charge outrageous fees. On the other hand, he will also often treat a patient for free or a nominal payment if the whim strikes him.
The stories are mostly episodic, and the order of presentation is not necessarily the order they occur. Most of them features valuable lessons about life, usually for the patient or another civilian, but sometimes for doctors or Black Jack himself.
In most of the stories, Black Jack is accompanied by Pinoko, a cyborg he created from a parasitic twin that had never fully developed. Her artificial body makes her look like a small child, and she usually acts like one, but Pinoko considers herself a grown woman and Black Jack’s wife. This can get pretty disturbing, but Tezuka never takes it in a sexual direction.
The first story in this volume is “Needle”, a thriller which begins with Black Jack successfully completing a tough operation. But an earthquake causes the tip of an IV needle to break off and travel down the blood vessel. Now Black Jack and his surgical team must try to locate the foreign object and remove it, before the heart is reached. Truly, the human body should not be underestimated!
“Where Art Thou, Friend?” is a flashback story that explains Black Jack’s mismatched skin tone. As a child, Kuro’o was in a horrific accident, and needed a large skin graft immediately. The only donor available (because the other classmates either chickened out or were forbidden by their parents) was a mixed-race child named Takashi.
Decades later, medical techniques have advanced, and Black Jack could get matching skin and have his facial scars ameliorated, but feels he would be dishonoring his friend by rejecting the lifesaving gift. This becomes his permanent attitude when Black Jack learns that Takashi died fighting for the environment in Algiers.
“Assembly Line Care” and “The Blind Acupuncturist” both have Black Jack clash with other doctors. In the first, a hospital director is keeping costs low by running operations like an assembly line, which is efficient, but gives an impression of impersonality. In the second, the title alternative practitioner donates his services freely, and dislikes Black Jack’s onerous fee structure. But he’s a little too hasty to volunteer, and makes a needle-phobic patient’s condition worse.
This volume also contains a “sealed chapter” (one that was excluded from the standard collections), “The One That Remains.” Sextuplets are born in Germany, one hideously deformed. The doctor in charge calls in Dr. Kiriko, a specialist in painless euthanasia. On the plane, Kiriko encounters Black Jack who violently objects to allowing patients to die.
Black Jack gets Dr. Kiriko detained by the police, and shows up in his place. While the sixth infant is deformed to the point of never being able to have a normal life, it’s also the most likely to survive, as the other five sextuplets are sickly. Indeed, one has just died! Black Jack suggests an audacious plan. He’ll use the organs of the dead sibling to fix some of the mutant’s deformities.
In the end, all the normal-looking babies die, but the sixth sibling is now no longer deformed and will survive. The public (who had not been told about the deformity thing) cheers, and Dr. Kiriko (finally released from custody) no longer has a patient.
The disturbing images and morbid subject matter caused the story to be pulled from compilations aimed at the original audience of young boys.
Although Tezuka felt no compunctions about just making up diseases for a good story, his anatomy is excellent and the operation scenes look realistic. This may be difficult for more sensitive readers.
Some physical depictions of other races are done in the then considered okay in Japan burlesque style that is now seen as highly racist. This translation has left this in place rather than have them redrawn.
Recommended for fans of medical drama.
Black Jack (birth name Kuro’o Hazama) is a brilliant physician and surgeon who is unlicensed (reasons differing between continuities) and therefore operates outside the law and the established medical system. For reasons that are not revealed until late in the manga, Black Jack requires large sums of money and will often charge outrageous fees. On the other hand, he will also often treat a patient for free or a nominal payment if the whim strikes him.
The stories are mostly episodic, and the order of presentation is not necessarily the order they occur. Most of them features valuable lessons about life, usually for the patient or another civilian, but sometimes for doctors or Black Jack himself.
In most of the stories, Black Jack is accompanied by Pinoko, a cyborg he created from a parasitic twin that had never fully developed. Her artificial body makes her look like a small child, and she usually acts like one, but Pinoko considers herself a grown woman and Black Jack’s wife. This can get pretty disturbing, but Tezuka never takes it in a sexual direction.
The first story in this volume is “Needle”, a thriller which begins with Black Jack successfully completing a tough operation. But an earthquake causes the tip of an IV needle to break off and travel down the blood vessel. Now Black Jack and his surgical team must try to locate the foreign object and remove it, before the heart is reached. Truly, the human body should not be underestimated!
“Where Art Thou, Friend?” is a flashback story that explains Black Jack’s mismatched skin tone. As a child, Kuro’o was in a horrific accident, and needed a large skin graft immediately. The only donor available (because the other classmates either chickened out or were forbidden by their parents) was a mixed-race child named Takashi.
Decades later, medical techniques have advanced, and Black Jack could get matching skin and have his facial scars ameliorated, but feels he would be dishonoring his friend by rejecting the lifesaving gift. This becomes his permanent attitude when Black Jack learns that Takashi died fighting for the environment in Algiers.
“Assembly Line Care” and “The Blind Acupuncturist” both have Black Jack clash with other doctors. In the first, a hospital director is keeping costs low by running operations like an assembly line, which is efficient, but gives an impression of impersonality. In the second, the title alternative practitioner donates his services freely, and dislikes Black Jack’s onerous fee structure. But he’s a little too hasty to volunteer, and makes a needle-phobic patient’s condition worse.
This volume also contains a “sealed chapter” (one that was excluded from the standard collections), “The One That Remains.” Sextuplets are born in Germany, one hideously deformed. The doctor in charge calls in Dr. Kiriko, a specialist in painless euthanasia. On the plane, Kiriko encounters Black Jack who violently objects to allowing patients to die.
Black Jack gets Dr. Kiriko detained by the police, and shows up in his place. While the sixth infant is deformed to the point of never being able to have a normal life, it’s also the most likely to survive, as the other five sextuplets are sickly. Indeed, one has just died! Black Jack suggests an audacious plan. He’ll use the organs of the dead sibling to fix some of the mutant’s deformities.
In the end, all the normal-looking babies die, but the sixth sibling is now no longer deformed and will survive. The public (who had not been told about the deformity thing) cheers, and Dr. Kiriko (finally released from custody) no longer has a patient.
The disturbing images and morbid subject matter caused the story to be pulled from compilations aimed at the original audience of young boys.
Although Tezuka felt no compunctions about just making up diseases for a good story, his anatomy is excellent and the operation scenes look realistic. This may be difficult for more sensitive readers.
Some physical depictions of other races are done in the then considered okay in Japan burlesque style that is now seen as highly racist. This translation has left this in place rather than have them redrawn.
Recommended for fans of medical drama.
February 2, 2025
It's been three decades since the last time I read Black Jack. Yet, rereading the series at a totally different age, from another location far away from home where I read this manga for the first time, and surely with a more pessimistic, chaotic, and changing mind, I still find Black Jack a marvellous, refreshing, and, strangely enough, very modern reading experience. Of course, the layout and very quick tempo of this series show the obvious influence of American comics, but the way Osamu Tezuka depicts his characters, creates movements through switching focus on different parts of a same frame - or the same frame of a sequence at different times, and above all his storytelling are simply unmatched, even by modern standard of Japanese manga. Modern mangaka can be more inventive, more meticulous (in depicting scenery and landscape), more ingenious (in creating twists and turns). But none can be more humanistic, more creative, more approachable than Osamu Tezuka in developing memorable characters (except for Pinoko in this series - she clearly belongs to a bygone era of humour and Noh-inspired supporting characters).
February 4, 2018
The second volume of Black Jack keeps up the solid short form storytelling of the first.
Tezuka's artwork and panel framing continue to be on point. This edition also features quite a few melancholy stories to balance out the more saccharine tales. The only negatives for the series to me so far is the sometimes awkward translation, and the character of Pinoko.
Pinoko, Black Jack's adopted half synthetic daughter/want to be wife (her wish) who is 18 years old in some regards but also looks and acts like a 5 year old, you know...that one. Her character is really not portrayed badly here necessarily, or seem quite as convoluted in the stories she is features in - despite her pretty labored backstory. There is just something that doesn't translate the test of time and the trip over the sea to the character. But who knows maybe she will win me over in future volumes!
Tezuka's artwork and panel framing continue to be on point. This edition also features quite a few melancholy stories to balance out the more saccharine tales. The only negatives for the series to me so far is the sometimes awkward translation, and the character of Pinoko.
Pinoko, Black Jack's adopted half synthetic daughter/want to be wife (her wish) who is 18 years old in some regards but also looks and acts like a 5 year old, you know...that one. Her character is really not portrayed badly here necessarily, or seem quite as convoluted in the stories she is features in - despite her pretty labored backstory. There is just something that doesn't translate the test of time and the trip over the sea to the character. But who knows maybe she will win me over in future volumes!
September 14, 2022
Black Jack Volume 2. This one gives more emotional depth to the stories, I found myself having to pause as it affected me a lot. I like the world-building and Black Jack is such a treasure of a character. My local library only had the first 2 volumes but I will see if I can find a way to continue with these fun characters.
December 20, 2023
The continuing manga story of an unlicensed doctor who roams around performing miraculous surgeries for a high cost. The images and story telling of Osamu Tezuka feels aimed at children. I’m not sure if that’s the intention, but this series, Buddha, Astro Boy - all a bit childish. Yet, I can’t help but like them. Black Jack is charming, simple story telling.
March 7, 2017
This manga is divided into a number of short stories. It follows the adventures of an unlicensed surgeon named Black Jack. Known for his skills, speed and outrageous fees (except the work for the poor), he is called upon in the most adverse of circumstances. It has delightful tales.
March 9, 2019
Oh crap, I've got a fever and the only prescription is more Black Jack manga!
March 15, 2021
Insensitive representation of Eskimos, but it is an old comic. Great story
May 6, 2022
The chapter about the whale was very sad
September 14, 2022
Tezuka does it again with a great read. Humour and goofy imagery mixed with serious imagery and tense thrilling scenes!
December 22, 2024
This guy. I mean, THE GUY, Osamu Tezuka can do no wrong. Just keeps giving you story after story some non-linear or you could think of it’s backwards activity as mimicking the responsibility in how you’re supposed to read the book. Compelling, satirical, fable-like.
May 14, 2025
The stories in this book are a little boring for me as i am not a doctor. But there some stories which made me read this whole novel.
December 13, 2009
With the second volume of the Black Jack series, Vertical is continuing the same good work they did in volume one. Lovely graphic design and layout, quality paper, and a decent translation all serve to highlight Tezuka's excellent storytelling.
This volume contains some great stories including "The Ballad of the Killer Whale," a story in which a killer whale pays the doctor in pearls for surgery; "Emergency Shelter," a story that serves as comeuppance for a rich braggart who builds a skyscraper that is so technologically sophisticated that it becomes an inescapable fortress of death; "Dirtjacked," in which a grade-school teacher and her students get trapped under a landslide while lava from the volcano they were visiting seeps slowly into the area that they're trapped in; "Stradivarius," the story of a plane that crashes in the Arctic Circle and the violin player who refuses to abandon his violin, even at the risk of losing his fingers to frostbite; and "Hospital Jack," in which the doctor performs surgery in the pitch black because masked gunmen have taken over the hospital and cut the power.
The most important story in this volume is "Where Art Thou, Friend?," the story that reveals the origin of Black Jack's appearance. It turns out that the the dark patches of skin on Black Jack's body were donated by his friend Takashi when he was young. Although Takashi is half Japanese and half African-American, Black Jack refuses to replace the patches of skin that have been donated by him: "Forget it!! This patch of skin belonged to a dear friend! If I replaced it, I'd be rejecting his gift to me." Although Tezuka, like other manga artists of his era, is sometimes guilty of trafficking in some pretty gross stereotypes (the depiction of the Inuit people in "Stradivarius" is none too flattering), in general his political stance is deeply egalitarian and it's that egalitarianism that comes out in this story.
This volume contains some great stories including "The Ballad of the Killer Whale," a story in which a killer whale pays the doctor in pearls for surgery; "Emergency Shelter," a story that serves as comeuppance for a rich braggart who builds a skyscraper that is so technologically sophisticated that it becomes an inescapable fortress of death; "Dirtjacked," in which a grade-school teacher and her students get trapped under a landslide while lava from the volcano they were visiting seeps slowly into the area that they're trapped in; "Stradivarius," the story of a plane that crashes in the Arctic Circle and the violin player who refuses to abandon his violin, even at the risk of losing his fingers to frostbite; and "Hospital Jack," in which the doctor performs surgery in the pitch black because masked gunmen have taken over the hospital and cut the power.
The most important story in this volume is "Where Art Thou, Friend?," the story that reveals the origin of Black Jack's appearance. It turns out that the the dark patches of skin on Black Jack's body were donated by his friend Takashi when he was young. Although Takashi is half Japanese and half African-American, Black Jack refuses to replace the patches of skin that have been donated by him: "Forget it!! This patch of skin belonged to a dear friend! If I replaced it, I'd be rejecting his gift to me." Although Tezuka, like other manga artists of his era, is sometimes guilty of trafficking in some pretty gross stereotypes (the depiction of the Inuit people in "Stradivarius" is none too flattering), in general his political stance is deeply egalitarian and it's that egalitarianism that comes out in this story.
May 16, 2011
This is the first work I've ever read by Osamu Tezuka, a man regarded as the father of Japanese comics. In many ways, Tezuka set down and codified the tropes of Japanese comic storytelling, and these tropes are very evident in this volume, for better or for worse.
Black Jack is a freelance, unlicensed surgeon, traveling the country to perform superhuman feats of surgery and charging top dollar for his services. Black Jack's mercenary nature adds a nice little twist to what could have been a repetitive episodic series of medical miracle stories. (This episodic nature made it quite easy to jump in to Volume 2; there are very few subplots to keep up and only a minimal supporting cast.) Often times he stands as person's last hope, willing to save a life, but only if the patient (or a desperate relative) is willing to mortgage their life to meet his fee.
Before reading this, I had only dipped my toe into manga with the samurai epic Lone Wolf and Cub, which, while melodramatic and brimming with over-the-top violence, still had a somewhat naturalistic tone. Black Jack, on the other hand, is much looser--it certainly doesn't take itself seriously. But, to my American sensibilities, the story telling is downright loopy, lurching from one tone to another, as if ER was suddenly spliced with Looney Tunes: many tense scenes are often sprinkled with cartoony comic relief figures or wildly stylized reaction shots. Similarly, the stories themselves often come to abrupt ends, as if there were pages missing.
Regardless of my problems broaching the cultural divide in comic storytelling, it's fairly enjoyable and interesting read--if not a wholly fulfilling one.
Black Jack is a freelance, unlicensed surgeon, traveling the country to perform superhuman feats of surgery and charging top dollar for his services. Black Jack's mercenary nature adds a nice little twist to what could have been a repetitive episodic series of medical miracle stories. (This episodic nature made it quite easy to jump in to Volume 2; there are very few subplots to keep up and only a minimal supporting cast.) Often times he stands as person's last hope, willing to save a life, but only if the patient (or a desperate relative) is willing to mortgage their life to meet his fee.
Before reading this, I had only dipped my toe into manga with the samurai epic Lone Wolf and Cub, which, while melodramatic and brimming with over-the-top violence, still had a somewhat naturalistic tone. Black Jack, on the other hand, is much looser--it certainly doesn't take itself seriously. But, to my American sensibilities, the story telling is downright loopy, lurching from one tone to another, as if ER was suddenly spliced with Looney Tunes: many tense scenes are often sprinkled with cartoony comic relief figures or wildly stylized reaction shots. Similarly, the stories themselves often come to abrupt ends, as if there were pages missing.
Regardless of my problems broaching the cultural divide in comic storytelling, it's fairly enjoyable and interesting read--if not a wholly fulfilling one.
February 16, 2017
Really good.
January 11, 2010
I am still wary of manga, to be honest. I don't quite understand its appeal for people who like to read novels. The plot seems shallow and hinges on some sort of violent action at some point, complete with "pow"s and "bam"s. But I am still trying doggedly to find out if there is really more to it than that. American Born Chinese was much better in this regard. The three story lines came together in a satisfying way and the art-work added to the story, rather than served as a motivator to keep reading. This book seemed to me to be getting closer to telling a real story - and not just serving as a vehicle for more pows and bams. Unfortunately, the book store where I bought it had only the second and subsequent books in the series, so I missed the beginning. But there were enough flashbacks that I kind of picked up what it was all about.
In fact, the book does address some significant issues: racial prejudice, competence vs. bureaucracy, the influence of money on relationships, self-sacrifice, etc. I am still not sure I "get" manga, but this one was more interesting than some of the other ones I have tried.
In fact, the book does address some significant issues: racial prejudice, competence vs. bureaucracy, the influence of money on relationships, self-sacrifice, etc. I am still not sure I "get" manga, but this one was more interesting than some of the other ones I have tried.
July 14, 2012
The illustration is nostalgic. I've always wondered if the exaggerated features on the characters were representative of anything (kind of like in Peking Opera where a red painted face is symbolic of a misunderstood hero).
The storytelling is good too. I like the notion of a renegade "Doctor for Hire" who hides his concern underneath enormous fees. My favorite stories are "Granny" and the "Blind Acupuncturist". There are obvious but not overbearing moral points in both. In fact, most of the stories in this volume succeed at not being overbearing on the moral end.
I'm looking forward to reading Volume 1. I am assuming starting with Volume 2 does not detract from it. I'm actually hoping Pinoko's origins are covered in the first volume. Pinoko is the doctor's young companion. There is some issue regarding how old she looks and how old she is.
This volume contains the origin story for Black Jack.
The storytelling is good too. I like the notion of a renegade "Doctor for Hire" who hides his concern underneath enormous fees. My favorite stories are "Granny" and the "Blind Acupuncturist". There are obvious but not overbearing moral points in both. In fact, most of the stories in this volume succeed at not being overbearing on the moral end.
I'm looking forward to reading Volume 1. I am assuming starting with Volume 2 does not detract from it. I'm actually hoping Pinoko's origins are covered in the first volume. Pinoko is the doctor's young companion. There is some issue regarding how old she looks and how old she is.
This volume contains the origin story for Black Jack.
November 16, 2008
Each of the stories in this medical drama is a short morality play, as a brilliant but unlicensed surgeon saves the lives of his patients but all too often bears witness to the inhumanity of others. The tone can veer wildly from story to story, and even within stories, given Tezuka's cartoonish style, but there's a sentimental streak a mile wide running through this volume, especially in stories like "The Ballad of the Killer Whale."
This volume reprints stories that include the backstory on how Black Jack got his facial scars, and the first appearance of Biwamaru, the blind acupuncturist.
This volume reprints stories that include the backstory on how Black Jack got his facial scars, and the first appearance of Biwamaru, the blind acupuncturist.
December 28, 2012
black jack's starting to become one of my faves; every story ends w/ a great moral or unforgettable ending that's bittersweet or sad. Love the story about the killer whale or the one where jack repays his debt by saving other people who owed him favors; love how his unlicensed doctor skills that're so fast wins ppl over
December 29, 2013
These were great stories from 1970s Era Japan(this manga was written in weekly Shonen Champion from 1973-1983)the golden-age of manga.it is remarkable that you can read the entire run made possible by vertical publishing.Enjoyed reading these alot,part medical drama,part comedy(from ponoco character)it was entertaining to read.
November 13, 2010
Al nivel del tomo 1, pero si mal no recuerdo, acá entra la nenita esa a la que Black Jack le crea un cuerpo y que me resulta absolutamente inosportable. No lo suficiente como para arruinar la serie, por suerte.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews